Health Insights and Information: Epilepsy

This week is National Epilepsy Week, and we thought it was a good opportunity to take a look at this condition and how it affects the people who have it and the families that support them. This is a personal point of view from a local observer of the condition.

Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and causes seizures. It can affect anyone at any time in their life. The causes are often unknown; it can strike or change at any time and does not follow any kind of standard path. This makes it difficult to live with, difficult to explain, and difficult to find solutions.

There are many different types of seizures, and because the person themselves is not aware of what is happening directly at the time, they are unable to give an eyewitness account to the doctors and nurses trying to support them. This information is provided by family members and other carers who can only describe secondhand what they see. The condition often results in short-term memory loss, and people with epilepsy need to piece together how they ended up on the floor, why they are injured, and how their surroundings are damaged. If they are alone, that information is not available and can cause further distress for them.

Everyone's seizures are unique to them, and they don't always follow the same pattern for the individual. There are a number of known factors that can help control seizures from happening, which is always the goal. The first one is medication. There are a number of different medications available, and finding ones that work and in the right quantity and combination is very tricky. If someone with epilepsy misses even a single tablet, a seizure can result. Increasing a dosage is not a guarantee of success, and patients can have occasional breakthrough seizures for no apparent reason. Other things that are known to help include drinking in moderation only, making sure you eat before you take your tablets to help absorption, getting good levels of sleep, and keeping stress as low as possible. That's incredibly challenging if you've just woken up surrounded by strangers, wondering why you're on the floor, why your tongue hurts, and what day it is!

Epilepsy is one of the most common serious brain conditions in the world, and almost 1 in 100 people in the UK have epilepsy. There is no single test that can confirm an epilepsy diagnosis, and there is no cure.

The main treatment for epilepsy is medication, which can help stop or reduce seizures. With the right support and medication, many people with epilepsy live normal lives. Here are a few things we take for granted that are a problem for people with epilepsy.

1. No baths, bath bombs, swimming, or even standing near an open body of water is recommended because of the risk of drowning.

2. No driving - many adult epileptics are willing themselves towards 12 months of being seizure-free so that they can either return to or learn to drive. Although newer information by the ILAE is that being seizure-free is more accurately measured by a person being 3 times improved over their last length of time between seizures. So someone who has a seizure every 3 months would then be considered seizure-free after 9 months.

3. No glass coffee tables, dining tables, and other items that can cause a serious injury risk.

4. Beds can be risky places as pillows can cause a patient to suffocate.

5. Around 3-5 percent of people with epilepsy have photosensitivity. This means flashing lights, concerts, Christmas, defective light bulbs, and even sunlight can cause seizures.

6. Something you may not have heard of is SUDEP - it's Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy. The exact mechanisms of how this happens remain unclear, but it is often linked to seizure-related disruptions in breathing or heart rhythm, frequently occurring during sleep or shortly after a convulsive seizure. Some people are at a higher risk than others, and it is something anyone with epilepsy will be concerned about to some level. This is one of many reasons why prevention of seizures is something everyone works hard towards.

Even though, other than taking their medication and avoiding triggers such as stress, lack of sleep, etc., many epileptics feel it's somehow their fault. Completely irrational, and counseling and good wellness techniques can help stop taking responsibility for something that is outside your control.

People with epilepsy are generally intelligent, caring, and brave people. They make great employees but are sadly often overlooked. Whilst it's against the law to discriminate against anyone on the basis of health and reasonable adjustments should be made, it is very difficult to make reasonable adjustments without a sound basis of what's needed. This means that people with epilepsy are often overlooked for employment and promotion because of the risks their health poses not only to themselves but to the work also. This is a real tragedy, and we'd like to encourage ALL employers to consider how they can make room for some of the bravest, most vibrant people they will ever meet.

We'd also like to say if you have flashing lights in your building, get them fixed as an emergency before an emergency happens, and if you're thinking of having very flashy lights, head torches, etc., pick something else. You might just be saving someone's life.

Health Insights and Information: Epilepsy created 19th May 2026