Nearly 700,000 French people are treated for this chronic neurological disease.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Update
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2024/04/05/maxnewsfrfour624843-660fa1ce1e24c150278611.jpg)
Epilepsy is a marker of social inequalities, this is the conclusion of a study, the first of its kind, carried out by Public Health France. Nearly 700,000 French people are treated for this chronic neurological disease. Their number increases with age and depends on where they live and their social environment.
There are more epileptics in the departments of North, Brittany, Center and South West, in departments where the unemployment rate and the number of workers are higher than elsewhere and the incomes and number of lower baccalaureate holders.
:quality(50)/2024/04/05/d4d6b0f42616-prevalence-epilepsie-h-f-660fafaac4ba5272635722.jpg)
:quality(50)/2024/04/05/33d6ca208e62-prevalence-epilepsie-departements-660fafaac6152946645325.jpg)
Santé Publique France makes a link between these social data and epilepsy firstly because sick people suffer the side effects of the treatments they take to prevent seizures or absences. There are also comorbidities, particularly psychiatric. All of this can result in difficulty finding or keeping a job.
The study also reveals that epilepsy occurs more often in disadvantaged children, perhaps because of exposure to toxic substances and pollution during pregnancy or early childhood, as other studies have shown that Disadvantaged people lived in more polluted areas than the general population.
