Do seizures damage the brain? The epidemiological evidence.

Do seizures damage the brain? If they do, how often does it happen? The answers are very dependent on the type of research that is used to investigate the questions. Evidence has come from two areas of study that are of particular interest to paediatricians: the outlook for children who have febrile convulsions, and the prognosis after status epilepticus (in this paper febrile convulsions lasting longer than 30 minutes are called lengthy febrile convulsions and are considered separately from status epilepticus). When considering the outcome after seizures it is important to take account of the different types of study that have provided the evidence in children.