Epilepsy and breast cancer have the same prevalence and mortality rate.

In 2009 it was front page news that 45,000 people die each year, and according to the Huffington Post that’s one death every 12 minutes. It also common knowledge that we need to cure breast cancer. In fact, The National Breast Cancer Foundation’s mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need.

Why this matters to you
Which is why it might interest you to know that the number of new cases diagnosed for both breast cancer and epilepsy (all types in the US only) is approximately 200,000 cases each year in the US. That number is not epilepsy and breast cancer combined, they separately have the same prevalence rate.

Additionally, the annual mortality rate for both breast cancer and epilepsy (all types in the US only) is approximately 45,000 deaths each year. That is one death from epilepsy every 12 minutes.

And furthermore…
To take it a step further that’s a new diagnosis every two minutes. So yeah, you’re damn right we need a cure.

Spread the word
The worst part of communicating this information out to people has been the shock and awe when they hear the statistics. It has been especially striking when I’ve mentioned the compared mortality and prevalence stats in the company of active epilepsy advocates.

The question asked of me most is why don’t more people know this? So help me would you? Tell your friends, neighbors and colleagues. Honestly, if you only drop this bomb at a cocktail party or two it’s sure to go viral. So spread the word.

Jessica K. Smith Founder and CEO; Executive Director

Jessica Keenan Smith is a patient advocate and epilepsy community leader with more than 15 years of experience. As Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy and Executive Director of ASENT she bridges the gap between the scientific and patient communities, with a particular focus on the needs of the epilepsies. Jessica Keenan Smith is Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy, an award winning online resource for people affected by epilepsy to share stories and access in-depth information on the disease. Since 2009, Living Well With Epilepsy (https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com) has been featured in Forbes, Wired, NBC, NPR and the cover story of Epilepsy Advocate Magazine and has partnered with companies such as UCB, Lundbeck, Sunovion, Eisai, and more. Ms. Smith is also the Executive Director of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics (ASENT) (https://asent.org), an organization that brings together leaders from industry, academia, government and advocacy who are engaged in bringing drugs and devices to market across all neurologic disease states. In this role she is responsible for leading a successful scientific journal and annual scientific conference with speakers from all over the world.

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