Epilepsy Rates
from Doctor's Guide on the Internet at http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/d525a.htm
Published in a mid-December issue of The Lancet, a study in the United Kingdom shows that epilepsy is increasing among elderly people and falling in children. It also shows that women with epilepsy have reduced fertility rates.
Dr. Henrietta Wallace and colleagues from London, England, used a database of anonymous medical records of 3.6 million patients in England and Wales to ascertain the rates of treated epilepsy in 2,052,922 people. Their most important finding is the increased incidence and prevalence of epilepsy in the older age-groups and the reduced incidence in children.
Previous UK studies reported epilepsy rates of 63, 52 and 48 per 100,000 people. In this study, Wallace and colleagues report a rate of 80.8 (which refers only to people receiving treatment for epilepsy).
The investigators also found that fertility rates among women in the general population were 33% higher than among women with epilepsy. The lowest fertility rates were among women aged 25 to 39 years.
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