International Epilepsy Day, February 8, 2016

Monday, February 8^th is the second annual International Epilepsy Day.  It falls on the second Monday of February.  This special day was organized by the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE)  and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) and is designated to bring awareness about epilepsy all around the world.  There are many things you can do to celebrate this day:

Attend epilepsy events in your area 

Share your personal stories/take selfies and post them online.  Use the hashtag #epilepsyday     

Post epilepsy facts on social media to educate people about epilepsy.  

Some of these include:

·         65 million people around the world live with epilepsy

·         About 3 million people in the U.S. live with epilepsy

·         1 in 26 people in the U.S. will develop epilepsy at some point in their lifetime

·         4 to 10 out of 1,000 people on earth live w/ active #seizures at any one time

·         150,000 new cases of #epilepsy are diagnosed in the U.S. each year

·         One-third of people with epilepsy have uncontrollable seizures because no available treatment works for them

·         For 6 out of 10 cases the cause is unknown

·         4 out of 10 people with epilepsy in the industrialized world do not receive appropriate treatment

·         8 out of 10 people with epilepsy in developing nations do not receive appropriate treatment

Source: Epilepsy Foundation

You can find more at the International Epilepsy Day, International Bureau for Epilepsy, and Epilepsy Foundation websites.