Star Wars and Star Trek Director, J.J. Abrams, has called on people to talk about epilepsy in a new public service announcement for the TalkAboutIt.org campaign.
Abrams told viewers that “Lives could literally depend on it”, going on to list the statistic for the brain disease in the US.
“Nearly 3 million Americans, 65 million people around the world, live with epilepsy and seizures. That’s almost 4% of the population.
“150,000 Americans are diagnosed with epilepsy each year. One in 26 of us will develop epilepsy in our lifetime. Do you know 26 people? Of course you do.”
In the video Abrams talks about the fear of people with epilepsy to tell those around them that they have it and the misconceptions about what to do when someone is having a seizure.
“We need to talk about it to get the facts about seizures. To gain understanding. To learn what epilepsy is AND what it isn’t. To erase the stigma. To support new therapies and research. To save lives. To know what to do if someone has a seizure.”
Learn more about epilepsy on the official International Epilepsy Day website, www.epilepsy.org.
