A recent study by Doctors at Stanford University, California reveal that a simple blood test can determine whether or not someone has had an epileptic seizure.

The blood test which must be used within 10 to 20 minutes after a seizure, can identify generalized tonic-clonic seizures and complex partial seizures in both adults and older children, because the level of prolactin in the blood goes up.

Researchers say epileptic seizures are thought to affect the hypothalamus and may alter the release of this hormone prolactin, causing the levels of the hormone to rise.

The results also showed that the test could accurately identify seizures from nonseizure type episodes. Because levels of prolactin in the blood increase after seizures, but not during nonseizure activity.

In the study, which appears in the journal Neurology, researchers evaluated eight studies on the prolactin blood test.

But they say the test cannot distinguish epileptic seizures…