Epileptic attack risk

JohnC6

JohnC6

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I meant to ask about this a couple of days ago. I was sitting in the passenger seat of our car as we drove home from a supermarket and on the left were a long line of tall,trees.At this time of year, of course, no leaves so the low, very bright, sun, behind them caused a very strong strobe-effect, so much so, I had to move the sun shade from the windscreen to the passenger window. It reduced it a lot but it was still there. It occurred to me that it could trigger an epileptic fit in someone with that condition. I don't know anyone who suffers epilepsy and wondered if someone here knows, via family or a friend, if this would, indeed, be enough to trigger a fit ? If so, would a sufferer have time to close their eyes or would it affect them instantly within the first few metres or so before they could do anything ? When we travelled to London by train the same happened with trackside trees. For me, an annoyance but quite a problem for sufferers, I'd imagine.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
There's a great deal of information on this subject. Here are some links...



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Thanks for the links but whilst they all concerned a driver none gave an external cause for an attack like the one I've mentioned. Apart from the last link the studies we're just concerned with those who had an epileptic attack with no possible causes cited. I appreciate the studies were just about a driver having an epileptic fit no matter the cause, external or otherwise.The last link which is about trees in France..avenues of tress, is concerned about vehicles, especially motorbikes, crashing into them and that being the cause of fatalities.

My specific question was, could sunlight through trees be a problem for epileptics in a moving car ? I also mentioned the same scenario whilst travelling on a train. I'm aware that TV news bulletins will warn viewers of flash photography in a report and I assume that's for epileptics. It's just that my scenarios can appear in an instance with no warning. Can epileptics 'cope' with a few moments to negate the situation or would an attack be instant ? Maybe I'm not going to get an answer to this. I did find this , assuming 'flashing light' is what someone in a car passing trees with sunlight shining through them, experiences. I would think so .I've also found out that it's actually called 'photosensitive epilepsy" which is not common and the effect can cause discomfort to people who don't have the condition.

Another piece of information"The frequency or speed of flashing light that is most likely to cause seizures varies from person to person. Generally, flashing lights most likely to trigg seizures are between the frequency of 5 to 30 flashes per second (Hertz). The likelihood of such conditions combining to trigger a seizure is small". All I can draw from this, which is quite usefule,though, is that it takes from 5 to 30 flashes a second to trigger an attack. I don't think the sunlight through trees "strobe" at that rate..much slower.

Maybe this one should go into the "too hard" tray.. :D
 
JohnC6 said:
....wondered if someone here knows, via family or a friend, if this would, indeed, be enough to trigger a fit ?
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My late nephew certainly suffered from this - sun through trees & overhead lights on motorways
 
A very good friend of mine suffered epilepsy and one of the triggers was indeed sunlight flashing by through trees as you describe. He didn't drive but he took a seizure on several occasions in such circumstances, as a passenger.
 
a mate of mine had a siezure on his bike on a motorway at night caused by the lights of oncoming traffic, last time he went on a bike, he was relitivly unhurt bar scratches and bruises but it freaked him out and couldnt get back on, i can well imagine sunlight doing it, when i worked on neurology we often induced siezures in patients to monitor their eeg waves and flashing lights was a common form though not the only one employed. ive seen a person have a siezure due to flashing christmas lights
 
hunnymonster said:
My late nephew certainly suffered from this - sun through trees & overhead lights on motorways
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Dale. said:
A very good friend of mine suffered epilepsy and one of the triggers was indeed sunlight flashing by through trees as you describe. He didn't drive but he took a seizure on several occasions in such circumstances, as a passenger.
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Brendan Mulachy said:
a mate of mine had a siezure on his bike on a motorway at night caused by the lights of oncoming traffic, last time he went on a bike, he was relitivly unhurt bar scratches and bruises but it freaked him out and couldnt get back on, i can well imagine sunlight doing it, when i worked on neurology we often induced siezures in patients to monitor their eeg waves and flashing lights was a common form though not the only one employed. ive seen a person have a siezure due to flashing christmas lights
Click to expand...

Thanks for your replies. They've confirmed my suspicions that sunlight through leafless trees, be it at the side of a road or a railway track , puts people travelling in cars or on the train and who suffer epilepsy, at serious risk of an attack.
 
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