What Is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a neurological condition that affects the nervous system. Epilepsy is also known as a seizure disorder. It is usually diagnosed after a person has had at least two seizures (or after one seizure with a high risk for more) that were not caused by some known medical condition.

What Are Seizures?

Seizures seen in epilepsy are caused by disturbances in the electrical activity of the brain. The seizures in epilepsy may be related to a brain injury, genetics, immune, brain structure, or metabolic cause, but most of the time the cause is unknown.

How Many People Live With Epilepsy?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2015), the number of people living with epilepsy in the United States is at an all-time high.

Facts About Epilepsy And Seizures

65 MILLION: Number of people around the world who have epilepsy.
3.4 MILLION: Number of people in the United States who have epilepsy.
1 IN 26 people in the United States will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime.
BETWEEN 4 AND 10 OUT OF 1,000: Number of people on earth who live with active seizures at any one time.
150,000: Number of new cases of epilepsy in the United States each year
ONE-THIRD: Number of people with epilepsy who live with uncontrollable seizures because existing medications do not work for them.
6 OUT OF 10: Number of people with epilepsy where the cause is unknown