One in 26 Americans will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime, according to a population based research.

Lifetime risk up to age 50 was 1.6% and rose to 3.0% at age 80, Dale C. Hesdorffer, PhD, of Columbia University School of Public Health in New York City, and colleagues reported in the Jan. 4 problem of Neurology.

Given the recent U.S. population, nearly 12 million individuals (3.9%) can be expected to develop epilepsy in their remaining lifetime, the researchers forecast based on their findings from the population of Rochester, Minn.