[Epidemiology and cause of epilepsy]

Incidence of epilepsy was estimated at 24-53 per 100,000, while prevalence was varying between 2.7-40 per 1,000, in Japan 8.8 in children younger than 13 years. Higher incidence and prevalence were increasingly noted in aged population; even higher in the advanced aged than in children. Incidence of generalized seizures was indicated to be slightly higher than focal seizures, although this figure may change due to high incidence of aged epilepsy with increased cerebrovascular disorders or degenerative diseases as a cause of epilepsy. Mortality is higher in patients with epilepsy than in the general population, including SUDEP in intractable epilepsy.