Epileptic births

As with some other pathologies discussed in this book, epilepsy also shows a season-of-birth effect. An analysis of nearly 51,000 epileptic patients in Denmark who were diagnosed between 1977 and 1993 shows a deficit of epileptic births in... 

Epilepsy (or epilepsies, since markedly different clinical entities exist) is a common neurological abnormality affecting about 1% of the human population. Epilepsy is a chronic, usually life-long disorder characterized by recurrent seizures or convulsions and usually, episodes of unconsciousness and/or amnesia. Table 32.1 illustrates the major types of epileptic seizures. Patients often exhibit more than one type. In most instances, the cause of the seizure disorder is not known (idiopathic epilepsy), although trauma during birth is suspected of being one cause. 

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