About epilepsy
In Finland, nearly 60,000 people, or approximately one in a hundred Finns have epilepsy. Out of them, 36,000 are on regular medication. There are around 5,000 children with epilepsy, and each year, about 3,000 individuals, including 800 children under the age of 15, start epilepsy medication. Despite treatment, seizures persist in about one-third of those with epilepsy.
Anyone can develop epilepsy – it could be you, me, or someone close to us. Epilepsy can onset at any age, and individuals of different ages face partially similar, partially different challenges in their lives with epilepsy.
Epileptic seizure
Epileptic seizure is caused by a sudden disruption in the electrical activity in the brain. Anyone can have a single epileptic seizure. Exposures for a singular seizure could be due to:
- Lack of sleep
- Stress
- Alcohol or substance withdrawal
- Use of certain medicines
A single seizure may not necessarily lead to regular epilepsy medication. However, medication is necessary if the seizure is due to a brain disorder, and the individual has an abnormal tendency to experience recurrent epileptic seizures without specific triggering factors. In these cases, regular medication is needed.
Noora’s story
Rare epilepsy in my life
Kuvaus videosta: Noora was nine years old when she got diagnosed with epilepsy. Progressive myoclonic epilepsy type 1 or EPM1, formerly known as Unverricht-Lundborg disease, is a rare epilepsy. “The Finnish Epilepsy Association has given me many new friends and peer support and has taught me a lot about epilepsy and life in general”, Noora says.