William Atkins
Sunday, 10 August 2008 20:09
Science -
Health
Page 2 of 3
Epilepsy is a medical condition involving the neurological system of the body—specifically with irregular (abnormal) electrical activity in a otherwise normally functioning brain.
This problem causes seizures to occur on a reoccurring, unprovoked basis. Symptoms of epilepsy are vastly different depending on the exact type of medical syndrome involved. Worldwide, about 50 million people have epilepsy at any one time.
Epilepsy is caused by various problems. Some of them can be stroke, traumatic brain injury, central nervous system infections (for example, encephalitis and meningitis), brain tumor, and genetic factors.
In the United States, approximately 16.1% adults (around one in six) stated on the CDC survey that they have
“active epilepsy with recent seizures” but were not taking their medication.
In addition, 65.1% of adults (about two in six) with
“active epilepsy with recent seizures” said that they had had more than one seizure during the month before the survey was completed.
About one in five people (over 20.4%) with active epilepsy said one of the reasons they were not seeing a doctor for their epilepsy was the cost of treatment.
The survey conducted by the CDC involved nineteen of the fifty states within the United States. The study found no differences according to gender (sex) or race (ethnicity) with respect to active and inactive epilepsy.
Rosemarie Kobau, the lead author of the study, stated,
“This is the first time that we actually have data from multiple states. What we learned is that, among adults with active epilepsy, more than a third of them reported not seeing a specialist for their epilepsy, and that's really unacceptable."
The researchers involved in the CDC study warned that people with active epilepsy do not get adequate medical care from their family (primary care) doctor, but rather need a specialist to adequately deal with their medical condition.
Please read page three for a comparison of people with and without epilepsy and their self-reported assessment of their overall health and quality of life.
