FIND US Donate Now! Search Form LEARN LIVING WITH EPILEPSY MAKE A DIFFERENCE CONNECT ABOUT US You Are Here Learn / About Epilepsy: The Basics / Facts about Seizures and Epilepsy Facts about Seizures and Epilepsy CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS Share the facts about epilepsy and seizures with people you know. Learn About Epilepsy: The Basics What is Epilepsy? What is a Seizure? What Happens During a Seizure? Who Gets Epilepsy? What Causes a Seizure? What Are the Risk Factors? Is Epilepsy Inherited? Will I Always Have Epilepsy? How Serious Are Seizures? Seizures in Adults Facts about Seizures and Epilepsy COVID-19 and Epilepsy Types of Seizures Types of Epilepsy Syndromes Epilepsy Due to Specific Causes Triggers of Seizures Diagnosis Treating Seizures and Epilepsy Managing Your Epilepsy Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathy Early Death and SUDEP Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Challenges with Epilepsy Learning Network TWEET-SIZE FACTS 65 MILLION: Number of people around the world who live with epilepsy. 3.4 MILLION: Number of people in the United States who have epilepsy. 1 IN 26 people in the United States will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime. BETWEEN 4 AND 10 OUT OF 1,000: Number of people on earth who live with active seizures at any one time. 150,000: Number of new cases of epilepsy in the United States each year ONE-THIRD: Number of people with epilepsy who live with uncontrollable seizures because no available treatment works for them. 6 OUT OF 10: Number of people with epilepsy where the cause is unknown. GET THE NEWS! Join our mailing list to stay to date about programs, events, and news about epilepsy. SUBMIT You can’t swallow your tongue during a seizure. It's physically impossible. You should NEVER force something into the mouth of someone having a seizure. Absolutely not! Forcing something into the mouth of someone having a seizure is a good way to chip teeth, cut gums, or even break someone's jaw. DON'T restrain someone having a seizure. Most seizures end in seconds or a few minutes and will end on their own. The correct seizure first aid is simple: Stay. Safe. Side. STAY with the person and start timing the seizure. Keep the person SAFE. Turn the person onto their SIDE if they are not awake and aware. Do NOT put anything in their mouth. Do NOT restrain. Stay with them until they are awake and alert after the seizure. Call 911 if the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes; repeated seizures; difficulty breathing; seizure occurs in water; person is injured is injured, pregnant or sick; person does not return to their usual state, first time seizure; or the person asks for medical help. Epilepsy is NOT contagious. You simply can't catch epilepsy from another person. Anyone can develop epilepsy. Seizures start for the first time in people over age 65 almost as often as it does in children. Seizures in the elderly are often the after effect of other health problems like stroke and heart disease. Most people with epilepsy CAN DO the same things that people without epilepsy can do. However, some people with frequent seizures may not be able to work, drive, or may have problems in other parts of their life. People with epilepsy CAN handle jobs with responsibility and stress. People with seizure disorders are found in all walks of life. They may work in business, government, the arts, and all sorts of professions. If stress bothers their seizures, they may need to learn ways to manage stress. But everyone needs to learn how to cope with stress! There may be some types of jobs that people with epilepsy can’t do because of possible safety problems. Otherwise, having epilepsy should not affect the type of job or responsibility that a person has. Epilepsy is a chronic medical problem that for many people can be successfully treated. Unfortunately, treatment doesn't work for everyone. AT LEAST 1 million people in the United States have uncontrolled epilepsy. There is still an urgent need for more research, better treatments, and a cure. Epilepsy is NOT rare. There are more than twice as many people with epilepsy in the U.S. as the number of people with cerebral palsy (500,000), muscular dystrophy (250,000), multiple sclerosis (350,000), and cystic fibrosis (30,000) combined. Epilepsy can occur as a single condition or may be seen with other conditions affecting the brain, such as cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, autism, Alzheimer's disease, and traumatic brain injury. You CAN die from epilepsy. While death in epilepsy doesn't happen frequently, epilepsy is a very serious condition and individuals do die from seizures. The most common cause of death is sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). While there is a lot we still don’t know about SUDEP, experts estimate that 1 out of every 1,000 people with epilepsy die from SUDEP each year. People can also die from prolonged seizures (status epilepticus). 1.9% of deaths in people with epilepsy is due to this type of seizure emergency. What happens in a seizure may look different from one person to another. However, seizures are usually stereotypic, which means the same things or behaviors tend to occur in a person each time they have a seizure. The seizure behavior may be inappropriate for the time and place, but it is unlikely to cause harm to anyone. (Learn about types of seizures.) People with epilepsy are usually not physically limited in what they can do. During and after a seizure, a person may have trouble moving or doing their usual activity. Some people may have trouble with physical abilities due to other neurological problems. Aside from these problems, a person who is not having a seizure is usually not limited in what they can do physically. Authored By: Patty Obsorne Shafer RN, MN Joseph I. Sirven MD on 07/2013 Reviewed By: Patty Obsorne Shafer RN, MN Andres M. Kanner MD Elaine Wirrell MD on Wednesday, February 27, 2019 Our Mission The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and to accelerate therapies to stop seizures, find cures, and save lives. 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