Epilepsy continues to remain hidden

Updated - July 22, 2015 05:47 am IST - KOCHI:

Epilepsy is said to be a hidden disease. Even in a literate State like Kerala, the social stigma related to epilepsy is highly prevalent. “The treatment gap among epilepsy patients can be attributed to this stigma,” said neurologist B. Rajendran, co-editor of Epilepsy India , the official publication of Indian Epilepsy Association.

On World Brain Day 2015 (July 22), the focus is on epilepsy awareness with the World Federation of Neurology creating a campaign that says that epilepsy is more than just seizures. According to available statistics, more than five crore people worldwide live with the disease but diagnostic and therapeutic resources are unequally distributed.

India has about one crore epilepsy patients, said Dr. Rajendran. Though the prevalence rate is said to be two to three per cent of the population, a world renowned study led by neurologist K. Radhakrishnan, former director of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences, about 15 years ago had found the prevalence rate of 4.9 per 1,000 people.

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