Airdrie City Hall will be bathed in purple light tonight (March 26) to show support for those people whose lives are challenged daily by living with epilepsy.

At their meeting on March 15th, Airdrie City Council received a request to proclaim Purple Day for Epilepsy on this date.  Along with the proclamation, council was asked to have city hall lit up in purple lights and as well to encourage Airdrie residents to wear purple in support of people with epilepsy.

Council gladly agreed to all the requests.  

According to the Epilepsy Canada website, epilepsy is a debilitating neurological disorder characterized by repeated seizures of various types and severity.

In general, epilepsy and seizures result from abnormal circuit activity in the brain. Any event ranging from faulty wiring during brain development, brain inflammation, physical injury or infection can lead to seizure and epilepsy. However, according to recent estimates, in up to 50 percent of patients diagnosed with epilepsy, the cause is unknown (idiopathic).

Included in the underlying causes of epilepsy are genetics, brain structure abnormalities, metabolism changes, immune system abnormalities, trauma, stroke, tumors, infectious disease and other, unknown causes.

With an epilepsy prevalence estimate of 7.46 people out of every 100,000 population having the disorder, it's expected that about 260,000 Canadians are living with epilepsy.

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