LOUISIANA. (KTVE/KARD) — Epilepsy is a disease that affects millions of people worldwide. March 26 is Epilepsy Awareness Day, and the Epilepsy Foundation of Louisiana is seeking to educate people on the disease in order to spread awareness.
“1 in 10 people will have a seizure in their life, and 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy, which is recurring unprovoked seizures. The Epilepsy Foundation really works to fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and accelerate therapy, stop seizures, find cures, and save lives,” said Sara Franklin, Regional Director of Epilepsy Foundation of Louisiana.
Epilepsy Awareness Day encourages people to wear purple on March 26th and speak up about epilepsy to help break the stigma surrounding those struggling with this disease. Sara described what this stigma commonly looks like.
“Most people think that seizures are what you see in the movies, maybe somebody falling down, laying down and convulsing, and those seizures are very tragic to watch and they do happen, but those are not the most frequent type of seizures. Oftentimes, seizures…might just look like someone’s looking off and staring into space, when really it’s electrical activity happening in the brain.”
One way epilepsy awareness and education can be spread and utilized is through Seizure First Aid. To learn more about this and how to get certified, you can visit the official online certification course. To learn more about how to advocate for epilepsy, and about the Walk to End Epilepsy happening in Washington, DC, visit the Epilepsy Foundation website.
