Epilepsy is a neurological disorder and the understanding of this disorder becomes fundamental in the management that people can have of it on short and long-term. Epidemiological data is expressive and shows that those affected are of different ages, but that Epilepsy affects especially children, adolescents and seniors.
BIG FIGURES INCLUDE *:
- In Europe, at least 6 million people have epilepsy.
- 15 million Europeans will have one seizure at some time in their lives.
- Epilepsy incidence rates in Europe vary between 28.9 and 47 per 100 000 people.
There are diverse causes and mechanisms of disease development, but globally in about 50% of cases, the cause is still unknown. In other cases, epilepsy causes can be described as: structural, genetic, infectious, metabolic and immune. **
According to the International League Against Epilepsy classification of 2017 ***, seizures are generally described in three major groups, depending on where they start: focal onset, generalized onset and unknown onset.
Epilepsy presents variations from person to person, and according with different age groups. The caregiver is a key element in this journey, following all the information, doubts, fears and feelings near the person with Epilepsy and providing the best support, action and proximity.
* World Health Organization/ International Bureau for Epilepsy/ International League Against Epilepsy - Fostering Epilepsy Care in Europe. Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/neurology/epilepsy/euro_report.pdf, last accessed February 2021.
** World Health Organization – Epilepsy. Available from: http://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/epilepsy, last accessed February 2021.
*** International League Against Epilepsy. Available from: https://www.ilae.org/guidelines/definition-and-classification/ilae-classification-of-the-epilepsies-2017, last accessed July 2022.
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