Introduction

About 326,000 American children under the age of 15 have epilepsy. It affects children at different ages, and in different ways.

For some, it will be a temporary problem, easily controlled with medication, outgrown after a few years. For others, it may be a lifelong challenge affecting many areas of life.

The good news is that medical treatment of childhood epilepsy is getting better and research towards a cure continues.

More medications to control seizures are now available. New drugs are being tested in children and in adults. Some of them promise fewer side effects and are easier to take.

For children whose seizures are not controlled by medication or who experience unacceptable side-effects, other treatments may be tried. These include surgery, the ketogenic diet and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).