What is epilepsy

Epilepsy facts and stats

• Approximately 600,000 people in the UK have epilepsy which is equivalent to around 1 in 103 people.
• There are at least 40 different seizure types and people may have one or several different seizure types.
• Approximately 60% of people have tonic clonic seizures, 20% complex partial, 12% mixed tonic clonic and partial, 3% simple partial and less than 5% absence seizures, myoclonic seizures and other types.
• Around 3% of people with epilepsy are photosensitive, which means their seizures are brought on by flashing lights.
• The total number of children aged 4 years and under with epilepsy is approximately 1 in 509.
• The number of children and young people aged 18 years and under with epilepsy is near 1 in 220.
• The numbers of young people who are 25 years and under with epilepsy is around 112,000.
• More than one in five people with epilepsy have learning or intellectual disabilities.

Treatment gap

• Misdiagnosis rates in the United Kingdom are between 20–31%.
• In the UK, 70% of the population with epilepsy could be seizure free with the right treatment. Currently only 52% of the population of people with epilepsy are seizure free.

Epilepsy related deaths

• In the UK 1,150 people died of epilepsy related causes in 2009. In England and Wales 10% or 11% of those deaths are young adults or children under the age of 25.
• Approximately 42% of the deaths per year are probably or potentially avoidable.

_{Source: Joint Epilepsy Council, Dec 2011}