Post-Traumatic Epilepsy and Our Veterans: Impact, Research, and Hope

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) can happen to anyone, but our service men and women are at a higher risk for incurring a TBI and developing PTE as a result of their injury. Between 2000 and 2020, over 400,000 active service members sustained a traumatic brain injury. As a result of research, there is much that we know about the connection between TBIs and PTE, but there is still a lot that we don’t yet fully understand about the process that leads to post-traumatic epilepsy.

In observance of Veterans Day, this week on Seizing Life ® we focus on TBI and PTE in veterans. We revisit past conversations with Retired Army Captain Patrick Horan and former Marine Alec Beauseigneur-Jimenez, both of whom suffered a TBI in the line of duty and developed PTE as a result of their injuries. Additionally, we speak with Dr. Lauren Harte-Hargrove, Associate Director of Research at CURE Epilepsy. Dr. Harte-Hargrove serves as the project manager of CURE Epilepsy’s Post Traumatic Epilepsy initiative, a team-science research program created with the help of a $10 million grant from the Department of Defense. Dr. Harte-Hargrove provides background on the connection between TBIs and PTE, discusses the promising research that is currently being done to better understand the connection, and explains how this research might lead to therapies that could ultimately prevent post-traumatic epilepsy from occurring.

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