Women's Neurology Program

The Brown Health Medical Group Women’s Neurology program is a cross-disciplinary collaboration within Rhode Island Hospital’s department of neurology, providing care for women with neurological disorders.

Many people may not know that the brain has receptors for the two primary female hormones – estrogen and progesterone. Fluctuations and cycling of these hormones throughout a woman’s lifetime can affect a number of neurological conditions.

It is well known, for example, that hormones are a major trigger for women with migraine, but fewer people realize that about half of women with epilepsy find that seizures increase around their menstrual periods.

Multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis are more common in young women, and headache and facial pain syndromes can affect women of any age. High levels of estrogen can increase the risk of blood clots, including those that cause strokes and cerebrovascular disease – an issue affecting many women on birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, or currently pregnant. 

During pregnancy, many neurological conditions have special treatment implications because some commonly used medications and tests can harm a developing fetus. Therefore, it is important for pregnant women with neurological concerns to see specialists who are comfortable treating both mother and baby.

Among the conditions we treat in women are:

• Cerebrovascular disease
• Epilepsy and seizures
• Headache and facial pain syndromes
• Hormone-related neurological conditions
• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (pseudotumor cerebri)
• Hypercoagulable (thrombophilic) disorders
• Memory loss
• Migraine
• Myasthenia gravis
• Multiple gclerosis
• Neurodevelopmental disorders, genetic, and otherwise
• Neuropathy
• Occipital neuralgia
• Pregnancy-related neurological disorders
• Stroke
• Tremor and movement disorders
• Trigeminal neuralgia

Resources Related to Women's Neurology

Safety of Medicines in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
North American Pregnancy Registry reviews of the safety of anticonvulsants in pregnancy
A case-based curriculum about the neurology of pregnancies, for clinicians, residents, fellows and students, is available for free at neurostories.com