Saturday is Epilepsy Awareness Day

(KDLM) – Since 2008, March 26th has been celebrated as Epilepsy Awareness Day to cast a spotlight on the 65 million people worldwide that live with the neurological condition.

Epilepsy impacts the central nervous system, causing seizures and other symptoms. Some known causes of epilepsy include brain injury, genetics, metabolic disorders, immune disorders, and infection. However, 40% of are deemed idiopathic cases, meaning the cause of the seizures is unknown.

That is the case for Anna Warner of New York Mills, who was diagnosed with partial brain seizures three years ago.

“When I have my seizures, I freeze up,” says Warner. “It feels like there are spiders crawling on my brain and a switch just turns off.”

Epilepsy can develop at any age, not just in children. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, seizures can start for the first time in older adults almost as frequently as they can in children, and you should always be on the lookout for symptoms regardless of age.

“Sometimes I know if I am having a seizure,” said Warner. “But sometimes my brain doesn’t want to tell me.”

Anna is one of over 470,000 US children that are living with epilepsy, which boils down to about one in every 150 kids. One in 26 Americans is diagnosed with some form of epilepsy during their lifetime, and every year 150,000 new cases are diagnosed. Epilepsy affects more people worldwide than Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy combined.

March 26th is Epilepsy Awareness Day, a day created to show support to people living with epilepsy.

“You can show support for Epilepsy Day by wearing purple,” said Warner. “Purple is my favorite color.”

In addition to wearing purple, people are encouraged to donate to epilepsy research, volunteer at a fundraising event, by taking some time to learn more about epilepsy and learning the signs of a seizure and what to do if somebody is having one.

Signs that someone is having a seizure include:

• The person may become unresponsive. They don’t answer if you call. They won’t react if you wave a hand in their face or shake them. They may suddenly collapse.
• Their muscles clench and they become rigid. This is the tonic phase. It lasts a few seconds.
• Next, a series of jerking movements convulse their body. This is the clonic phase. It can last a few seconds or several minutes.
• Eventually, the jerking stops and they regain consciousness. They may be confused or disoriented for a short period.

If you witness somebody having a seizure, keep other people out of the way and clear hard or sharp objects away from the person. Don’t try and hold them down or stop their movements. Place them on their side and help keep their airway clear. Time the length of the seizure. And never put anything in their mouth. Doing so may break their teeth or jaw. A popular rumor is that somebody can swallow their tongue during a seizure. This won’t happen, but they could hurt themselves or bite you while you are putting something in their mouth.

Seizures can be scary, but according to the Epilepsy Foundation, you shouldn’t call 911 just because someone is having one. Here are some reasons you should call 911: the person has been having a seizure for over five minutes, they have never had a seizure before, they are sick or pregnant, they have repeated seizures or they have difficulty breathing. You should also call 911 if the seizure occurs in water, the person does not return to their usual state or they specifically ask for medical help.