Epilepsy 1

Technology is Making Epilepsy a Bigger Problem

Sofia Gomez-Martinez

Capstone Research Paper

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Abstract

Epilepsy hasnt been a big part of my life, but it was for my mom when she was younger.

When I was told that for class we were making a capstone project, I had no idea what I wanted to

do it on but after a bit of thinking I realized that this project doesnt have to connect directly to

me. A capstone subject should be something I care about, so I chose to do it on epilepsy and

more specifically awareness on epilepsy. I chose this subject because when my mom was

growing up, she had epilepsy which she luckily grew out of. I know that she struggled with this

for several years, so I hope to better understand what she went through and spread some

awareness. The main reason why I say that I want to spread some awareness is because when my

mom was in grade 2 or 3 the had a seizure and her teacher knew that she was having one yet

made her walk to the office during it because the woman thought that my mom would spread it

to the other children. This is quite dangerous and so I believe that the more you know the more

you can do to help. My mom has briefly explained to me what epilepsy is and a few of its causes

but I would like to understand it enough to be able to explain it to others. When I was younger

and a lot more curious I would ask my mom lots of questions about it as most kids do when they

want to learn something new and so I remember a lot of the stories she told me of her

experiences such as the one I mentioned before. Although these stories helped me better

understand what she went through as a child, research will probably better suit my curiosity at

this age. Epilepsy is very much so a part of the medical field which is what I would like to

pursue throughout post-secondary. I hope that by doing my capstone on this topic I will have a

better understanding of certain aspects and the complexity of peoples medical issues
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Technology is Making Epilepsy a Bigger Problem

The term technology is quite a broad term, so Ill narrow it down; devices such as cell

phones and game consoles are what I believe are hurting photosensitive epileptics. According to

a research found by a site called webMD, children ages 7-19 are found to more often have

photosensitive epilepsy. Although boys are less likely to have this condition than girls are, boys

tend to have seizures more often. This is due to the fact that a lot of the time, boys spend more

time playing video games a common trigger of seizures- than girls do. Out of my moms

personal experience and that of many other people with epilepsy, at a young age when she was

highly interested by games like Mario brothers and duck hunt, she spent a lot of time watching

her Nintendo screen and around that time also started having seizures to later be diagnosed with

epilepsy. If this seems to cause people with photosensitive epilepsy to have seizures it is

important that I first understand why, know how much technology has to do with it and what

photosensitive epileptics are forced to avoid because of it. I believe that technology is causing

negative effects on epilepsy and should be seen as a larger problem.

Photosensitive Epilepsy

Photosensitive epilepsy referred to as PSE, is a form of epilepsy in which seizures are

triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space, such as flashing lights, bold and

irregular patterns, or regular moving patterns says epilepsysociety.org. It is very common for

photosensitive epileptics to have seizures caused by 3 to 30 flashes per seconds -also known as

hertz- but they can also be triggered by frequencies ranging from under 3 hertz all the way up to

60 hertz although it is much less common says epilepsysociety.org.uk. To be more specific on

visual triggers of PSE, the epilepsysociety.org.uk states that Some people are sensitive
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geometric patterns with contrasts of light and dark such as stripes and bars. Patterns are more

likely to be a trigger if they are changing direction or flashing... Photosensitive epilepsy can be

diagnosed with an EGG test although it is quite uncommon to have. Only around 1 in one

hundred people have epilepsy and of those people, only three percent of [epileptics]

have photosensitive epilepsy and it is even more uncommon for people over the age of 20 to

have [PSE]. as told by the epilepsysociety.org.uk. Photosensitive epilepsy can be treated using

medication called anti-epileptic drugs or AEDs. This drug treats seizures that affect both sides

of the brain at once which are also called generalized seizures, says the epilepsysociety.org.uk.

AEDs help epileptics complete daily tasks without issues which is quite useful considering the

fact that, so many situations can cause people to have seizures (not only visual components) such

as being stressed or even something as simple as lack of sleep according to healthline.com.

