Epilepsy in the elderly: Unique challenges in an increasingly prevalent population

Best care for older people with epilepsy: A scoping review

“…Diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in older adults can be challenging but were not featured in this report as they have been extensively covered in other reviews [7,8,13,14,110]. Aspects relating to medical treatments were only briefly mentioned when relating to self-management.…”

“…However, seizure frequency is often self-reported in studies and may be under-estimated due to memory issues and lack of witnesses. There have been excellent reviews on the challenges in diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in older people [7,8,10,13,14].…”

The Magic of Spells

“…Seizures may be either generalized (toniclonic, absence, myoclonic or atonic) or partial, where they are unilateral and consciousness can be preserved. Complex partial and generalized tonic clonic seizures make up over half of seizures (4). Fyodor Dostyeski (1821-1880) was the prototypic example of complex partial seizures where he presented with ecstasy or anguish followed by convulsions.…”

Incidence of Adult-Onset Epilepsy and the Contributory Role of Neurocysticercosis in a Five-Year, Population-Based, Prospective Study in Rural Ecuador

“…Most studies came from patients admitted to hospitals or evaluated at epilepsy clinics, [4][5][6][7] and others were confined to older adults or just assessed the risk of seizures in patients with specific diseases, that is, strokes, brain tumors, or encephalitides. [8][9][10][11][12][13] These studies are not representative of the population of individuals with adult-onset epilepsy at large.…”