Epilepsy Blog Relay: Does hot weather affect epilepsy?

My seizures have been controlled for years but I’ve always felt a little off when I get too hot. When warmer weather rolls around I begin to wonder does hot weather affect epilepsy?

Epilepsy and Hot Weather

Well, turns out I wasn’t the only one wondering. According to a survey conducted by the Epilepsy Society (UK) in June 2020, showed that 62% of respondents with uncontrolled seizures saw an increase in their seizure activity during hot weather.

In a report on the survey, the Epilepsy Society noted, “More than 1,000 people responded to our survey, including 969 people whose epilepsy does not respond to current treatments. A total of 598 of this group said that they experienced a change in their seizure activity during very hot weather. This included an increase in frequency, severity or a ‘breakthrough’ seizure even when they considered their epilepsy to be generally well controlled.”

Epilepsy and Climate Change

Additionally, 40% of respondents expressed concern that climate change would affect their epilepsy or the epilepsy of the person they cared for. And 75% said they would like to see more research into the impact of climate change on the condition and what could be done to address it.

Thanks to the Epilepsy Society for sharing these survey results. To read the full report click here.

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Jessica K. Smith Founder and CEO; Executive Director

Jessica Keenan Smith is a patient advocate and epilepsy community leader with more than 15 years of experience. As Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy and Executive Director of ASENT she bridges the gap between the scientific and patient communities, with a particular focus on the needs of the epilepsies. Jessica Keenan Smith is Founder and CEO of Living Well With Epilepsy, an award winning online resource for people affected by epilepsy to share stories and access in-depth information on the disease. Since 2009, Living Well With Epilepsy (https://livingwellwithepilepsy.com) has been featured in Forbes, Wired, NBC, NPR and the cover story of Epilepsy Advocate Magazine and has partnered with companies such as UCB, Lundbeck, Sunovion, Eisai, and more. Ms. Smith is also the Executive Director of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics (ASENT) (https://asent.org), an organization that brings together leaders from industry, academia, government and advocacy who are engaged in bringing drugs and devices to market across all neurologic disease states. In this role she is responsible for leading a successful scientific journal and annual scientific conference with speakers from all over the world.

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