Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE) applauds the U.S. Department of Defense for the announcement of the creation of a new, dedicated $7.5 million line-item for epilepsy research in the Defense Appropriations bill. This means that epilepsy researchers will no longer have to compete with those in other medical fields for funds from the Department of Defense to conduct their critical work.
In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the ‘signature wound’ was traumatic brain injury. The incidence of epilepsy increased by an alarming 52 percent from 2006 to 2010, with approximately 8 percent of those afflicted having been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI). 24 percent of military related epilepsy is associated with prior TBI. CURE has been a leader in the quest for the answers that research will provide into head injury and the epilepsy that results as a consequence (called post-traumatic epilepsy, or PTE). Those who suffer severe TBI face up to a 50 percent chance of developing Post-Traumatic Epilepsy, with the symptoms of epilepsy manifesting themselves immediately or even up to fifteeen years post-injury.The goal is to recognize who is at risk and develop interventions that can one day prevent those individuals from developing this life-long devestating condition.
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities, Research Announcements
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