5 Things About Epilepsy

It’s Common: 1 in 100 people live with epilepsy, meaning 40,000 people in the Toronto area.

Each year, on average, 15,500 Canadians are diagnosed as having epilepsy, making it more common than cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease combined.

It’s Not Contagious: While the cause of epilepsy is unknown in 70% of cases, and it can develop in anyone at any age, it’s not contagious; you can’t catch epilepsy.

It Means you have Seizures: Epilepsy is a disorder that results from sudden bursts of electrical activity in one or various parts of the brain. These bursts of electrical activity result in “seizures.” Seizures can take different forms, from collapsing to the ground with muscles tightening and jerking, to appearing drunk or stoned, to appearing to be daydreaming.

Spoons Don’t Help: The old myth that you should hold someone down and shove a spoon (or anything else) into their mouth when you have a seizure is just wrong. You’ll do more harm than good. Putting something soft, like a pillow or jacket, under the head is helpful.

You might not need to Call that am

bulance: If you know someone has epilepsy and you see them having a seizure, you probably don’t need to call an ambulance right away. Most seizures last less than 5 minutes and don’t need medical assistance. You only need to call an ambulance if it lasts longer than 5 minutes, it is a first time seizure, or the person is injured, pregnant or has diabetes, if the seizure occurs in water, if consciousness or regular breathing does not return after seizure has ended, or if seizures repeat without full recovery in between.