Any patient suffering from new or worsening medical symptoms hopes for a relatively quick and accurate diagnosis.
However, for many people with episodic disabilities – periodic or intermittent conditions like migraines, lupus, Crohn’s disease and epilepsy, in which the presence and severity of symptoms fluctuate – a swift diagnosis is not guaranteed.
New research from Michigan State University focuses on diagnostic delays experienced by people with one such condition: epilepsy, a neurological disorder characterized by unpredictable seizures that affects over 3 million people in the United States and 50 million worldwide.
Epilepsy has different symptoms that come and go, which makes it hard for doctors to identify using regular screening tools. People from low-income backgrounds and those whose…