Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterised by a tendency to have recurrent seizures which are the result of sudden excessive electrical activity in different parts of the brain.
Symptoms of a seizure vary from brief lapse of attention, disturbed vision and hearing to severe convulsions and a loss of consciousness and frequency and can vary from several per day to one a year.
Epilepsy is often the result of an underlying brain disease or brain trauma, but for many people the cause cannot be identified and it is presumed to be a chemical imbalance.
Up to 70 per cent of people can be successfully treated with anti-epileptic drugs but others may need to be treated with surgery.