October
4th 2012 -- the
Epilepsy Foundation announced a plan to merge with the Epilepsy Therapy Project. This is a big step
for both of the organizations
to help expand and grow together instead of competing against each other.
The Epilepsy Therapy
Project has been a major player in the development of therapies for those who
live with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Therapy Project has developed the furthest
reaching web site, epilepsy.com, for professionals and consumers. “As one foundation, we have the
opportunity to build an exceptional and highly focused organization ‐ with the
capability and expertise to make enormous strides in education, funding and the
acceleration of new therapies.” Said Brien Smith, M.D., Chairman, Epilepsy
Foundation.
I had the opportunity to
talk with Kenneth Lowenberg, Senior Director of
Communications, Epilepsy Foundation. His
excitement about the merge was quiet obvious. He told me that raising the
awareness of epilepsy is one of their main goals. He spoke about the report
released by the Institute of Medicine this year showing the 1 in every 26
Americans will develop epilepsy in their life. “That number is actually likely
to get higher as more and more of our returning war heroes are coming home with
traumatic brain injuries. These types of injuries have a high chance of causing
epilepsy within a few years of their occurrence. So clearly, we are focused on
that and working closely with the Veterans Administration Medical Centers to
make sure early detection and risk factors are evaluated.” Kenneth said.
Along with awareness to the public about epilepsy the Foundation will be focusing
on the need for more
governmental, industry and philanthropic dollars toward improving and
accelerating new therapies and treatments for people with epilepsy.
Epilepsy affects over 2 million Americans and this year another
200,000 individuals in the U.S. will be diagnosed with epilepsy. About one-third
of the individuals will continue to have seizures even though there are
treatments available. The Epilepsy
Foundation and the Epilepsy Therapy Project coming together will be a big,
positive, step for epilepsy. Epilepsy is the most misunderstood
and dramatically under-supported condition -- to improve research and public consciousness
will help to end discrimination and isolation of people living with epilepsy
Thank you, Ryan, for blogging about this important and exciting change for the epilepsy community! Keep talking about it... and hopefully this will encourage others to talk about it, too!! Much appreciated!
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