The chairman of the University of Arizona's department of neurology will speak about his research on epilepsy among seniors on Wednesday at Academy Village.
Dr. David Labiner will share details of a $1.6 million research grant he and a UA colleague, Jenny Chong, obtained last year from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the incidence of newly diagnosed epilepsy among seniors in Southeastern Arizona.
The free lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the Arizona Senior Academy Building, adjacent to the Academy Village Community Center. Academy Village is an active-adult community just off Old Spanish Trail six miles southeast of Saguaro National Park East.
According to Dr. Labiner, symptoms of epilepsy can be subtle and misattributed. Some symptoms are not dramatic and can include staring, strange sensations, confusion, memory blanks and unaccountable loss of time.
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Research now shows that epilepsy is much more common in older adults than previously assumed, occurring at twice the rate seen in children.
Labiner and Chong's four-year study, begun last fall, is being conducted in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties to determine the impacts of new-onset seizures and new diagnoses of epilepsy among adults 65 and older. They hope to measure the incidence of epilepsy across ethnic groups and identify factors that predict clinical outcomes.
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