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November 4, 2011

Epilepsy awareness events slated

— November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month, a media release says.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition caused by sudden brief changes in the brain's electrical balance, causing seizures. Seizures can alter awareness, movement, consciousness or actions. They generally last from a few seconds to a few minutes. Epilepsy is generally a chronic and/or lifelong condition.

More than 3 million Americans suffer from epilepsy, and it is diagnosed in more than 200,000 Americans a year.

Epilepsy is one of the most discriminated against diseases, said Elizibeth Mayes, the Oklahoma representative of The Anita Kaufmann Foundation.

“People who have epilepsy are scared to talk about it,” Mayes said. “Other people are scared because they don’t know how to help people who have seizures.”

Mayes also said that many people who have seizures can’t get hired because managers don’t know what to do if an employee has seizures.

For Epilepsy Awareness Month, Mayes will hand out information about epilepsy, purple bracelets, pins, ink pens, bookmarks and safety posters in this area, starting Tuesday at the Walmart in Tahlequah. She’ll follow that with visits Saturday at Harps in Fort Gibson, Nov. 15 at the Walmart in Muskogee and back to Harps on Nov. 19.

She will also offer a class in epilepsy safety and first aid from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Muskogee Regional Medical Center in Conference Room G .

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