Older but Better - Anna's 50th fundraiser!

I am supporting the St Vincent’s Hospital!

In Australia, around 250,000 people are currently diagnosed with epilepsy – that’s over 1 per cent of the population so chances are most people know someone with the condition.  You know someone – me.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the brain. When someone has epilepsy, it means they have a tendency to have epileptic seizures. Seizures are caused by a disruption of the electrical activity in the brain.  Epilepsy can start at any age and there are many different types. Some types of epilepsy last for a limited time and the person eventually stops having seizures but for many people epilepsy is a life-long condition.

Up to 70% of people with epilepsy become seizure free with medication, however, this means 30% do not gain full seizure control.  Even with medication, life does not necessarily become normal due to some side effects.

In addition, some people may die during seizures because of a condition called status epilepticus, or as a result of a physical accident during a seizure (eg drowning).  In some cases there’s no clear reason why a person with epilepsy has died. When this happens, it’s called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).  SUDEP is rare, affecting around 1 in every 1,000 adults with epilepsy each year but it is connected with seizures, particularly tonic-clonic seizures.  No-one knows the exact cause and there may be no single explanation. However, it is thought that a seizure may sometimes lead to changes in the person’s heartrate or breathing. This could cause the person to stop breathing or their heart to stop beating.

It is acknowledged that the brain is the final frontier in medical research due to its complexity.  Epilepsy is just one of many conditions of the brain that is yet to be understood but research is global, strong and continuing.  Please help this research by donating through my fundraising page. 

Thank you!

If you wish to understand more about epilepsy, see https://www.epilepsy.org.au/ or https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/