Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by repeated seizures.
Read moreThere are so many kinds of seizures that epilepsy specialists are still updating their thinking about how to classify them. Usually, they classify seizures into two types, primary generalized seizures and partial seizures. The difference between these types is in how they begin.
Read moreAbout 2.5 million people in the United States have epilepsy, and as many as 9 percent of the entire population may experience a seizure at some point in their lives. Epileptic seizures may be tied to a brain injury or genetics, but most of the time the cause is unknown. New cases of epilepsy are diagnosed most commonly in the first year of life. The rate of new cases in children gradually declines until about age 10, and then stabilizes. After age 55 or 60, the rate starts to increase, as people develop strokes, brain tumors, or Alzheimer's disease, all of which may cause epilepsy.
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