Can technology help reduce risk of harm in patients with epilepsy?
Shankar R, Newman C, McLean B (2015) Can technology help reduce risk of harm in patients with epilepsy? Br J Gen Pract. 2015 Sep;65(638):448-9.
First Paragraph: Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is possibly the most common cause of death as a result of complications from epilepsy, accounting for between 7.5% to 17% of all epilepsy-related deaths and 50% of all deaths in refractory epilepsy. The UK has 600 000 people with epilepsy (PWE), 30% being treatment resistant. Sudden death is 20-fold higher in PWE than the general population. Epilepsy is the fifth highest cause of life-years lost in men and eighth in women in the UK. The public health burden of SUDEP alone is estimated as second only to stroke among neurological conditions.