Women & epilepsy - Wellness & Lifestyle - Women and Epilepsy Initiative

American Fitness, March-April, 2002

Dr. Martha Morrell is concerned because today more than one million American women have epilepsy. As the immediate past chair of the Epilepsy Foundation and director of the Columbia Comprehensive Epilepsy Center of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and professor of neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York, she is one of the few medical experts who focuses on women with epilepsy.

Dr. Morrell is the spokesperson for the Foundation's Women and Epilepsy Initiative. This initiative strives to empower women to improve their health care, as well as create awareness among health-care professionals and the general public. Furthermore, it supports several activities, including research into reproductive function, bone health, as well as the development and dissemination of information on a range of women's issues.

Until recently, limited attention has been paid to the range of problems women with epilepsy experience. Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic health conditions affecting women of reproductive age. Epileptic women experience a number of reproductive problems, sexual dysfunction, excessive weight gain and osteoporosis. Both seizures and some of the anti-epilepsy drugs can compromise many facets of a woman's health. "The medical community has been slow to recognize the unique problems of women living with this illness," says Dr. Morrell.

The Epilepsy Foundation is a non-profit organization that works on research for the cure of epilepsy, education, advocacy and the provision of services in local communities. The Epilepsy Foundation can be reached at (800) EFA-1000 or www.epilepsyfoundation.org.