To honor Purple Day 2014, Epilepsy Awareness, we asked our employees at RANLife to wear purple into the office. We are amazed by all the support that was shown today!
There are approximately 50 million people around the world living with epilepsy.
It’s estimated that 1 in 100 people have epilepsy
Epilepsy is NOT contagious. Epilepsy is NOT a disease. Epilepsy is NOT a psychological disorder.
There are approximately 2.2 million Americans living with epilepsy.
There is currently no “cure” for epilepsy. However, for 10-15% of people with epilepsy, the surgical removal of the seizure focus – the part of brain where the person’s seizures start – can eliminate all seizure activity. For more than half of people with epilepsy, medication will control their seizures. Additionally, some children will outgrow their epilepsy and some adults may have a spontaneous remission.
Not everyone can identify specific events or circumstances that affect seizures, but some are able to recognize definite seizure triggers. Some common triggers include:
- Forgetting to take prescribed seizure medication
- Lack of sleep
- Missing meals
- Stress, excitement, emotional upset
- Menstrual cycle / hormonal changes
- Illness or fever
- Low seizure medication levels
- Medications other than prescribed seizure medication
- Flickering lights of computers, television, videos, etc., and sometimes even bright sunlight
- Street drugs
Famous People with Epilepsy
Throughout history, many famous people are known or are suspected of having had epilepsy. These include:

Julius Caesar
Alexander the Great
Agatha Christie
Socrates
Joan of Arc
Harriet Tubman
Napoleon Bonaparte
Vincent Van Gogh
Charles Dickens
Richard Burton
Alfred Nobel
Thomas Edison
And more recently:
Actor Margaux Hemingway (1955-1996)
Actor Danny Glover
Singer-songwriter Neil Young
Adam Horovitz of the music group Beastie Boys
Mike Skinner from band The Streets
American Olympian Florence Griffith-Joyner, aka Flo Jo (1959-1998)
American Football guard Alan Faneca (New York Jets)
American Football cornerback Samari Rolle (Baltimore Ravens)
2006 U.S. Olympic Women’s Hockey Team goalie Chanda Gunn
For a longer list of famous people affected by epilepsy, visit
Wikipedia.
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