A report released through the Epil...

A report released through the Epilepsy Foundation revealed that the preliminary annual outlay of epilepsy to the nation is approximately $125 billion. According to a Jan 26 1999 pres release from the Foundation, a great deal of the billion-dollar cost is created by dint of children. The report claims that approximately 300000 children aged 14 and subordinate to have epilepsy, a neurologic disorder characterized on sudden, temporary malfunctions in the electrical method of the brain. The report, Epilepsy: Report to the Nation, also indicates that

* approximately 23 million Americans have seizures and epilepsy, and single approximately 500,000 are receiving medical care that favorably controls their seizures and permits them to lead normal lives;

* the same of out every 10 clan in the United States will experience a seizure at more [i]or[/i] less time in his or her life;

* for commonalty ages five to 44 who have epilepsy, the death rate is five times higher than for the general population;

* each year, approximately 181,000 new cases of seizures and epilepsy occur;

* epilepsy come abouts more often in men than in women;

* epilepsy is more prevalent among minority populations living in poverty; and

* approximately one-fourth of the community with epilepsy have seizures that do not rejoin to available therapies and are considered intractable.

According to the release, the sense of the report--which marks the first time in more than 20 years that the national richness of epilepsy has been calculated--is to force onward the new Congress to make the remedial treatment of intractable seizures and all forms of epilepsy a research priority. The Foundation is calling for President Clinton to triple the $76 million generally budgeted for epilepsy research at the National Institutes of Health. Initiatives generally underway by the government include

* the first-ever administration conversation on epilepsy convened by the National Institutes of Health,

* a of recent origin partnership between the Centers for Disease superintend and the Agency for Health Care Policy Research to inform practitioners about the importance of early epilepsy diagnoses, and

* a strange online Internet series to enable consumer patients, and family members to engage in live discussions forward epilepsy issues with professional experts

of the present day Report Says Epilepsy Costs Nation $125 Billion, Epilepsy Foundation Calls upon Congress to Triple Epilepsy Research capitals (press release: Landover, Md, Epilepsy Foundation, Jan 26 1999) 1-2

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