March 26 marks the Purple Day commonly known as International Epilepsy Day. This annual event is a worldwide effort to raise awareness of epilepsy. Purple Day was started in 2008 by a 9-year-old Canadian girl Cassidy Megan motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy to remind those who live with seizures that they were not alone. The young girl experienced the social stigma associated with the condition and the isolation from adults and other children who misperceived her disease as a form of insanity. In 2009, over 100,000 students, 100 public associations and 100 well-known politicians participated in Purple Day, and the CN Tower in Toronto lit purple for one evening.
Epilepsy is one of the world's oldest recognized conditions, with written records dating back to 4000 BC. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disease characterized by unprovoked seizures or non-convulsive attacks. It affects around 65 million people worldwide. Modern antiepileptic drugs show high effectiveness and low toxicity and do not cause mental or mood changes. Epilepsy is one of the few chronic diseases for which a sustained remission can be achieved: people can study, work, create families and have healthy children. About 70% of people with epilepsy can lead normal lives if properly treated. However, despite the recent achievements of epileptology, about 30 to 40% of patients suffer from refractory epilepsy. Surgery becomes the treatment of choice for such patients.
The diagnosis and surgical treatment of epilepsy has been one of the main focuses at Polenov Neurosurgical Institute over the years of its research and practical activities since 1926. Over many years of research, the Epilepsy Center of the Institute has amassed extensive archival records that make it possible to observe the dynamics in the development of epilepsies and to study the evolution of the epileptic system. The school for surgical treatment of epilepsy has been created and new methods of surgical treatment are being introduced. The functional group for epileptology holds regular sessions that bring together doctors and researchers of various specialties: neurosurgeons, neurologists, epileptologists, psychologists, neurophysiologists, and pathologists. The current results of research and practical achievements were presented at major world and European congresses on epileptology and neurology in 2016–2017. PhD students and residents take an active part in research projects.