Is epilepsy underfunded?
Until now, epilepsy has been very misunderstood, underfunded, and underrecognized, endangering the lives and well-being of the 3.4 million people in the U.S. living with active epilepsy.
Is epilepsy as common as breast cancer?
Epilepsy in America is as common as breast cancer, and takes as many lives. A mysterious and widely misunderstood affliction, epilepsy is a disorder in which the brain produces sudden bursts of electrical energy that can interfere with a person’s consciousness, movements or sensations.
How many people with epilepsy do not respond to treatment?
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 20 percent of epilepsy patients have intractable seizures — seizures that do not respond to treatment. The reasons why epilepsy begins are different for people of different ages.
How much money does it cost to treat epilepsy?
Yet public and private funding for research lag far behind other neurological afflictions, at $35 a patient (compared, for instance, with $129 for Alzheimer’s and $280 for multiple sclerosis). It is time to remedy that gap, and to raise epilepsy to the front ranks of public and medical concern.
How many people die each year from epilepsy?
Epilepsy: Overlooked and Underfunded. A mysterious and widely misunderstood affliction, epilepsy is a disorder in which the brain produces sudden bursts of electrical energy that can interfere with a person’s consciousness, movements or sensations. Up to 50,000 Americans die each year from seizures and related causes,…
What are the causes of partial generalized epilepsy?
Hereditary factors are important in partial generalized epilepsy, which is more likely to involve genetic factors than partial epilepsy — a condition in which the seizures arise from a limited area of the brain. Some partial seizures are related to head injury, brain infection, stroke or tumor but, in most cases, the cause is unknown.