Date:08/03/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/08/stories/2007030819900200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Dispelling myths about epilepsy

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Look at these names: Lord Byron, Edward Lear, Feodor Dostoevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie, Truman Capote, Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Peter the Great, Socrates, Pythagoras, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Peter Tchaikovsky and Georg Freidrich Handel. What do they have in common? Apart from being the greatest of writers, conquerors, philosophers and composers, they all had epilepsy.

Social stigma

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders with an estimated 40 million patients worldwide. In India, which has as many as 70 lakh patients, epilepsy has always been spoken of in whispers. It is associated with fear, misunderstanding, discrimination and social stigma.

Now, the Indian Epilepsy Association, a voluntary organisation with 22 chapters in the country, is determined to bring what Shakespeare called "the falling sickness" out of the shadows. It has been involved in public education and creating awareness about epilepsy and is organising a motorcycle rally on March 11, to this end.

The rally will be flagged off from the Queen Statue in Cubbon Park at 10 a.m. and go through Indiranagar, Koramangala, BTM Layout, J.P. Nagar, Jayanagar, Banavanagudi, Chamarajpet, Vijayanagar, Rajajinagar, Malleswaram, Palace Orchards, Vasanthanagar, Cantonment and return to the Queen's Statue.

The idea is to dispel the myths about epilepsy and reassure the public that it is eminently treatable.