Who does epilepsy affect?
A. In the United States, 2.5 million people have epilepsy, with approximately 125,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Anyone can develop epilepsy at any age, but 70 percent of epilepsy cases are in adults over the age of 18 and an estimated 12 percent are age 55 and older. Twenty percent of epilepsy cases develop before the age of five.
Written and reviewed by: My Child Without Limits Advisory Committee More than two million people in the United States — about one in 100 — have experienced a seizure that didn’t seem to have a cause, or have been diagnosed with epilepsy. For about 80 percent of those diagnosed with epilepsy, seizures can be controlled with modern medicines and surgical techniques. However, about 25 to 30 percent of people with epilepsy will continue to experience seizures even with the best available treatment. Doctors call this situation intractable epilepsy – which means that it’s resistant or difficult. But, it’s important to note that having a seizure does not necessarily mean that a person has epilepsy. Only when a person has had two or more seizures is he or she considered to have epilepsy.
