The statistics are stark and sobering —— and for the uninitiated (which is to say most of us), startling. Epilepsy in America is as common as breast cancer, and takes as many lives. A mysterious and widely misunderstood affliction, epilepsy is a disorder in which the brain produces sudden bursts of electrical energy that can interfere with a person's consciousness, movements or sensations. By some estimates, the mortality rate for people with epilepsy is two to three times higher—and the risk of sudden death is 24 times greater—than that of the general population.