Editing Bell's palsy (section)

==Epidemiology==
The number of new cases of Bell's palsy ranges from about one to four cases per 10,000 population per year.<ref name=Ahmed/> The rate increases with age.<ref name=Ful2016/><ref name=Ahmed>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ahmed A | title = When is facial paralysis Bell palsy? Current diagnosis and treatment | journal = Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine | volume = 72 | issue = 5 | pages = 398–401, 405 | date = May 2005 | pmid = 15929453 | doi = 10.3949/ccjm.72.5.398 | s2cid = 37815525 }}</ref> Bell's palsy affects about 40,000 people in the United States every year. It affects approximately 1 person in 65 during a lifetime.

A range of annual incidence rates have been reported in the literature: 15,<ref name=Familial/> 24,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wolf SR | title = [Idiopathic facial paralysis] | language = de | journal = Hno | volume = 46 | issue = 9 | pages = 786–98 | date = September 1998 | pmid = 9816532 | doi = 10.1007/s001060050314 | url = http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00106/bibs/8046009/80460786.htm | url-status = dead | s2cid = 6740784 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000623213041/http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00106/bibs/8046009/80460786.htm | archive-date = 2000-06-23 }}</ref> and 25–53<ref name=Morris/> (all rates per 100,000 population per year). Bell's palsy is not a [[Notifiable disease|reportable disease]], and there are no established registries for people with this diagnosis,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Annualized Incidence and Spectrum of Illness from an Outbreak Investigation of Bell's Palsy|last1=Morris|first1=Andrew M.|last2=Deeks|first2=Shelley L.|last3=Hill|first3=Michael D.|last4=Midroni|first4=Gyl|last5=Goldstein|first5=Warren C.|last6=Mazzulli|first6=Tony|last7=Davidson|first7=Ross|last8=Squires|first8=Susan G.|last9=Marrie|first9=Thomas|last10=McGeer|first10=Allison|last11=Low|first11=Donald E.|journal=[[Neuroepidemiology (journal)|Neuroepidemiology]]|date=September–October 2002|volume=21|issue=5|page=256|doi=10.1159/000065645|pmid=12207155|s2cid=22771896}}</ref> which complicates precise estimation.

=== Frequency ===
About 40,000 people are affected by Bell's palsy in the United States every year. It can affect anyone of any gender and age, but its incidence seems to be highest in those in the 15- to 45-year-old age group.<ref name="NIH2016" />