What Increases Your Risk

The risk of developing epilepsy increases if you have:³

• Family history of epilepsy.
• Head injury (for example, a penetrating wound or skull fracture) with loss of consciousness or amnesia for more than 24 hours. The more severe the injury, the higher the risk.
• Stroke or conditions that affect the blood vessels (vascular system) in the brain.
• Brain tumor.
• Brain infection, such as encephalitis or meningitis.
• Lead poisoning, food poisoning, or exposure to toxic fumes.
• Problems with brain development that occurred before birth.
• Substance abuse.
• Fever seizures that last a long time (also known as febrile convulsions).
• Alzheimer's disease.

Epilepsy may develop even though you do not have any risk factors. This is especially true of many forms of childhood epilepsy.