Patients Urged to Take Action in Response to New CDC Data
Patients Urged to Take Action in Response to New CDC Data
WASHINGTON, DC, August 8, 2008 – The Epilepsy Foundation urges people who have experienced seizures to take advantage of a new resource, http://www.NoMoreSeizures.org, to become active partners in managing their treatment for the condition. This announcement comes as a new multi-state study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that about 1% of adults have active epilepsy, and many may not be receiving the best medical treatment.
According to the study, 1.65% of non-institutionalized adults from 19 states reported ever being told by a doctor that they had a seizure disorder or epilepsy; and nearly 1% are active cases, which means they are taking medicine for their seizure disorder or have had a seizure in the past three months. The study also found that nearly half (44 percent) of adults with active epilepsy reported having recent seizures. Of those, 65 percent said they had more than one seizure in the past three months. Visit http://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy for more information on the study and details about CDC’s work on epilepsy.
“We applaud CDC for conducting this study because many people with epilepsy assume this is as good as it gets; they are not aware there are other treatment options and believe they just have to live with it,” said Eric R. Hargis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation. “Certainly not everyone will achieve the goal of no seizures and no side effects, but with our basic education and empowerment messages we’re trying to increase the number of those who can. This is what the No More Seizures campaign is all about.”
Information about the No More Seizures campaign will be distributed through the Foundation’s affiliates, its websites and toll-free information line, 800-332-1000. To reach those who believe nothing can be done to improve their condition, No More Seizures will reach out through general neurologists’ offices and through media.
“As an organization committed to finding new treatment options through research to help reduce seizure activity, it is frustrating to know that some doctors are using age-old therapies and not customizing patient care with more current options,” said Hargis. “That’s why No More Seizures is so vital.”
Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. It’s also called a seizure disorder. When a person has two or more seizures, they are considered to have epilepsy.
“Our goal is to encourage people with epilepsy to know about new treatments, seek the care of a neurologist and to engage doctors in conversations to help them manage their specific type of the condition,” Hargis added.
Epilepsy is not a single entity, but a family of more than 40 syndromes affecting more than 3 million people in the U.S. and 50 million worldwide.
The Epilepsy Foundation receives support from CDC to develop epilepsy education programs for schools, police and emergency responders, employers and the general public. These programs teach communities how to recognize and respond to the condition, they build stronger partnership between health care providers and their patients, and dispel the myths regarding the condition. For more information, visit http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org.
###
