In this episode, the host of our podcast, David Clifford, talks about Personal Independence. He describes how we can maintain it while also staying safe. Though losing one’s driver’s license is frustrating, personal independence is just more than having the privilege to drive. A level-four Epilepsy Center has all the things that people need to learn about what is causing their seizures. Within a level-four Epilepsy Center neurologists (or more precisely Epileptologists) work in teams to determine the best treatment for a patient. If you have tried more than two failed medications, it might b ..read more

In this episode, we describe Responsive Neurostimulation for Seizures (or RNS) and the RNS System created by NeuroPace Inc. Mike McKenna from NeuroPace Inc. generously comes on the show to describe his own experience with The RNS System. Though RNS sounds a lot like VNS, the two technologies are quite different. Does the RNS System Work? The NeuroPace Inc. website references the medical trial for the RNS System. Long-term clinical results demonstrating that the RNS® System for refractory epilepsy significantly reduces seizure frequency in patients, with 1 in 3 people achieving 90% or greate ..read more

This episode includes the basics of Epilepsy. Have you ever asked yourself, if I had the chance to give advice what would I say? In this episode, the host of our Epilepsy podcast, David Clifford, goes back in time to 1991 to give his former-self advice about Epilepsy and seizures. Are You New to Epilepsy? You should know that it affects a little more than one percent of the population at any time. One out of twenty-six people will develop Epilepsy sometime in their lifetime, while one out of ten will have at least one seizure. In today’s terms, that means there are about 65M people with Epilep ..read more

The EEG (or Electroencephalography) has become the quintessential tool for Neurologists (or Epileptologists) to determine what is going on in our heads. It measures the tiny electrical changes in our brain. Neurologists arrange the data in a montage so it can be inspected. A trained Neurologist can use the EEG data to determine the origination of our seizure and how it moves throughout our brain. Both are vitally important to determine the next steps in our medical treatment. Our host, David Clifford, poses with EEG electrodes attached to his head. Epilepsy Monitoring Units A stay at an Epile ..read more

Have you ever thought about creating a fundraising event for your local Epilepsy Awareness charity? You should! We invite Josh Green (Twitter @JoshGreen321) from Epilepsy Foundation Eastern Pennsylvania to tell us about their NOLA-Themed-Virtual-Gala on March 5-7, 2021. He also provides some handy tips so you can get your own virtual gala ready for Purple Day on March 26th. He shares his experience on his fundraising page for the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania Have you performed fundraising before? Were Josh’s tips useful? We would love to hear your story. You can always reach ou ..read more

In this episode, we celebrate some stories of Presidents whose lives were entangled with seizures or Epilepsy. Were you motivated by the stories of the Presidents described in this episode? We would love to hear any comments you have. You can always reach out to us via email at social@brainablaze.com or via Twitter @BrainAblaze. Thank you so much for listening! See you next time Here is the link to the YouTube edition of this episode. Please be sure to subscribe to our channel! https://youtu.be/a-IA7T2JiGI The post 046: Hail to the Chief appeared first on Brain Ablaze ..read more

In this episode, Christin Godale comes on to the show to provide advice to families that include students looking to transition from high school to University. The transition from high school to university is hard on anyone that tries it. When one add Epilepsy or seizures the transition becomes even more complicated. Christin Godale Christin Godale has lived with epilepsy her entire life. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Neuroscience and Biology from Baldwin Wallace University and interned at NASA Glenn Research Center. Currently, Christin is a Ph.D. Candidate in Neuroscience at ..read more

Have you ever wondered how anti-seizure medications are discovered? In this episode, we walk you through the different generations of anti-seizure medications and tell the stories behind some of the most notable meds. We really appreciate you listening to our show. Without you, we could raise Epilepsy awareness. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (or NINDS) is part of the National Institute of Health (or NIH). The mission of NINDS is “to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease ..read more

In our Triggers episode last season, we covered many of the common Triggers that affect our Epilepsy community. In this episode, we provide tools that anyone can use to discover which Triggers affect their seizures. There are literally thousands of possible Triggers for our seizures. One can go mad thinking of the possibilities. Discovering which Triggers affect your seizures give you freedom. Rather than worrying about all of the possibilities, one can focus on their Triggers. A Seizure Journal is Crucial We suggest that every seizure journal contain AT LEAST the following: The date/time and ..read more

In this episode, we argue that Caretakers (or carers) deserve the right to be full-fledged members in our Epilepsy Community. “He takes care of me more than I could ever take care of him.” – Angelina Simms @angelinasimms While we can never truly describe what a seizure feels like to a person who has never had one, carers (and especially Carers of small children) can tell anyone what it feels like to live with Epilepsy. It is time that we gave them the respect they deserve. Thank You to Our Contributors We really appreciate Mary Overfield and Angelina Simms for their help with this episode. The ..read more