Here's your chance to find out more about epilepsy. Just come along to one of the information events in Wick, Thurso and Ullapool run by Epilepsy Scotland.  

31 August 2010

The Norseman Hotel, Riverside, Wick from 2.00 - 4.00pm.

The Pentland Hotel, Princess Street, Thurso from 6.30pm - 8pm

1 September 2010

Macphail Centre, Mill Street, Ullapool from 2.00pm - 4pm.

There will be awareness talks delivered by Grant Wright, our training manager, at all of the above events

Staff from Epilepsy Scotland will tell you about the range of services on offer including a freephone helpline, website, information and leaflets.

Epilepsy Link Officer Craig Blair is encouraging people living in and around the North of Scotland to come along and find out more. He said: "We are delighted to be coming up to Caithness and Wester Ross area to inform rural communities about epilepsy. Visiting rural parts of Scotland is very important to us, people often find it difficult to access information or have experts to talk to, everyone is welcome to come along and we look forward to meeting and informing the community about epilepsy"

If you live in any of the areas above please download the posters and help us by promoting these events. You can contact Craig Blair on 0141 427 4911 for more information.

Big Brother runner up and Insight Radio presenter Mikey Hughes has launched our new Braille helpline card. RNIB Scotland and Sense Scotland are among several organisations making this card available to blind and partially sighted people across the country. The new format makes vital information about epilepsy accessible to thousands of people registered with sight problems in Scotland. Click to listen to Mikey’s interviews with our Chief Executive Lesslie Young and Epilepsy Link Officer Craig Blair.  

For your free copy of the card call our helpline 0808 800 2200 or email: enquiries@epilepsyscotland.org.uk, text 07786 209 501 or share this on Twitter or Facebook.

The first network meeting was held in Dundee on 19 June 2010.  As part of National Epilepsy Week, support groups from across Scotland were invited to come along and join in the first ever National Network for support groups from across Scotland.  The event was well received and it will be an annual event which will grow from strength to strength!  We hope that more support groups will join the network to help support one another.  Epilepsy Link Officer Craig Blair commented “this was a fantastic opportunity for people to come together for the first time to share ideas, concerns and meet other people with epilepsy.  Scotland can be a very isolating place if you feel you are alone.  The network helped by bringing people together”.

The network discussed and shared key issues which affect their support groups. There were excellent examples of how support groups can make a huge difference in their local communities and the variety of work and topics discussed.  The Network will allow groups to share, support and encourage ideas which will benefit all involved.

Here are some comments and feedback from the network meeting:

“very useful and informative, great to exchange ideas”

“good experience and a good chance to voice opinions and ideas”

“very interesting to know how groups choose their topics to discuss”

“well worthwhile, got a lot out of it and lots of ideas, cake was great”

“really helpful, I feel part of other areas now, sharing stories and inspiring ideas”

“it has been a great day. Good to hear from other groups about a whole range of issues. I look forward to meeting up with other groups. From this meeting I will be able to go back to Dumfries and Galloway with a lot of information that will help our group”

“I feel energised now”

If you would like to get involved with a support group or feel you have a group that should join the network please get in touch. You can also find out more about your local support group. Contact Craig Blair Epilepsy Link officer on 0141 427 4911 or email cblair@epilepsyscoltand.org.uk

Epilepsy Scotland's new ambassador, Rosie Gilmour has helped to highlight our new initiative with Glasgow Taxis Limited. Over 1,000 cab drivers have been given a free epilepsy first aid card to help them if a passenger takes a seizure. She took part in the photo call to show how Glasgow Taxis are leading the way in raising epilepsy awareness and looking after the safety and care of passengers. View the press release.

We have asked our expert on photosensitive epilepsy, Professor Graham Harding, about the safety of 3D television sets which are about to go on sale. There has been some press coverage suggesting that 3D TV sets are not suitable for people with epilepsy and may trigger seizures. However, Professor Harding advised that in his expert opinion the risk is not any greater than normal viewing on an ordinary TV set. We will carefully monitor the situation and will update this advice as and when this becomes necessary.

