Epilepsy Talk
Truth or Lies: Epilepsy in Movies and TV
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Apart from tuberculosis and syphilis, few diseases have been as steeped in myth as epilepsy.
The generalized tonic-clonic seizure has been associated with phenomena ranging from divine powers and possession by spirits to mental and moral depravity.
This has been chronicled and described extensively in fiction and feature films.
They do nothing but reinforce the stigma that is rampant about the condition.
But not always.
Epilepsy and Diabetes — Confusion or Common Cure?
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A seizure can be quite serious and can be a scary experience for not just the person experiencing it but for the people around them.
While seizures are caused due to many reasons, one of the prime reasons for a seizure to occur is when people have epilepsy.
Among those types of seizures are diabetic seizures, which can sometimes turn into an emergency quite quickly.
Tags: blood sugar, coma, diabetes, emergency, Epilepsy, Glucophage, seizures
What most offends YOU about how people treat epilepsy?
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I call epilepsy the “stealth condition,” because most people don’t actually witness a seizure.
Which results in an abundance of ignorance…misinformation..and to be frank, discrimination and slurs.
Tags: achievement, advocate, behavior, discrimination, Epilepsy, ignorance, misinformation, pariah, seizures, stigma
Did you know Snow White’s “Dopey” had epilepsy?
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No he wasn’t dumb…slow…or retarded. “Dopey” had a condition known as Angelman syndrome (AS).
Seniors — Alzheimer’s, Epilepsy or Seizures?
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The question of whether a person has epilepsy or Alzheimer’s can be a tough one.
Take those “senior moments” — memory lapses, zoning out and other temporary confusion. These seemingly harmless incidents may actually be a sign of epilepsy. Roughly 1-2 percent of seniors develop epilepsy — and that rate is rising.
But experts at the U.S. National Council on Aging warn that often epilepsy goes undetected in seniors.
Tags: "senior moments", Alzheimer's, drugs, Epilepsy, medications, misdiagnosed, Research, seizures, undetected
Combined Meds — What They Are Doing to Your Body
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For many of us, monotherapy just doesn’t work.
However adjunct therapy has its dangers.
For example, some seizure medicines can lower or raise the levels of other types of medicines in your blood.
Some combinations cause the levels of both medications to fall.
Some cause one level to fall and one level to rise.
And some cause unpredictable side-effects.
So I hunkered down to discover the unhappy marriages between anti-seizure meds.
MS or Epilepsy?
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Recently a woman wrote to me telling about the awful diagnostic disaster that she had been through.
In her words: “It took 3 years, 3 primary doctors, and 7 neurologists to diagnose me.
I told everyone that ‘it feels like my brain is shaking in my head.”
If they had listened to me the first time and had done a simple EEG, it would’ve saved us and the insurance company a lot of money!”
Tags: autoimmune, Epilepsy, misdiagnosis, MS, neuroimaging, research sparse
Top Seizure Apps For Smartphones…
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Smart phone apps for epilepsy have been studied with the results published in the International Journal of Epilepsy
Led by Dr. Lakshmi Narasimhan Ranganathan from the Institute of Neurology, Madras Medical College (Madras, India), researchers surveyed the mobile applications available for the everyday care of epilepsy patients.
Those apps include seizure diaries as well as medication trackers with reminders to take the next pill.
Apps are available to answer any question patients with epilepsy might have and to remind doctors about drug interactions to watch out for.
Most of them are free of charge.
Sleep apnea — it’s not just what you think it is
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It’s not just snoring. It’s much more dangerous than that. Even deadly.
The estimated prevalence in North America is approximately 15 to 30 percent in males and 10 to 15 percent in females, But, as much as 40 percent of epilepsy patients suffer with undiagnosed sleep apnea. Especially those with refractory epilepsy.
Tags: breathing, CPAP, dangerous, Epilepsy, oxygen, seizures, sleep apnea, sleep quality, snoring
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Epilepsy Talk 