Seizure

The increased risk of death among young people with epilepsy compared to the general population is acknowledged [1,2]. Alcohol dependency is reported to be a risk factor for increased deaths among people with epilepsy [3]. An increased prevalence of seizures and epilepsy has been reported during acute alcohol intoxication and alcohol withdrawal stages among chronic alcohol dependent persons [4,5].

Epilepsy is the second commonest chronic neurological disorder in developed countries with an estimated prevalence of around 9.7 per 1000 population and an incidence of 0.55 per 1000 per year [1]. Other United Kingdom studies have suggested a prevalence of 7.7 per 1000 population and 5.6 per 1000 population [23]. There is a consistent association between epilepsy and socioeconomic status with a higher prevalence and incidence in the less affluent [2]. People with epilepsy are known to have more physical ...

Neurostimulation is making its way into the therapeutic armamentarium of the epileptologists, with several invasive neurostimulation modalities available today and several less invasive modalities under investigation. Clinicians will soon face a choice that should not be made randomly. We introduce the concept of a prestimulation evaluation protocol, consisting of a series of rationally chosen investigations that evaluate the presence of biomarkers for response to various neurostimulation therapies.