Healthsifter by mary desmond pinkowish, since 2003

Job Stress and Seizures

Thi is heartening news from a group of Israeli researchers about the relationship--or lack thereof--between job-related stress and seizures in people with epilepsy. Here's an excerpt from the story in ScienceDaily:

Over a period of three years, the researchers in the Israeli study compared the rate of seizures to the types of duties each group of subjects was assigned to perform ― manual labor, combat fighting, or office work.

“The type of assignment didn't affect a person’s chance of having a seizure at all. The biggest predictor of recurrence is time ― when the last seizure struck. Those that had seizures more than five years ago have little to worry about today,” Dr. Moshe advises.

This is the largest study of its kind ever conducted and included 16,000 people with epilepsy and a reference group that included 300,000 people without epilepsy. The original study appears in the journal Epilepsia. 

Seizure-Alert Dogs

Canine companions aren't only for people with low vision. Read at CNN.com about how some people with severe epilepsy are getting help from dogs who've been trained to get help right away, in the earliest stages of the master's seizure. Some claim that the dogs actually can predict seizure onset. Jennifer Arnold, who trains and places these dogs, is quoted in the CNN article:

"We have no understanding of what it is that alerts the dogs that a seizure is oncoming," she said. "Is it a smell that the body produces? We don't know to what stimuli the dog is responding."

By spending time with epilepsy patients, Arnold's dogs are taught what a seizure looks like and not to be frightened.

Some dogs are able to anticipate a seizure 20 to 40 minutes before it happens.

"If the dog feels that their person is going to have a seizure, they tend to get very restless and distressed. ... They show signs of stress and agitation," Arnold said. "Provided their human can read what that means, you have a really good alert system going on there."

Thanks, Lassie.

Drowning Risk in People with Epilepsy

People with epilepsy are 15 to 19 times more likely to drown that people who do not have a seizure disorder, according to the results of a study just published in the journal Neurology. That gives new urgency to the admonition "Never swim alone." As the authors concluded:

"It is important that people with epilepsy and their carers be informed of these risks so that deaths can be prevented."

Amen. Spread the word.