Epilepsy is a chronic disorder, the hallmark of which is recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Many people with epilepsy have more than one type of seizure and may have other symptoms of neurological problems as well. People with epilepsy tend to have recurrent seizures (fits). The seizures occur because of a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain - there is an overload of electrical activity in the brain. This causes a temporary disturbance in the messaging systems between brain cells. During a seizure the patient's brain becomes "halted" or "mixed up". ‪ What is epilepsy?

‪

‪

When are people most likely to get epilepsy? New cases of epilepsy are most common among children, especially during the first year of life. The rate of new cases of epilepsy gradually goes down until about age 10 and then becomes stable. After age 55, the rate of new cases of epilepsy starts to increase, as people develop strokes, brain tumors, or Alzheimer's disease, which all can cause epilepsy. Does epilepsy occur more often in people after traumatic brain injury? Yes, seizures do happen frequently in people who have had a traumatic injury to the brain. This may include a fall, blow to the head, gunshot wound or other traumatic injury. ‪

Caitlin Coleman first experienced depression when she was 15, but her doctor discontinued her antidepression medication because it seemed to make the drug she was taking for epilepsy less effective. Coleman says she was “OK” in high school and during her first year of college, but her depression worsened in the beginning of her sophomore year, when she was 19. Coleman stopped taking her epilepsy pills. She thought she “would have a seizure in the middle of the street, get hit by a car and then no one could be mad at me for dying by suicide” because it would look like an accident, she says. srre &type=hitlist&num=2 Since the late 1980s, growing knowledge about chemical and electrical brain activities has led to a new generation of medications for the most disabling mental illnesses — mainly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression — which affect 17.5 million adults in the United States. p?id=cqresrre &type=hitlist&num=12

Some famous people get epilepsy. People 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 and rugby player Dean Ryan. 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 87 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day. Over 500,000 people in the UK have epilepsy. That’s about one in every 100 people. There are around 60 million people with epilepsy in the world. Up to 5% of people with epilepsy will be affected by flashing lights so most people with epilepsy do not have seizures triggered by flashing lights. ‪