Epilepsy & Seizures

Seizure disorders, also known as epilepsy, are very common. Out of all the neurological disorders treated in the United States, only Alzheimer's disease and stroke are more common than epilepsy. Although approximately 10 percent of the U.S. population will experience one seizure at some point in their lives, only about 3 percent of the people who reach the age of 80 have more than one seizure in their lives and are diagnosed with epilepsy. It has been estimated that as few as 2 million and perhaps over 3 million Americans have epilepsy. It has been estimated that about 2.9 million Americans have active epilepsy. This includes more than 460,000 children under 18 years of age. The Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Public Health Dimensions of the Epilepsies estimates that almost 150,000 new cases of epilepsy will be diagnosed in the United States annually.