Epilepsy affects 52 million people worldwide, more in LMIC countries, study finds

EXPERTS, in recent assessment, said epilepsy, one of the most prevalent serious brain disorders marked by frequent and unprovoked seizures, affected around 52 million people of all ages in 2021, with the bulk of the burden residing in low-income to middle-income (LMIC) countries.

The report, published in The Lancet Public Health, added that there was a 10.8% increase in the number of people living with epilepsy globally, mainly due to an increase in secondary epilepsy (epilepsy due to an underlying abnormality of the brain structure or chemistry).

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2021 (GBD 2021) reported that the number of individuals dying from epilepsy decreased by 14.5% during this period, probably due to improved treatment and the identification of less severe epileptic seizures.

The study also identified significant geographical differences in the burden of idiopathic epilepsy in 2021, with a three-to-four-fold increase in incidence (82.1 percent) and deaths (84.7 percent) in low-income to middle-income countries compared to high-income countries.

Also, within the period, epilepsy ranked as the 72nd most common cause of death and the 44th most common cause of death and disability combined in the world.

In order to lessen the worldwide burden of epilepsy, this study identified the highest numbers of people with epilepsy were in Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa, while the lowest were in East Asia and Eastern Europe.

Over the past three decades, the largest increase in combined epilepsy prevalence was observed in Indonesia, where the prevalence of combined epilepsy remains one of the lowest in the world since 1990, while the largest decrease was observed in Russia.

Read Also: Police kill Abuja notorious kidnapper, Dogo Saleh

The study declared that better treatment and prevention of epilepsy are required, along with further research on risk factors of idiopathic epilepsy, good-quality long-term epilepsy surveillance studies, and exploration of the possible effect of stigma and cultural differences in seeking medical attention for epilepsy.

According to the study, policy makers can use these insights to prioritise funding for epilepsy care, improve access to antiseizure medications, and implement training programmes for health-care providers in underserved regions as well as to increase awareness and education about epilepsy.

Epilepsy affects people of all ages across the globe and increases the risk of premature death by up to three times compared to the general population.