If your job involves commissioning and tendering for health services, you may want to read about the JEC Better value, better care conference. This one day event takes place on 23 February 2010 in London. For more details, click here and read the press release.

Canadian researchers have watched several American hospital soaps to check if people are treated appropriately according to guidelines. In almost half the cases involving epilepsy, the wrong things were done. For more information, click here. To listen to Chief Executive Lesslie Young’s interview on this topic on BBC Radio Scotland’s Newsdrive programme, click here.

If your job involves commissioning and tendering for health services, you may want to read about the JEC Better value, better care conference. This one day event takes place on 23 February 2010 in London. For more details, click here and read the press release.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Ketogenic diet, come along to the ‘Family conference for the dietary treatment of epilepsy and Glut 1 DS, at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh on 9 October. For more information, click here.

This scientific meeting will take place between 5 and 8 October 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh where health professionals will be able to share information and establish clinical and research collaborations. For more information on this symposium, please click here.

Scientists at Newcastle University may have discovered a likely cause for drug-resistant epilepsy. Tests on patients' brain tissue revealed that some seizures are caused by electrical connections between nerve cells rather than chemical ones. This 'faulty wiring' would explain why some patients do not respond to drugs and have to resort to surgery.

Please click here to find out more about this latest research.

Pharma company Eisai have launched a new anti-epileptic drug, Zebinix (eslicarbazepine acetate). It is based on the drug carbamazepine, which has been widely used for many years. Zebinix is a once daily anti-epileptic drug, and can be prescribed for partial seizures as an add-on treatment for adults. If you want to find out more about this new drug, please click here.

Following requests by Epilepsy Scotland, we understand the Scottish Government accepts there are certain drugs where a switch to a generic equivalent in 2010 may not be clinically appropriate for all patients. This includes some drugs prescribed for use by those with epilepsy. It appears that people will be assessed on an individual basis. Patients who are being prescribed those drugs will continue to receive the same proprietary drug that they currently receive, where their prescriber (clinician) decides this is the right course for the patient. The Scottish Government will be working with clinicians and patient groups like Epilepsy Scotland to ensure that these new arrangements are introduced sensitively. This will help improve the effectiveness of prescribing while safeguarding the interests of patients. If this issue is important to you, please contact your MP and your MSPs and share your views. Epilepsy Scotland also welcomes your feedback at enquiries@epilepsyscotland.org.uk

If you have had a single seizure, you could now get your driving licence back much sooner than the full year you previously had to wait. If the following applies to you, you may be allowed to drive again after just six months:

• you have only had a single seizure
• your EEG and/or brain scans are clear
• you don’t need to take anti-epileptic drugs, and
• your neurologist thinks you are safe to drive again

This applies to ordinary driving licences (Group 1). If you have an LGV or PCV (Group 2) licence, you will now only need to wait 5 years, instead of the 10 years, before you get your licence back, as long as you meet the above criteria. Contact us on 0808 800 2200 if you want to talk to someone about this.

Glasgow IT firm Russell Hamilton Business Systems Limited and the Scottish Parliament have each won Scotland’s Employer of the Year Award for epilepsy!

Both organisations give exemplary support to staff with this common neurological condition. Russell Hamilton director David Irving and Scottish Parliament head of HR Strategy and Policy, Mary Nicol received an award trophy before 300 corporate guests attending the charity’s Wag of Wags Dinner in the Glasgow Marriott Hotel.

Our Employer of the Year Award recognises organisations which follow best practice in the recruitment and career development of people with epilepsy.

Pre-conceptual counselling could reduce potential health risks among babies of would-be mothers with epilepsy. Read our press release about a new study that suggests children born to women taking the anti-epileptic drug (AED) sodium valproate are more likely to have a lowered IQ at three years of age.