Epilepsy is a disorder of the central nervous system.
Epilepsy is present when a person has recurrent seizures.
A seizure is a temporary brain malfunction that results from the abnormal electrical discharge of groups of nerve cells in the brain. There are between 20 and 30 different kinds of seizures ranging from momentary lapses of attention to convulsions. More than 2,000,000 Americans have epilepsy. In the St. Louis metropolitan area between 12,500 and 25,000 people are affected today, and up to 250,000 members of our community will have recurrent seizures at some time during their lives. The leading identifiable cause of seizure disorders in adolescents and young adults is trauma to the head due to automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents and contact sport injuries.