CDC issues national, state-level data on epilepsy

An estimated 1.2% of Americans, including 3 million adults and 470,000 children, had active epilepsy in 2015, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s up from 2.3 million adults in 2010 and 450,000 children in 2007, CDC said. Total estimates by state ranged from 5,900 in Wyoming to 427,700 in California. A brain disorder leading to recurring seizures, epilepsy “poses substantial individual and societal burdens that require heightened public health action,” the authors said. “As a complex condition varying in severity and impact, it affects persons of all ages and racial and ethnic groups, especially those with the lowest incomes.”