Epilepsy in the new century

Bleasel, Andrew F

doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06953.x

Topics

Treatment has advanced, but a stigma still surrounds this disorder

Epilepsy affects some 120 000 to 200 000 Australians. It is defined as a disorder with recurrent unprovoked seizures, but 4%–5% of the population may experience at least one seizure at some point in their lives.1 About half the people who develop epilepsy present in the first two decades of life. A second peak occurs in people older than 60 years.

Department of Neurology, Westmead Hospital, Wentworthville, NSW.

Correspondence:

1. Hauser WA, Annegers JF, Rocca WA. Descriptive epidemiology of epilepsy: contributions of population-based studies from Rochester, Minnesota. Mayo Clin Proc 1996; 71: 576-586.
2. Commission on Classification and Terminology of the International League Against Epilepsy. Proposal for revised classification of epilepsies and epileptic syndromes. Epilepsia 1989; 30: 389-399.
3. Mulley JC, Scheffer IE, Petrou S, Berkovic SF. Channelopathies as a genetic cause of epilepsy. Curr Opin Neurol 2003; 16: 171-176.
4. Kanai K, Hirose S, Oguni H, et al. Effect of localization of missense mutations in SCN1A on epilepsy phenotype severity. Neurology 2004; 63: 329-334.
5. Koepp MJ, Woermann FG. Imaging structure and function in refractory focal epilepsy. Lancet Neurol 2005; 4: 42-53.
6. French JA, Kanner AM, Bautista J, et al. Efficacy and tolerability of the new antiepileptic drugs, I: treatment of new-onset epilepsy and II: Treatment of refractory epilepsy. Epilepsia 2004; 45: 401-423.
7. Kwan P, Brodie MJ. Early identification of refractory epilepsy. N Engl J Med 2000; 342: 314-319.
8. Wiebe S, Blume WT, Girvin JP, Eliasziw M; Effectiveness and Efficiency of Surgery for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Study Group. A randomized, controlled trial of surgery for temporal-lobe epilepsy. N Engl J Med 2001; 345: 311-318.
9. Kaplan PW. Reproductive health effects and teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs. Neurology 2004; 63 (Suppl 4): S13-S23.
10. Kanner AM. Is major depression a neurologic disorder with psychiatric symptoms? Epilepsy Behav 2004; 5: 636-644.

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