[Epilepsy and dementia].

Japan is experiencing an increase in the number of dementia patients, and the incidence of epilepsy is high among the elderly. A survey, from 2007 to 2012, of 279 epilepsy patients admitted to our hospital's neurology department showed that newly-onset epilepsy occurred more frequently in elderly patients. Of 153 elderly patients with epilepsy, aged 65 years and older, 31(20.2%) had dementia as an underlying disease. Although the prevalence of epilepsy in dementia is varied, higher brain dysfunctions are known to occur as a result of epilepsy. Considering such symptoms as epilepsy with higher brain dysfunction (E-HBD) would enable clinical investigation without overlooking higher brain dysfunctions that have effective treatments.