
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
15EPILEPSY SOCIETY |
The scale and impact of epilepsy
Sudden unexpected death is a key area
of research at Epilepsy Society, the
UK’s leading epilepsy medical research
charity. There are 600,000 people in the
UK with epilepsy. So, on average, every
MP in the country will represent 1,000
constituents with the condition. For one
third of them, their seizures will not be
controlled by currentmedication.
Unless you have epilepsy yourself, or
know someone with the condition, it
is impossible to understand the huge
impact that seizures can have on your
life, and the worry that epilepsy causes.
People with uncontrolled seizures
live their lives on amber alert, never
knowing when the next seizure will
happen, where it will happen, and how
people around them will react. This can
affect their education, employment
and relationships. And for many with
epilepsy, and their families and friends,
it means worrying about whether the
next seizure might befatal.
Although epilepsy has long been a
Cinderella condition, statistically it is far
more common as a neurological disease
than multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease
and cerebral palsy. People who have had
a seizure account for ten per cent of call
outs to the London Ambulance Service.
Young people with epilepsy are over
20 times more likely to die prematurely
than those in the general population.
It is these statistics, and the very personal
stories of vibrant young women such
as Amelia, that fuel Epilepsy Society’s
commitment to improving the diagnosis
and treatment of epilepsy. These goals
are too often limited by lack of funding
andresources.
The greatest hope of seizure freedom for
those with drug-resistant epilepsy is brain
surgery. If our neurologists can identify
the focal point of a person’s seizures,
there is a chance that the surgeon may
be able to remove that part of the brain,
and with this surgery comes the real
possibility of stopping the seizures.
Finding the cause of SUDEP, and how
each individual person’s risks can be
managed and minimised, is quite
literally a race against time.
Modern day developments
Epilepsy was first described as a disease
of the brain by Hippocrates in 400BC.
And for more than 2,400 years it has
baffled scientists and medics alike. It
is only now, in the 21st century, that
advances in science, technology and
our understanding of the human brain
are creating a synergy that promises
hope of solving the condition that
affects one in 100 people.
The Epilepsy Society was founded
by Victorian neurologists and
philanthropists in 1892. It was originally
established to give people with
the condition the chance to find a
meaningful life with employment out
in the countryside and away from
the London asylums and workhouses
where they were often confined.
Our founding fathers were true pioneers,
challenging the culture of a time that
stigmatised people with epilepsy. Today
in the 21st century, we must be equally
groundbreaking and brave. Our mission
is to apply the very latest genomics
research, artificial intelligence and
sophisticated neuroimaging techniques
to tackle a condition that has consistently
puzzledmedics.
Sophisticated scans
help us to diagnose the
causes of epilepsy
Finding the
cause of
SUDEP, and
how each
individual
person’s risks
can be
managed and
minimised, is
quite literally a
race against
time
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