More than half the cases of epilepsy are idiopathic or have no identifiable origin. Many of these are believed to be genetic. Epilepsy is not a disease and is not contagious. New cases of epilepsy most often occur in children and the elderly. However, epilepsy can occur at any age.
Epilepsy is a disorder characterized by recurring, unprovoked seizures.
An estimated 1 out of 10 people will have a single seizure at some time during their life. Of those, only a small number will have recurring seizures. Every one of us has a seizure threshold, or a susceptibility to have a seizure. People with epilepsy have a lower seizure threshold than people who do not. Most often, the first course is treatment is the use of one or more of the antiepileptic medications available today.