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Pennsylvania State Senate
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/Legis/CSM/showMemoPublic.cfm?chamber=S&SPick=20170&cosponId=26374
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Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted: September 13, 2018 12:49 PM
From: Senator Mario M. Scavello
To: All Senate members
Subject: Designating November 2018 as “Epilepsy Awareness Month”
 
In the near future, I plan to introduce a resolution designating November 2018 as “Epilepsy Awareness Month.”

One of the world’s oldest known medical conditions, epilepsy is also one of the most misunderstood, often leading to fear, discrimination, and isolation. By raising awareness of the realities of this disorder, we can reduce fear and misunderstanding while improving the lives of the millions affected by epilepsy.

A chronic neurological condition, epilepsy is characterized by recurring seizures that are physical reactions to sudden electrical discharges in the brain. While a seizure is often thought to be a full-body convulsion, it can also be brief muscle spasms or unconscious behaviors that appear to be attention lapses.

Over 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy, with more than 2 million in the United States. Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the United States after migraine, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. About one percent of Americans have some form of epilepsy, and nearly four percent (1 in 26) will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, the cause of epilepsy is unknown in about seventy percent of cases, and one third of people with epilepsy must endure uncontrollable seizures because no available treatments work for them.

Please join me in this effort to raise awareness, educate people about epilepsy, and encourage the support of epilepsy research programs to support the nearly two hundred thousand Pennsylvanians living with this condition.

If you have any questions regarding this resolution, please contact Christine Zubeck in my office at 717-787-6123 or czubeck@pasen.gov. Thank you for your consideration.



Introduced as SR466