21 June 2006 Epilepsy Week 19 - 25 June 2006 The City of Johannesburg Health Department would like to create awareness about epilepsy as a common condition, which is however not considered as a priority disease, but does contribute to the burden of disease for Public Health. This is done in relation with the National Epilepsy awareness week takes place from 19th - 25th June 2006. Let us all be aware of this condition in order to contribute effectively in supporting our communities especially our relatives, in order for them to live a normal life. 1. WHAT IS EPILEPSY Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which a person is prone to having recurring seizures. A seizure happens when the way in which the nerve cells in your brain send electrical signals becomes disturbed. These disturbances can interfere with your senses, your awareness of things around you, and the way your body moves. During a seizure, the nerve cells in your brain may fire together and many times faster than usual. Epileptic seizures are sudden, often dramatic "electrical storms" in the brain that affect about 1% of the population. All may be seen as symptoms of a wide variety of underlying disorders of brain or body that promote seizure activity. 2. WHO CAN BE AFFECTED BY EPILEPSY Epilepsy can affect people of both sexes and any age, ethnic background and social class. Some people are born with the condition; others can develop it through head injury or illness. In most people there is no known specific cause of epilepsy. In others, an accident, trauma, or illness (such as a tumor, stroke, or infection) that injures the brain may be a cause. Sometimes epilepsy can be inherited. 3. IMPORTANT TO NOTE Epilepsy is not a condition that gets more severe the longer you live with it. In fact, with the right treatment, most people can bring their seizures under control. 4. TREATMENT The primary treatment for epilepsy is the use of antiseizure medicines - called anticonvulsants or antiepileptic drugs - to bring seizures under control. The goal is to prevent seizures while minimizing side effects from the drugs. If medicines fail to control your seizures, other treatment options may be available. Work with your healthcare professional to make sure your treatment is as effective as possible. Seizures are usually not life-threatening in themselves; however, the consequences of seizing (e.g. while driving or swimming) may be fatal. In rare cases, epilepsy itself can cause death if prolonged repeated seizures are not treated properly. Many different drugs are available for the treatment of epilepsy. Sometimes the first medicine you try will be all that is needed to control your seizures. However, since everyone is different, it may take several tries to find the single drug or combination of drugs that works best for you. Only you and your healthcare professional will be able to decide which treatment is right for you. 5. Monitoring of selected chronic diseases, July 2005 to April 2006, local government primary health care facilities, City of Johannesburg Selected chronic disease surveillance Number Hypertension case put on treatment - new 4,421 Hypertension follow-up visit 141,104 Diabetes mellitus case put on treatment - new 1,652 Diabetes mellitus follow-up visit 23,689 Epilepsy visit 7,241 It should be borne in mind that the numbers on 'visits' (chronic care visits, hypertension and diabetes mellitus follow up visits, epilepsy visits, asthma visits) does not mean the total number of people, since one person with these selected chronic diseases could have come to the health facility regularly in the period being reported on. Epilepsy support groups for the City of Joburg (COJ) facilities will be encouraged. For further information contact: Nkosinathi Nkabinde Communications Officer City of Johannesburg Health Services Telephone: (011) 407 - 6477