Thousands of Canadians may be living with undiagnosed epilepsy

Thousands of Canadians who have epilepsy may be living for years without a diagnosis because doctors unfamiliar with the symptoms believe patients have another illness.

While many associate epilepsy with severe seizures, about 80 per cent of patients suffer from mild seizures that are harder to spot, or notice strange smells or experience an odd taste in their mouths.

These signs can go unnoticed by doctors, many of whom are not adequately trained in the number of ways epilepsy can present itself, according to experts.

"Everyone knows about the epileptic seizures where you fall and shake and froth at the mouth and bite your tongue. That is easy," Dr. Peter Carlen, of the Krembil Neuroscience Centre at Toronto Western Hospital, told CTV News. "But in fact, the most common type of epileptic seizures are when you are not there, or you are a little bit confused."