Epilepsy Foundation of Rochester-Syracuse-Binghamton

Lynda Resnick, author of the national best-selling marketing book Rubies in the Orchard and entrepreneur behind POM Wonderful and FIJI Water, published an impassioned plea for bringing epilepsy out of the shadows in the Huffington Post on May 21.

Lynda led a brainstorming session with representatives from major epilepsy groups such as the National Epilepsy Foundation and Citizens United for Research on Epilepsy to develop a collective vision statement for all of the organizations working to end the stigma of epilepsy.  That vision statement is below.

"Epilepsy hijacks the lives of one in one hundred Americans of all ages. It is an indiscriminate, unpredictable, misunderstood group of ever-changing diseases that manifests itself in seizures, brain damage, and cognitive and psychiatric disabilities.

Because epilepsy is a little understood and often stigmatized disease, many patients and their families are reluctant to acknowledge their condition publicly. This affects patient care, early diagnosis, medical research, advocacy, cures - and their very lives.

With recent advances in brain research, our time is now. The only thing standing between us and a cure is awareness and funding. It is time to come out of the shadows and join our cause."

 Read the full article here.