Neurological Illness Of Americans

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Using data from the US and other developed countries when the US data wasn't good enough, the researchers estimated the prevalence and incidence of 12 different neurological disorders among Americans.

The 12 disorders they included were:

- Autistic spectrum disorders, including Asperger's Syndrome
- Cerebral palsy
- Tourette syndrome
- Migraine
- Epilepsy
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Parkinson's Disease
- Stroke
- Major traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease - a type of motor neurone disease).
In some cases they used prevalence, or the proportion of people with the disorder, which is a more suitable way of estimating impact for long lasting diseases, such as epilepsy, and in other cases they used incidence or rate, which is more suitable for measuring impact of diseases of shorter duration, or that can strike more than once in the same person, such as injuries. When these figures are translated into proportions of the overall population, they add up to millions of Americans living with one or more of these 12 neurological illnesses. For example, half a million American children have an autistic disorder, over 2 million Americans have epilepsy, nearly 3 million have had a stroke, more than 35 million suffer migraines.

The study team comprises six scientists representing the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Strokes (NINDS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland; and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health and Promotion, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. The study was led by Dr. Deborah Hirtz, of the NIH/NINDS in Bethesda.