Introduction and Epidemiology

Epilepsy is one of the most common and chronic neurologic disorders that may affect individuals in any age group. This chapter outlines the incidence and prevalence of epilepsy in the world. Acute symptomatic seizures differ from epilepsy in that each seizure has a clear, identifiable, proximal cause. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis demonstrated the significant burden of disease that cannot be assessed from epidemiologic studies. There are several known risk factors for epilepsy in adults including head trauma, central nervous system (CNS) infections, strokes, both embolic and hemorrhagic, CNS malignancies, particularly cortically-based tumors such as gliomas and metastatic lesions, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The potential concerns of individuals with epilepsy in the US, based on current public health estimates suggests that there is a significant psychosocial, economic, and quality-of-life burden for patients who have seizures and epilepsy.