March 26th is celebrated as “Purple Day” all over the world.
How is this related to epilepsy? Directly. This specific color date was invented in 2008 by nine-year-old Cassidy Megan, who suffers not only from the disease itself, but also from the prejudice of others around her. The initiative was supported all over the world, because the main goal of such “days” is to support the sick and tell the healthy people about the disease in an accessible way.
Admit it to yourself, will you be able to adequately respond if, in front of your eyes in a park or at a bus stop, a person suddenly starts to “convuls”? Just be honest.
On the eve of the thematic day, we decided to turn to neurologist Alina Savchuk for help in compiling the right algorithm of actions in such a situation.
Let’s start a short educational program from the basics:
It is only necessary to move a person somewhere if the attack happened in a dangerous place – in the middle of the roadway, near water or fire.
The first step is to loosen the area around the neck, unfasten the collar or top buttons, in a word, make it easier for the person to breathe.
Put something soft under the head – a jacket or a bag and, if possible, try to turn the patient on his side.
What exactly should NOT be done?
Trying to hold, limit the movements of the arms and legs with the strength or weight of your body is pointless.
For some reason, most of the fears and disputes around the “theme of language” are in a person in an attack. Some strive to put a comb or a spoon into their mouths to open their jaws and prevent them from biting their tongues. Forget about it!
Remember: biting the cheek or tongue, if it occurs, is at the very beginning. So the injury has already happened. And to counteract the strength of spasmodic masticatory muscles is simply not safe.
“And you can harm a person, and you yourself risk being left without fingers, in the literal sense!” – sums up the doctor.
No need to try to give a pill or water during an attack.
Well, no artificial respiration, beating on the cheeks and heart massage!
There is no need to call an ambulance either. Unless we are talking about an injury during a fall, as well as an attack in a child or a pregnant woman.
“The maximum that you can do additionally is to fix the time of the onset of convulsions and stay with the person until he comes to his senses”
Be prepared that sometimes people after what happened literally jump up and run away as if nothing had happened. Although still the best option for them would be to quickly get home to lie down and sleep.
Truth or fiction?
Unfortunately, despite the fact that epilepsy has been studied quite well, the destructive myths around it are still extremely tenacious.
It is because of them that the disease remains so stigmatized that a sick person often feels embarrassed and hides his diagnosis from others.
Lavender color was chosen as a marker not by chance.
It is believed that it has a positive effect on the nervous system.
Below we will try to revise the established prejudices. At least the main ones.
“Epilepsy is always manifested by falling, foaming at the mouth and convulsions”
Not always.
We owe this delusion to cinema, which describes the most radical variant of the manifestation of the disease in all colors. In fact, this is a very individual story.
“To roughly generalize, it is customary to divide seizures into generalized ones (the ones with loss of consciousness and so on) and less dramatic focal ones,” the doctor explains.
The latter manifest themselves in a relatively mild form: only a certain group of muscles can spasm locally (for example, a hand twitches), or vice versa – something like numbness and loss of muscle control occurs. There are also manifestations in the form of deja vu, hallucinations. Often such “fallouts” from the norm are not noticeable to others, and sometimes to the patient himself.
“The life of an epileptic sufferer is full of limitations”
Of course, it cannot be said that there are no contraindications at all. For obvious reasons, they relate to the employment of the sick person: for example, people with such a diagnosis are forbidden to drive vehicles, work on the night shift, at height, near fire or water.
But this does not mean that a person remains completely isolated and deprived of ordinary human joys. Thanks to modern therapy, epileptics can fully study, work, play sports, create families, and all this is outside the “crystal vase” mode. The main thing is a competent approach to diagnosis and adequate treatment.
“Epilepsy is a very rare disease and is only inherited”
Here we fix 2 misconceptions at once.
In fact, it is just one of the most common neurological diseases. According to WHO, about 65 million people live with such a diagnosis on the planet (and these are only those who know about the problem and are somehow struggling with it).
Secondly, the genetic nature of epilepsy is rather indirect. A predisposition to the disease can be inherited. And the risk is not as great as it is commonly believed (if one of the parents is sick, it is only 2-3%).
“The disease manifests itself exclusively in childhood”
Not only.
Experts talk about two age peaks for the onset of the first symptoms: early childhood (here we are more often talking about damage during pregnancy or childbirth, when “something went wrong” with the central nervous system) or age 60+. In the second case, a stroke, meningitis, traumatic brain injury, and prolonged alcoholism can serve as a catalyst.
“There is no point in treating epilepsy, it is for life!”
By again.
Interestingly, this is one of the few chronic diseases where the likelihood of a stable remission is very high. About 70% of patients show a clear positive response to drug therapy and their seizures completely stop. There are other, not related to taking drugs, but no less effective methods of treatment. Sometimes they resort to surgical intervention.
“Epileptics are mentally abnormal, and their level of intelligence is reduced”
Delusion. At the heart of the disease is instability and increased excitability of the cells of the cerebral cortex.
“For clarity, imagine that something similar to a short circuit in the mains is happening in the brain. And because of a further surge in voltage, a person essentially “knocks out traffic jams”. This is how an attack looks like at the level of the scheme, ”the doctor explains the process on his fingers.
Thus, epilepsy is usually classified as a neurological rather than a mental illness. Severe depression and psychosis against its background are extremely rare. As for mental and creative abilities, they are very often even higher than those of ordinary people. For example, Socrates and Van Gogh, Dostoevsky and Nobel suffered from epilepsy. And this is when one could only dream of drugs.
It is surprising that this disease has been described and studied for centuries (Hippocrates was the first), given a lot of names (from the Russian “falling” to the ancient Greek “Hercules”), but there are still undeservedly many white spots around it. It remains to be hoped that with each new “purple day” their number will decrease.
Olga Davydova
Photo: catherineasquithgallery.com
