As Halloween brought October to an end, November introduced many important and special events. For many, it is the beginning of the Holiday season. Most people look forward to spending time with friends and family during Thanksgiving Break, and for others, Black Friday sales are their primary focus. However, November is important for another reason, it is also Epilepsy Awareness Month.

1 in 26 people will develop or suffer from epilepsy at some point in their life. Epilepsy affects all genders and can develop, as well as retreat, at any age. There are four different types of epilepsies, and 42 different types of seizures. With that being said, each case is unique on its own, and sometimes can go unnoticed. However, epilepsy is much more than seizures. Epilepsy can greatly affect someone’s quality of life. In fact, many people with epilepsy are restricted from doing everyday activities, such as driving, or even speaking, and from doing the things they love. While some cases can be controlled by medications, there is currently no cure for epilepsy.

Last Friday marked the last football game for the Paschal High School 2021 season. As well as it being senior night, and many of our last times watching our panthers at Farrington Field, it was also the Epilepsy Awareness game.

Dr. Scott Perry, a pediatric epileptologist and Head of Neuroscience at Cook Children’s Hospital, organized and acted as an advocate for epilepsy awareness at the game Thursday night. I took the chance to talk to Dr.Perry and ask him a few questions about epilepsy, seizures, and epilepsy awareness.

In Dr. Perry’s words, “A seizure is when there is abnormal or too much electricity in the brain and it causes things like abnormal movements, change in response, confusion, etc. Epilepsy is diagnosed when a person has a tendency or reason to have more than one seizure.” While this may sound scary,confusing, and maybe unfamiliar to many people, epilepsy is much more common than you may think.

“Most people don’t know how common seizures and epilepsy are.”, says Dr. Perry, “1 in 10 people may experience a seizure in their lifetime – and that can happen for a variety of reasons. Some people have underlying reasons that make their brain more likely to have seizures recur – epilepsy. 1 in 26 people will have epilepsy in their lifetime. Epilepsy awareness is all about making people aware of what seizures are, how common seizures and epilepsy are, and to learn what to do if someone has a seizure near you.” Dr. Perry is right – epilepsy is much more common than you think, and many people have it,including myself. That is why it is so important to me, Dr. Perry, and many others that we take this month to recognize and learn about what epilepsy is, and how we can help. “The best thing they can do is become informed about epilepsy.

They can learn seizure first aid which will teach them how to recognize seizures and how to respond to them appropriately. The training is online and is easy to complete at epilepsy.com/firstaid.”

Pictured are a few steps to take if you encounter someone having a seizure as well as link below to learn more.

https://www.epilepsy.com/living-epilepsy/seizure-first-aid-and-safety/first-aid-seizures-stay-safe-side

“Again, I think people need to understand that epilepsy is not a mysterious and rare condition.”, says Dr. Perry, “Lots of people have epilepsy, but they just don’t often talk about it. It is important for people to be epilepsy aware – just as important as it is for people to know how to do basic CPR”

Following this statement, the Pantherette asks that you take a few moments out of your Thanksgiving break to learn these steps,and maybe learn a little bit about epilepsy as well. We hope you have an amazing break!