U.S. residents affected at all-time high.

• Position: Epilepsy

There are more people living with epilepsy in the U.S. than ever before, points out the Morbidity and Mortality Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. At least 3,400,000 individuals in the U.S. live with seizures, including 470,000 children.

When a person has two unprovoked seizures or one unprovoked seizure with the likelihood of more, he or she is considered to have epilepsy. Epilepsy affects 3,400,000 people in the U.S. and 65,000,000 worldwide. This year, another 150,000 individuals will be diagnosed with epilepsy. Despite all available treatments, four out of 10 people with epilepsy continue to experience uncontrolled seizures, while many more experience less than optimal seizure control.

"These numbers show a substantial growth from previous data. One of the biggest challenges with epilepsy is that It is frequently under-diagnosed and under-recognized, in part because it is associated with many co-occurring conditions," says Jacqueline French, chief scientific officer at the Epilepsy Foundation, Landover, Md. "This report also highlights the need for...