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About Epilepsy
Epilepsy Facts
- 1 in 26 Americans will develop epilepsy in their lifetime.
- An estimated 3 million Americans and 65 million people worldwide currently live with epilepsy.
- Each year at least 200,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy.
- In two-thirds of patients diagnosed with epilepsy, the cause is unknown.
- Epilepsy affects more people than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson's combined – yet receives fewer federal dollars per patient than each of these.
 It is estimated that up to 50,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. from status epilepticus (prolonged seizures), Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), and other seizure-related causes such as drowning and other accidents.- Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) accounts for 34% of all sudden deaths in children.
- For many soldiers suffering traumatic brain injury on the battlefield, epilepsy will be a long-term consequence. Fifty-three percent of Vietnam War veterans with penetrating head injury developed epilepsy within 15 years.
- 1.64 million soldiers have served in the current Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts; 320,000 of these soldiers will experience traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Between 48,000 and 169,000 soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to develop post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE).
- Epilepsy costs the United States approximately $15.5 billion each year. The indirect costs associated with uncontrolled seizures are seven times higher than that of the average for all chronic diseases.
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