McALESTER — “A day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self,” a quote by Charles Dickens, epilepsy survivor.
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month and Mia Timmons, a nurse at Heritage Hills, said she would like to see more awareness of the disorder.
"I see so much emphasis on breast cancer and other diseases but we never hear about epilepsy, said Timmons, an LPN.
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month and Elizibeth Mays of the Anita Kaufmann Foundation is working to help educate people about epilepsy, which she said is as common as breast cancer.
Mays is part of the Anita Kaufmann Foundation which is named after a woman who worked to educate the public but who died at the age of 39 from the disease.
Mays said purple is the color to wear. “We wear a purple ribbon to help bring awareness of epilepsy.
“With the stigma attached to epilepsy people are afraid to talk about it, but its more common than people realize,” Mays said.
According to the Center for Disease Control,epilepsy is as common as breast cancer affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide and three million people in the United States.
Each year 300,000 new cases are diagnosed and 45,000 of those cases are children under the age of 15.
epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder and it can happen to anyone. It occurs across all ages, races and genders.
“People don’t know what to do when a seizure happens and we want to help educate people not to be afraid,” Mays said.
Uncontrolled seizures and medication side effects pose challenges to independent living, learning and employment, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
“People with this disease have a difficult time getting hired because of the fear,” said Mays. “People with epilepsy are discriminated against when it comes to getting a job.”
She said education and awareness of the commonality of the disease will help eliminate discrimination.
“We have programs like the ‘Fifth Grade Program’ designed to help educate children about epilepsy, said Mays. “The program is a half hour long and we pass out information to the kids.”
“We also have Purple Day which March 26 where people around the world wear purple in an effort to get people to talk about epilepsy,” Mays said.
Also on March 26 is the Great Purple Cupcake Project which bakeries and cupcakeries are asked by the foundation across the country bake purple cupcakes to promote awareness, according to the Anita Kaufmann Foundation.“
For more information visit akfus.org or epilepsyfoundation.org.
Contact Jeanne LeFlore at jleflore@mcalesternews.com
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