93,000 Pinoys suffer from epilepsy

MANILA, Philippines - Some 93,000 Filipinos suffer from epilepsy, a brain condition wrongly associated with spirit possession and mental retardation, the Philippine League Against Epilepsy (PLAE) said.

In a heath forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians on Tuesday, PLAE president Dr. Josephine Casanova Gutierrez said people with epilepsy are “victims inside and out.”

“They suffer from a lot of anxiety and depression. Epilepsy is very unpredictable. Seizure happens at a time when you’re busy preparing for something, when you are happy. It comes at a time when I should not come out and it can be embarrassing for that to happen in public,” she added.

The PLAE is now intensifying efforts to raise awareness about epilepsy to stop the discrimination and stigma associated with the disease.  

The group describes epilepsy as a brain condition characterized by recurrent seizures that are “sudden, brief abnormalities of behavior, thought, movement or sensation generally lasting for a few minutes.”

From Sept. 3 to 11, the country celebrates National Epilepsy Awareness Week with the theme “Seize epilepsy, seize control, seize life.”

The risk of dying is 10 times higher than the general population. Some of them die because of injuries acquired during a seizure but the cause of death for some cannot be established, thus it is called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.

According to Gutierrez, there are studies that suggested that the “electrical discharge” during a seizure is causing “depression of the respiratory” system and “changes in the heartbeat.”

PLAE treasurer Dr. Marilyn Ortiz said that it is important for those with epilepsy to take their medication regularly, not to skip meals and to have enough sleep to minimize seizure attacks.

Ortiz said children with epilepsy should always be monitored because they may be fatally injured during a seizure attack. She cited an incident wherein a child drowned after collapsing head first into a pail of water.

She added that medication for epilepsy need not be taken for life but could be stopped when seizure is controlled during a certain period, upon the advice of doctors.