GENEVA – Up to 75% of people with epilepsy may be missing out on treatment, according to research published this month in the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, a potentially serious neurological disorder which causes recurrent seizures that are sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness. The study found a huge difference in the care of epilepsy patients between high- and low-income countries and between urban and rural settings.
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„Epilepsy can be diagnosed and treated inexpensively,“ says co-author Dr Ana-Claire Meyer, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital, in the United States of America. „Nonetheless, a vast majority of people with epilepsy in many resource-poor regions do not receive treatment.“
Without treatment, people with epilepsy can suffer psychological distress, physical injuries and social stigma. More than 70% of patients who are treated with anti-epileptic drugs are free from seizures within 5 years of diagnosis.
Read the paper here: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/09-064147.pdf
The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world’s leading public health journals. It is the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO), with a special focus on developing countries. Articles are peer-reviewed and are independent of WHO guidelines.
Further items in the April issue include:
Cities celebrate World Health Day on 7 April with the theme of urbanization and health.
Indian study links city lifestyles to increased chronic diseases.
Dr Yang Gonghuan, director of China’s National Office of Tobacco Control, talks about the formidable forces of opposition to tobacco control.
The cost of female genital mutilation on women’s lives and the health system.
Fighting the $75-billion dollar trade in counterfeit medicines.
Massive improvements in child nutrition in Brazil.
Universal coverage in Switzerland, a model system?
Fatal injuries in South African children and the need for safety improvements
The Bulletin’s table of contents can be found at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/en/index.html
The complete contents of the Bulletin, since 1948, is now available free to all readers worldwide through PubMed Central, available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/tocrender.fcgi?journal=522&action=archive
For further information please contact:
Sarah Cumberland, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Office: +41 22 791 2570, Mobile: +41 79 206 1403, E-mail: cumberlands@who.int
Dr Ana-Claire Meyer, San Francisco General Hospital, United States of America (currently in Kenya).
Mobile: +254 715 059 933, E-mail: meyerac@sfgh.ucsf.edu
Dr Tarun Dua, Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Office: +41 22 79 13059, E-mail: duat@who.int
Note for the Media WHO/Bulletin
6 April 2010
NOTICE TO READERS: The Bulletin of the World Health
Organization was created by WHO as a forum for public
health experts to publish their findings, express their views
and engage a wider audience on critical public health issues of
the day. Consequently, the views expressed by the writers in
these pages do not necessarily represent the views of WHO.
people with epilepsy missing out on treatment
GENEVA – Up to 75% of people with epilepsy may be missing out on treatment, according to research published this month in the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, a potentially serious neurological disorder which causes recurrent seizures that are sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness. The study found a huge difference in the care of epilepsy patients between high- and low-income countries and between urban and rural settings.
„Epilepsy can be diagnosed and treated inexpensively,“ says co-author Dr Ana-Claire Meyer, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital, in the United States of America. „Nonetheless, a vast majority of people with epilepsy in many resource-poor regions do not receive treatment.“
Without treatment, people with epilepsy can suffer psychological distress, physical injuries and social stigma. More than 70% of patients who are treated with anti-epileptic drugs are free from seizures within 5 years of diagnosis.
Read the paper here: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/09-064147.pdf
The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world’s leading public health journals. It is the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO), with a special focus on developing countries. Articles are peer-reviewed and are independent of WHO guidelines.
Further items in the April issue include:
Cities celebrate World Health Day on 7 April with the theme of urbanization and health.
Indian study links city lifestyles to increased chronic diseases.
Dr Yang Gonghuan, director of China’s National Office of Tobacco Control, talks about the formidable forces of opposition to tobacco control.
The cost of female genital mutilation on women’s lives and the health system.
Fighting the $75-billion dollar trade in counterfeit medicines.
Massive improvements in child nutrition in Brazil.
Universal coverage in Switzerland, a model system?
Fatal injuries in South African children and the need for safety improvements
The Bulletin’s table of contents can be found at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/en/index.html
The complete contents of the Bulletin, since 1948, is now available free to all readers worldwide through PubMed Central, available at: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/tocrender.fcgi?journal=522&action=archive
For further information please contact:
Sarah Cumberland, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Office: +41 22 791 2570, Mobile: +41 79 206 1403, E-mail: cumberlands@who.int
Dr Ana-Claire Meyer, San Francisco General Hospital, United States of America (currently in Kenya).
Mobile: +254 715 059 933, E-mail: meyerac@sfgh.ucsf.edu
Dr Tarun Dua, Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Office: +41 22 79 13059, E-mail: duat@who.int
Note for the Media WHO/Bulletin
6 April 2010
NOTICE TO READERS: The Bulletin of the World Health
Organization was created by WHO as a forum for public
health experts to publish their findings, express their views
and engage a wider audience on critical public health issues of
the day. Consequently, the views expressed by the writers in
these pages do not necessarily represent the views of WHO.
people with epilepsy missing out on treatment