It’s November! You know what that means… It’s time to talk about it!

Talk about what? 

Talk about Epilepsy of course!

Our daughter Meghan has Epilepsy so it’s important to us to spread the word about Epilepsy! 

We want to educate YOU! 

Did you know there are 65 million people worldwide that suffer from epilepsy or a seizure disorder of some kind?

Over 3 million of those people live in the United States and 300,000 of them are children under the age of 15!

Those are pretty astonishing numbers! 

Let me put it another way:

The number of people living with epilepsy or a seizure disorder is GREATER than the number of people living with Multiple Sclerosis, cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, and Parkinson’s Disease combined!

You know what else is crazy…

One third of those 3 million people  live with uncontrolled seizures, because right now there isn’t a treatment available to them that works and for 6 out of 1o of those people the cause of their seizures is unknown.

So what do I want you to know about epilepsy?

I want you to know:

• Epilepsy is a medical condition that is not contagious, but talking about it should be!
• A person having seizures is not possessed by the devil!  A seizure is an electrical misfiring in the brain and can cause many symptoms, from convulsions and loss of consciousness to some that are not always recognized as seizures by the person experiencing them or by health care professionals: blank staring, lip smacking, or jerking movements of arms and legs. ~Epilepsy Foundation~
• NEVER put something in a person’s mouth when they are having a seizure! Contrary to popular belief a person can’t swallow their tongue.  You are more likely to get hurt or hurt the person having the seizure, by trying to force their mouth open.

*Video courtesy of The Talk About It Foundation

• Treat a person who has seizures no differently than how you’d treat any other friend or family member!
• If you ever have a seizure find yourself an epileptologist you feel comfortable with and talk about your options.  You may only need a small amount of medicine to control your seizures! However there are other treatments available like VNS and even surgery.

Most important TALK ABOUT IT!  Don’t be afraid to ask questions or go online, there are lots of really great places to get information:

• The Talk About It Foundation
• The Epilepsy Foundation
• The Epilepsy Therapy Project
• CURE

So are you gonna help me get the word out?

Cool!

Here are some tweetable facts courtesy of Ken Lowenberg of The Talk About It Foundation.  Use the hashtags #EpilepsyAwareness

#Epilepsy  #TalkAboutIt

If someone is having a seizure, NEVER put anything in their mouth! #Epilepsyawareness

If someone is having a seizure, NEVER hold them down or restrain them in any way! #epilepsyawareness

#Epilepsy is NOT Contagious but talking about it should be. #epilepsyawareness

#Epilepsy is NOT a mental illness. #epilepsyawareness

65 MILLION people around the world live with #epilepsy.#epilepsyawareness

NEARLY 3 MILLION people in the United States have #epilepsy. #epilepsyawareness

BETWEEN 4 AND 10 OUT OF 1,000 people on earth live with active seizures at any one time.#epilepsyawareness

There are 200,000 new cases of #epilepsy in the United States. #epilepsyawareness

ONE-THIRD of people with #epilepsy live with uncontrollable seizures because no available treatment works for them. #epilepsyawareness

For 6 OUT OF 10 people living with #epilepsy, the cause of their seizures is unknown. #epilepsyawareness

50,000 people die from epilepsy-related causes in the United States every year. #epilepsyawareness

90 PERCENT of people with #epilepsy live in developing nations. #epilepsyawareness

9 OUT OF 10 people with #epilepsy living in Africa do not receive proper treatment. #epilepsyawareness