Next week, I plan to introduce a resolution designating November 2016 as Epilepsy Awareness Month. One of the world’s oldest known medical conditions, epilepsy is also one of the most misunderstood, often leading to fear, discrimination, and isolation. By raising awareness of the realities of this disorder, we can reduce fear and misunderstanding while improving the lives of the millions affected by epilepsy. A chronic neurological condition, epilepsy is characterized by recurring seizures that are physical reactions to sudden electrical discharges in the brain. While a seizure is often thought to be a full-body convulsion, it can also be brief muscle spasms or unconscious behaviors that appear to be attention lapses. Over 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy, with more than 2 million in the United States. Unfortunately, the cause of epilepsy is unknown in about seventy percent of cases, and one third of people with epilepsy must endure uncontrollable seizures because no available treatments work for them. Please join me in this effort to raise epilepsy awareness, increase understanding, and encourage the support of epilepsy research programs to support the nearly two hundred thousand Pennsylvanians living with this condition. |