How common is epilepsy in the elderly?
It’s very common. There are anywhere between 80 to 123 cases for every 100,000 people in the population. To give you some context, Alzheimer’s disease affects about 102 individuals for every 100,000 people. So, the numbers are fairly high. Epilepsy is one of the more common things that is seen in older adults from a neurological perspective. Why would somebody start to get epilepsy as they get older? It’s a phenomenon that often occurs along with other things that happen as you get older. “It is sort of a side-effect of many things that we are more likely to get as we age,” says Sirven. For example, stroke is one of the biggest causes of seizures in older adults. Twelve percent of patients with dementia of any type will have seizures, and dementia is very common in older adults. Also, tumors and trauma can cause seizures. Experts don’t know what it is about the aging brain that lets this happen, but clearly there is something that occurs that makes epilepsy a stronger likelihood. Are m
