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Epilepsy is a common and complicated neurological disorder. It affects millions throughout the country and over 150,000 Americans are diagnosed with it each year. It’s a very personal and serious matter for me seeing as how I have suffered from it my entire life. I believe it is important to create a welcoming and understanding environment for those with epilepsy so that we may better ourselves and our quality of life. I want to offer the resources necessary for those with epilepsy to overcome this affliction. In my opinion, the first step of that long journey is to simply understand as much about epilepsy as possible. With that being said, here are a few interesting facts about epilepsy.

Epilepsy Can Develop At Any Point

For most disorders, symptoms are usually present from birth. While this may ring true for some epileptics, epilepsy can really develop at any point in a person’s life. Usually, there are two time frames in which you are more susceptible to developing epilepsy: during childhood and during late adulthood. Additionally, epilepsy can be the effect of an external event, such as head trauma, brain tumors or dementia.

It Is a Controllable Disorder

While some disorders are uncontrollable, epilepsy can be managed with a healthy lifestyle and medication. And even if medication doesn’t work, healthier diets can certainly make the disorder manageable. According to a report from the journal, Epilepsy Research, 54 percent of children who’d been put on a ketogenic diet had been seizure-free. Additionally, epilepsy is not even necessarily a lifelong disorder. There have been many cases of epileptic children “growing out” of their epilepsy. As they grow and their brains develop, their predisposition to seizures can go away.

Seizures Are A Wide Range Of Experiences

Many people assume that seizures are all completely disabling episodes that involve intense convulsions; this is not necessarily the case. While seizures such as those are very possible, they are not the only type of seizure. Seizures can often go unnoticed. Mild seizures usually involve blank stares, confusion, dizziness, forgetfulness, inability to swallow numbness and even blurry vision. These seizures don’t usually last very long (anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes).

Dealing with epilepsy can be difficult, but not impossible. In order to overcome it, you must understand it. Take this information and search for even more. Arm yourself with knowledge and support, and you will be fine!

Welcome to the beginning of my journey to provide support and direction to those living with epilepsy and to family members of those with the disorder.