Question: is epilepsy fatal?

Philip Ratcliffe answered on 13 Nov 2014:

Well, it can be.
However, it can be treated and most sufferers can lead a normal life with no real risks. However, the real reasons for epilepsy are unknown, which makes it difficult to eliminate.
Now, none of you are old enough to remember a fantastic woman sprinter known as “Flo-Jo” (Florence Griffith-Joyner). She won gold medals galore in the late ’80s and still holds the world record for the women’s 100m (10″49) and 200m (21″34), which not that many men can actually beat (ask your dads how fast they ever covered 100m). She officially died, aged 38, of suffocation during her sleep due to an epileptic fit (she had suffered from epilepsy since childhood). Many claimed that this was due to doping, but she had never ever failed a test.