Epilepsy and the Older Adult

Epilepsy and the older adult

With 300,000 seniors in the United States diagnosed with epilepsy, the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado wants to spread the word that epilepsy can affect anyone at any age. "In fact, a careful look at the statistics shows that epilepsy is as likely to begin when a person is in their 60s, 70s and 80s, as it is during the first ten years of life," reported Michelle McCandless, program coordinator, Epilepsy Education Program for Seniors and Health Care Providers.
The Comprecare Foundation through Colorado Action for Healthy People's Elderly Health Promotion Initiative, funds this program. Funded by an Elderly Health Promotion Initiative grant, McCandless did a statewide mailing to organizations serving seniors and offered health care providers materials and services, including training and technical materials.
The inservice training focuses on teaching care providers to recognize what a seizure is and the special concerns for older adults such as serious injuries during convulsions, and added stress on the heart and lungs. Another major concern is the interaction between antiepileptic drugs and other medications. While medications can control seizures in 75% of cases, taking multiple medications makes treatment more complicated.
McCandless stresses that epilepsy is not a symptom of mental illness or decreasing mental capabilities. "Many seniors remember a time when families sent a relative with epilepsy off to an institution or locked the person in the attic," says McCandless. "Even though this is no longer the case, there is still too much mystery and misunderstanding surrounding epilepsy.
Free resources are available including "Seizures and Seniors," an informational pamphlet; Seizures in Later Life, a 14-minute video exploring epilepsy in later life, and posters, brochures, charts and videos. For more information and to order materials, contact McCandless at the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado, 303-377-9774.

Facts about Epilepsy:

- It can be caused by head injury, stroke, poor nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse. It knows no social, economic or ethnic boundaries.

- It affects about one in 100 children and adults nationally. In Colorado- 40,000 individuals. It is not a disease, not contagious, not mental illness and not a sign of low intelligence.

- It is a disorder that temporarily disrupts the normal processes used by the brain to send messages to the body about what to do.

- Anyone can develop epilepsy at any time, but most seizures can be controlled with medication and good medical management. Many people with epilepsy live normal lives that are uncomplicated by the disorder.

(Excerpted from Exchange, a publication of Colorado Action
for Healthy People)