Sometimes a predisposition to seizures can be seen in some families where several members are affected. But the genetics of epilepsy are not straight foreword. If the injury is severe, e.g. due to a road traffic accident, infection, birth trauma, stroke or tumour, then epilepsy may develop as a consequence. Many individuals attribute the onset of seizures to some relatively minor event such as a blow to the head or an emotional upset. Although these cannot be completely discounted, in such cases it is likely that family predisposition to seizures plays a more important role.
Epilepsy is the most common serious neurological condition affecting people of all ages.
This would mean that there are at least 350,000 people with epilepsy in this country. Seizures tend to start in infancy or by late adolescence, but the incidence rises again after 65. Unlike most neurological disorders, there may be no physical signs that a person has epilepsy. The diagnosis is, therefore, made on the basis of a history of more than one epileptic seizure. An accurate eye-witness account is crucial to making a correct diagnosis, as the person experiencing the seizure usually has no recollection of what has happened.