Epilepsy
What is epilepsy? Epilepsy is a long-term (chronic) disease that causes repeated seizures due to abnormal electrical signals produced by damaged brain cells. A burst of uncontrolled electrical activity within brain cells causes a seizure. Seizures can include changes to your awareness, muscle control (your muscles may twitch or jerk), sensations, emotions and behavior. Epilepsy is also called a seizure disorder. Who does epilepsy affect? Anyone, of any age, race or sex, can develop epilepsy. How common is epilepsy? In the U.S., about 3.4 million people have epilepsy. Of this number, 3 million are adults and 470,000 are children. There are 150,000 new cases of epilepsy in the U.S. each year. Worldwide, about 65 million people have epilepsy. What are seizure triggers? Seizure triggers are events or something that happens before the start of your seizure. Commonly reported seizure triggers include: Stress. Sleep issues such as not sleeping well, not getting enough sleep, being...