On 1st April 2007 the Epilepsy Research Foundation and the Fund for Epilepsy merged to form Epilepsy Research UK.
Epilepsy Research UK is only national charity solely dedicated to epilepsy research our aim is to substantially increase the funding available for research into the treatment and prevention of this debilitating condition.
Epilepsy affects between 40 to 50 million people around the globe.
• 75,000 children in the UK have epilepsy that needs continuous medical management.
• 81 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day in the UK.
• Every year 1,000 people die as a result of epilepsy.
• Epilepsy can be caused by a stroke, a head injury or an inherent genetic defect, but in over 60% of cases there is no known cause.
• It costs £15 billion to treat the total current UK population of children with epilepsy during their lifetimes.
• Epilepsy can take many forms from a momentary blank spell to a dramatic major convulsion.
Even with control of seizures, the quality of life for people with epilepsy can be unpredictable and restricted. But new research offers the very real possibility of developing therapies that could help transform the lives of those affected.
Developments in drug therapy and medical scanning, along with major breakthroughs in the study of the human genome, mean that great progress has been made in understanding the causes of epilepsy in recent years.
Even greater advances will be made in the coming years and the research that Epilepsy Research UK funds will be at the forefront of developments to control, and perhaps even cure, epilepsy.