To learn more about the methods used to calculate epilepsy prevalence, please read the full study. CI describes the level of uncertainty of an estimate and specifies the range in which the true value is likely to fall. National and state estimates of the numbers of adults and children with active epilepsy — United States, DOI: Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link.
Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Epilepsy Data and Statistics. Minus Related Pages. Your diagnosis is based on finding out what happened to you before, during and after your seizures. If you have just been diagnosed with epilepsy, you may have questions about medication and treatment. Vagus nerve stimulation therapy is a treatment for epilepsy that involves a stimulator or 'pulse generator' which is connected, inside the body, to the left vagus nerve in the neck.
The stimulator sends regular, mild electrical stimulations through this nerve to help calm down the irregular electrical brain activity that leads to seizures. Epilepsy is often misunderstood with different facts and myths surrounding the condition despite over , people in the UK having epilepsy. We want to dispel the many myths that still exist and bring you important information about seizures, seizure triggers and epilepsy first aid.
FACT 1: Not every seizure means a person shakes and jerks, nor is a person always unconscious during a seizure. Shaking and jerking while unconscious are usually associated with tonic clonic seizures. There are a range of seizures which have different side effects and can affect people differently. Triggers differ from person to person, but common triggers include a lack of sleep, stress, and alcohol.
MYTH 3: You can restrain someone during a tonic clonic seizure and put your finger in their mouth. FACT 3: During a tonic clonic seizure you should never hold the person down or put anything in their mouth. It's important to know exactly what to do when someone has a tonic clonic seizure so that you can act quickly. FACT 5: Having epilepsy can affect people in different ways. For example, some people may have problems with sleep or memory and for some people epilepsy may affect their mental health.
There are many different types of epileptic seizure. Any of us could potentially have a single epileptic seizure at some point in our lives.
This is not the same as having epilepsy, which is a tendency to have seizures that start in the brain. Epilepsy is not just one condition, but a group of many different 'epilepsies' with one thing in common: a tendency to have seizures that start in the brain.
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Epilepsy facts and myths. Most seizures happen suddenly without warning, last a short time a few seconds or minutes and stop by themselves. Seizures can be different for each person. Just knowing that someone has epilepsy does not tell you what their epilepsy is like, or what seizures they have.
The names of seizures used on this page describe what happens during the seizure. Idiopathic generalized epilepsies, on the other hand, were more common among females. Any differences that might exist can likely be attributed to biological differences in the two genders, as well as hormonal changes and social function.
There are a number risk factors that give you a higher chance of developing epilepsy. These include:. Having epilepsy increases your risk for certain complications. Some of these are more common than others. A seizure can cause loss of awareness and affect your ability to control a car.
You could injure yourself or others if you have a seizure while driving. People with epilepsy are reportedly 15 to 19 times more likely to drown than the rest of the population. They may be unable to move or may lose awareness of their situation during the seizure. If you swim and have a history of seizures, make sure a lifeguard on duty is aware of your condition. Never swim alone. One-third of people with epilepsy experience depression and anxiety — the most common comorbidity of the disease.
People with epilepsy are also 22 percent more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Certain types of seizures affect your motor movements. You may lose control of muscle function during a seizure and fall to the ground, hit your head on nearby objects, and even break a bone.
Individuals with epilepsy can get pregnant and have healthy pregnancies and babies, but extra precaution is needed. About 15 to 25 percent of pregnant individuals will have worsening seizures during pregnancy. On the other hand, 15 to 25 percent will also see improvement. Some antiseizure medications can cause birth defects, so you and your doctor need to carefully evaluate your medications before you plan to get pregnant. In about half of epilepsy cases, the cause is unknown.
Diagnosing epilepsy requires several types of tests and studies to ensure your symptoms and sensations are the result of epilepsy and not another neurological condition.
With treatment, around 70 percent of people with epilepsy can go into remission, finding ease and relief from their symptoms. Treatment might be as simple as taking an antiepileptic medication , although 30 to 40 percent of people with epilepsy will continue to have seizures despite treatment due to medication-resistant epilepsy.
Others may require more invasive surgical treatments. There are more than 20 antiseizure medications available today. Antiepileptic medications are very effective for most people. In , the first cannabidiol drug, Epidolex, was approved by the FDA for the treatment of severe and rare Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes in children over the age of 2.
In some cases, imaging tests can detect the area of the brain responsible for the seizure. If this area of the brain is very small and well-defined, doctors may perform surgery to remove the portions of the brain that are responsible for the seizures. If your seizures originate in a part of the brain that cannot be removed, your doctor may still be able to perform a procedure that can help prevent the seizures from spreading to other areas of the brain.
Doctors can implant a device under the skin of your chest.
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