Groups host workshop on epilepsy, brain injuries

WARWICK – The Matty Fund and the Brain Injury Association of Rhode Island recently hosted a workshop highlighting the link between epilepsy and traumatic brain injuries that drew dozens of attendees whose lives have been affected by seizures.
About 60 attendees, including families that have been touched by the work of The Matty Fund and the Brain Injury Association of Rhode Island, came to the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick in Warwick for an Oct. 28 presentation by Dr. Andrew S. Blum, deputy chief of neurology at Rhode Island Hospital and researcher at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. The workshop examined the latest research on head trauma and its relationship to acute seizures and epilepsy.
There are more than 3 million documented cases of epilepsy in the United States, with about 20 percent stemming from traumatic injuries. The incidence of seizures caused by head trauma is highest among young adults, ages 15 to 34. •