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Epilepsy – The situation today

 

• What is epilepsy?
• Epidemiology
• Social impact
• Sanofi-aventis and epilepsy

What is epilepsy?

The disease Epilepsy is an organic neurological disorder, caused by the abnormal function of nervous brain cells, or neurons. This muddled functioning of the cells, caused byexcessive, sudden electric discharges, manifests as a seizure. An epileptic seizure describes clinical manifestations whose unexpected, sudden onset is linked to the dysfunction of a portion, or all, of the neurons in the cerebral cortex. Seizures are always sudden and usually short-lived. They can vary depending on the area in the brain where the discharges occur.

Two kinds of seizures can be identified:

• Seizures of the entire body, involving both cerebral hemispheres. During this type of seizure the patient usually loses consciousness suddenly, falls and experiences convulsions, sometimes violent in nature. The patient is at risk of suffering injuries during the fall. The seizure usually lasts one to two minutes, but may sometimes be only a few seconds long.
• Partial or localized seizures, which are the result of abnormal activity in one part of the brain. Only part of the body is affected, or the seizure may also manifest as memory or consciousness disorders.

Having a seizure does not necessarily mean that one is epileptic. It is considered to be Epilepsy when the seizures are recurrent, occurring relatively frequently and for a more or less sustained period in the life of the individual.

Epilepsy may be caused by a cerebral event stemming from a trauma, genetic predisposition,
cerebral lesions due to birth complications, infections, cerebral vascular accident, metabolic disorders, etc. However, in more than half of all cases, the cause of the Epilepsy is unknown. Epilepsy rarely runs in families.  

Epidemiology

Epilepsy is the most widespread neurological disorder in the world, aside from migraines. It runs across geographical, ethnic and social borders. Throughout the world, about 5% of the population will suffer a seizure at some point during their lifetime and 0.5% to 1% will be Epilepsy sufferers.

Epilepsy affects over 50 million people worldwide, 85% of whom live in developing countries, where the disease is more prevalent.
In developing countries, the incidence of the disease is from 49 to 190 new cases annually per 100,000 inhabitants, with incidence peaking at either end of the age scale.  

Social impact

In some societies, the convulsive fits are considered to be the result of possession by evil spirits.  Patients are thus sent to healers or exorcists instead of a doctor, and, as they are neither diagnosed, nor treated, they live on the margins of society.

The vast majority of children and adults diagnosed with Epilepsy can be successfully treated with currently available medicines. But most epileptic patients in developing countries (80%) are not currently receiving treatment, and are sometimes not even diagnosed due to lack of access to healthcare structures and the medicines which could treat them. This has serious physical, psychological, social and economic consequences for patients and their families.

Source: WHO, "Atlas-Epilepsy Care in the world 2005"  

Sanofi-aventis and epilepsy

The sanofi-aventis Group produces two of the world's most-used treatments for Epilepsy, with phenobarbital and sodium valproate. These two molecules are on the WHO list of essential medicines and are part of the basic therapeutic arsenal used in the care of epileptic patients.

Sanofi-aventis made agreements with some N.G.O’s or governments to develop training programs and facilitate access to antiepileptic drugs thanks to preferential pricing policies.  

• Download the sanofi-aventis Access to Medicines brochure (new window, PDF, 8.1 Mb)
• Go to the I.B.E website (International Bureau for Epilepsy)
• Go to the I.L.A.E website (International League Against Epilepsy)
• Go to the Epilepsy's section on the WHO website
• Go to the section of the WHO Expert Committee on the selection and use of essential medicines