Did you know...?
• Epilepsy is a neurological condition - which means it affects the brain. It is also a physical condition,
because the body is affected when someone has a seizure.
• Epilepsy is described as the tendency to have repeated seizures that start in the brain. Epilepsy is
ususally only diagnosed after the person has had more than one seizure.
• The Greek philosopher Hippocrates (460-377 BC) was the first person to think that epilepsy starts in the
brain.
• Anyone can have a seizure if the circumstances are right, but most people do not have seizures under
‘normal conditions’.
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•
Seizures are sometimes called ‘fi ts’ or ‘attacks’.
Seizures happen when there is a sudden interruption in the way the brain
normally works.
• Epilepsy is a variable condition that affects different people
in different ways.
• There are many different types of seizures (over 40). What seizures
look like can vary. For example
someone may go ‘blank’ for a couple of seconds, they may wander
around and be quite confused, or they
may fall to the ground and shake (convulse). So not all seizures involve
convulsions.
• Some people are not aware during their seizures and so they do
not remember what happens to them. It can be really useful to have a description
of what happened from someone who saw their seizure to
help with diagnosis. This is sometimes called a ‘eyewitness account’.
Information on epileptic seizures.
• There are many different reasons (causes) why someone might develop epilepsy. Sometimes a cause for
epilepsy can be found (for example if someone has had a head injury) but sometimes the person’s
epilepsy starts ‘out of the blue’ and the cause cannot be found.
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• Epilepsy can start at any age, and it is often diagnosed in people under 18 and people over 65. This
is because some causes are more common in young people (such as diffi culties at their birth, childhood
infections or accidents) and in older people (such as strokes that lead to epilepsy). For some people their
epilepsy might ‘go away’ and they stop having seizures. This is called spontaneous remission.
• Epilepsy can be difficult to diagnose and there are a number of
different tests that might be done to help with diagnosis such as an EEG
(electroencephalogram) or an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
Information about EEG tests.
Information about MRI tests.
• Epilepsy is usually treated with medication called anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). AEDs aim to stop seizures from happening, but they do not cure epilepsy.
• With the right AEDs, up to 70% of people with epilepsy could have their seizures controlled (stopped).
• The first AED used to treat epilepsy was phenobarbitone in 1912. There are now around 19 different
AEDs available in the UK.
Information on AEDs for adults
Information on AEDs for children
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• For people
who do not have their seizures controlled with AEDs, surgery may be an
option. This can involve removing the part of their brain that causes
the seizures.
Information on epilepsy surgery
• Some people
may have a form of treatment called vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to help
control their epilepsy. This involves having a special device implanted
that sends regular electrical signals to their brain.
Information on VNS
• St Valentine is the patron saint of people with epilepsy.
• Some famous people who have had epilepsy include the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and the artist
Vincent Van Gogh. More recently the actor Danny Glover, Rabbi Lionel Blue, publicist Max Clifford and
rugby player Dean Ryan.
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Epilepsy statistics
• One in 20 people
will have a one-off epileptic seizure at some point in their life (although
this does not necessarily mean that they have epilepsy).
• One in 50 people will have epilepsy at some time in their life
(not everyone with epilepsy will have it for life).
• Around 75 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day.
• There are around 456,000 people in the UK who have epilepsy. That’s about one in every 131 people.
There are around 50 million people with epilepsy in the world.
• Only about 3-5% of people with epilepsy will be affected by flashing
lights (called photosensitive epilepsy).
UK
Epilepsy Helpline: 01494 601400
Monday - Friday 10am - 4pm
©
The National Society for Epilepsy
November 2006
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