BOLTON is developing a dedicated service specifically targeted at patients with epilepsy.

Since December last year, Dr Paul Cooper Consultant Neurologist at Salford's Hope Hospital, has been holding two clinics at Bolton General Hospital and developing stronger links between the two hospitals.

It is estimated that between half and one per cent of the population suffer from epilepsy. Based on these figures there are an estimated 2-300 people in Bolton who suffer from the condition. As part of a national initiative to raise awareness and increase the public's understanding of epilepsy, Dr Cooper and his colleagues are aiming to dispel the myths.

A massive 80 per cent of sufferers have their condition fully under control through a dedicated programme of medication.

Sufferers are either born with the condition or develop it after an early childhood illness which leaves a person with an area of scar tissue on the brain. There are two broad groups of epilepsy, each with its own particular characteristics.

Those born with epilepsy is best described in layman's terms as "the wiring in the brain being unstable" which tends to lead to more generalised fits.

The second type of patient has a condition known as complex partial epilepsy which can cause attacks and disturbed behaviour. These patients do not always have convulsions but sometimes display signs of psychological illness. For these patients an operation can be carried out to remove the scarring and it is the development of this service which is central to Dr Cooper's hopes for the future.

The planned dedicated neuroscience centre for Greater Manchester, will offer further operations to ease the lives of hundreds across the region.

The recent decision to undergo a second period of consultation about where the centre ought to be sited has dismayed Dr Cooper and his colleagues, who are anxious to develop neurosciences sooner rather than later.

Because of the stigma surrounding epilepsy many of Dr Cooper's patients find it difficult to secure employment or receive treatment comparable with their contemporaries in many aspects of daily life.

As part of Epilepsy Awareness Week which ends on Sunday, Dr Cooper and his colleagues who have been nominated for a top award in the Hospital Doctor competition, are aiming to dispel such prejudice. "As part of this week I want to encourage people with epilepsy to stand up for themselves and challenge the prejudice they encounter.

"This is not something which is going to go away, so we have to learn to adopt a more positive, more knowledgeable attitude to it," added Dr Cooper.

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