Effects of Technology on Photosensitive Epileptics

Imagine being out with your friends one night and you go to take a picture. Your flash is on and

the multiple flashes of your camera causes you to have an epileptic seizure, this would not only

ruin your whole night but be very scary for you and the others around you. Photosensitive

epileptics have so many things that they are forced to avoid because of their condition. Many

people are under the impression that only flashing lights you see on a screen will cause certain

epileptics to have a seizure but that is definitely not the case. In many circumstances it is

everyday tasks and situations that can trigger them. Simple things such as tiredness, stress or

excitement, something taking up most of your field vision such as being too close to a

screen., or even watching a screen in a darkened room which shows that little things,

even movie theaters, may be dangerous for epileptics says epilepsysociety.com.uk. In addition to
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that, photosensitive epileptics must avoid places such as concerts, nightclubs, firework shows, or

even places with festive lights, due to the strobe lights, flickering lights, [and] lights with a high

flash rate. according to the epilepsysociety.com.uk. In order to keep from having a seizure, if

people with PSE unexpectedly find themselves in any of these situations they have to [cover]

one eye completely with [their] hand to greatly reduce [the situations] photosensitive effect.

advises the epilepsysociety.com.uk. People with PSE can also try to use a flat screen or

computer monitor, take regular breaks from the screen, sit well back from the screen, use a

remote control to change channels, [or] watch tv or a screen in a well-lit room. recommends

epilepsysociety.org.uk. Things that have no relation to electronics cause people to have seizures

as well such as sunlight through trees, sunlight through blinds, sunlight on water, railings or

escalators or other structures creating repetitive patterns as you move past them, wind turbine

blades as well as many others says the epilepsysociety.org.uk. All of these triggers contribute to

my point that is that technology makes it hard for photosensitive epileptics to get through their

day and effects them in a negative way.

Technology Affects more than just Photosensitive Epileptics

Although from my research, scientists havent touched on this subject very much for people with

epilepsy; they have been testing to see how electromagnetic fields have effects on

hallucinations, dreams, out of body experiences, religious experiences, etc. according to the

epilepsysociety.org.uk, some epileptics are experiencing temporal lobe seizures that they believe

to be caused by electromagnetic fields with evidence of experience to support their statements.

One woman by the name of Deb, reaches out for help from other epileptics using the

epilepsysociety.org.uk website to ask others if they have had experiences like her own. She
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writes about how when she is in a car, near a computer or TV she experiences temporal

lobe seizures. She describes how before taking medication to help her epileptic seizures, if you

just put [her] in a car, near a computer, in front of a TV or sometimes on the phone [shed]

slip into a lucid dream, drop off for a few seconds, or lose time on a frequent basis. which is a

form of non-convulsive TLE. Another woman by the name of Sharyl Kamen, shares her

experiences of temporal lobe epilepsy with Deb stating that Even if [she] is not having a

seizure, in the presence of strong wifi [she] feels sick and [she] trebles and another

woman talks about how once she got rid of the TV, limited computer use, and turned the

phone off with the battery taken out her sons TLE (temporal lope epilepsy) has calmed down

and his seizures have dropped significantly. Although these are only experiences shared by

epileptics using the epilepsy societys site to reach out to each other, these similar experiences

are significant enough to determine that technology has at least some sort of negative effect on

epileptics other than photosensitive ones.

Conclusion

After taking the time to research all of this information to prove my point that is, technology has

a negative effect on epileptics, I have convinced myself even more of my statement. It is

important to understand what people with epilepsy go through every day and how it affects their

lives, including the fact that technology makes life with epilepsy -photosensitive epilepsy to be

more specific- a struggle. Not only PSE (photosensitive epileptics) are affected by technology,

but so far, they are the only ones acknowledged by scientists at the moment to actually struggle

with it, which will hopefully change in the near future.

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