Letters to the Editor

I’ve just started receiving your magazine and wanted to tell you how much it has helped me. My daughter, Jenna, was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of five. She is now nine and in fourth grade. Jenna has had a tough road so far and as she gets older it seems to get even more challenging.

I have learned and am still learning to be a good advocate for Jenna in many aspects of her life. School has been a big challenge and the article on seizure management in school (EpilepsyUSA July/August), was perfect material to show Jenna’s teachers.

Dear Editor:

I appreciated the article on epileptogenesis you wrote in the recent EpilepsyUSA magazine [Sept/Oct. 2007]. The article talks about how the brain tries to repair itself after an insult, “But for reasons still unclear, the repair job is faulty, and the end result is a heightened predisposition to further seizures.” This is what epileptologists call “kindling” and it is very controversial. I too believe this. I have two children with epilepsy and am a doctor myself. Our neurologist doesn’t believe it.
What do you think?

Yours truly,
Elliott Lehrer

The author of Unraveling Epileptogenesis:
Research Yields Clues to How Epilepsy Develops,
Progresses, Brenda Patoine, responds:

Dear Dr. Lehrer:
Thank you for your message. I’m glad you appreciated the article.
There are of course different opinions about the idea that “seizures can beget seizures,” as you say, but that was precisely the message I was left with after interviewing several experts on the subject. The operative word is “can,” because it is by no means certain—for reasons still unclear—to quote my favorite line.
Thank you for your interest in EpilepsyUSA and your support of the Epilepsy Foundation.

Warm regards,
Brenda Patoine