Cannabis AND Epilepsy By Heather DeRose
MY NAME IS HEATHER, AND I AM ONE OF THE 65 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE WORLD LIVING WITH EPILEPSY TODAY.
Epilepsy is a disease characterized by the unprovoked reoccurrence of seizures. Seizures may be caused by a traumatic brain injury or have an unknown cause. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, the condition effects 65 million people worldwide and 3.4 million people within the United States—this makes it the 4th most common neurological disorder around the world. Epilepsy effects more people than Autism, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Cerebral Palsy combined. The condition causes more than 50,000 deaths per year—more than those affected by breast cancer. An estimated 1 in 26 people will have a seizure at some point in their lifetime. Epilepsy is a spectrum condition and includes a wide range of seizure types and control which vary from person to person. I was diagnosed when I was 44
a teenager with Tonic-Clonic seizures—previously known as a Grand Mal. This seizure is what most people commonly imagine those diagnosed with epilepsy experience. When I experienced a seizure, I would typically have a few seconds worth of warning: I would begin to feel nauseous or sick before losing
consciousness and convulsing. As with many people diagnosed with the condition, I had several tests done to try to figure out what was causing my seizures. Epilepsy is very difficult to study, unless a patient is hooked up to an EEG machine to find problems related to electroactivity in the brain. The tests
