Epilepsy Awareness

It’s the middle of November and I have avoided writing for months. I often wondered why. I think there are many reasons. First, I am a perfectionist and want everything I do to have no mistakes in it. In turn, this takes a lot of work to make sure everything is in order. Even now, when I am writing, I can feel my internal censor at work. However, I know that editing yourself as you write is not the most efficient way of getting something done.

We are in the swing of National Epilepsy Awareness Month. For the 65 million people worldwide and 3 million Americans with epilepsy, we need to spread the word that epilepsy is not something to be scared of. We also need to raise the profile of epilepsy, since it is more common than MS, breast cancer, and Parkinson’s disease combined yet receives much less funding.

There are many issues related to epilepsy that need to be addressed. Awareness is key, as well as new treatments and attitudes about treatment. There is new/upgraded technology that can help with not only achieving seizure freedom, but a better quality of life. In the past, surgery was only considered as a last resort when medication options have failed. Now, we know this is not the best alternative, especially for some particular types of epilepsy. Temporal lobe epilepsy was always the best candidate for surgery, but now we know other types of seizures can lend themselves to surgery as well. Children especially are good candidates since their brains have a lot of plasticity, meaning that they can adapt and other parts of the brain can take over functions that the part that was taken out originally was responsible for. In fact, it is possible to do a corpus callosotomy, where you cut the brainstem in two in order to stop a seizure from spreading from one side of the brain to the other.

With knowledge of first aid for different types of seizures, people will be well-equipped to handle any situation that may occur. I may just be preaching to the choir (although I am not religious), but I’m just repeating this information:

NEVER PUT ANYTHING IN A PERSON’S MOUTH DURING A SEIZURE. This can make them choke and blocks the airway.

Always lay the person on their side and put something soft under their head. 

Remove any glasses, loosen any tight clothes around the neck, and clear away anything that may interfere. 

Keep bystanders away. 

Time the seizure. If it lasts for more than 5 minutes, call 911. 

Stay with the person and see if they need anything and are ok in the recovery period (post-ictal) after the seizure is over.

Tomorrow I will write about some of the new treatments that exist now. It will be part of the Epilepsy Blog Relay.