Women's History Month
Women face additional health challenges associated with hormones and other conditions unique to the female body.
Research suggests hormonal influences may increase seizure activity, alter endocrine function, and affect fertility. In this population, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) reduce the efficacy of contraception methods and increase the risk of fetal malformations. Other pertinent issues to women with epilepsy include breast feeding as well as bone mineral health.
Women in the Epilepsy Community
Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu
Sofia Ionescu-Ogrezeanu (25 April 1920 – 21 March 2008) was the first female neurosurgeon in the World. She was a neurosurgeon for 47 years at Hospital Nr. 9, forming a team with Ionel Ionescu, and Constantin Arseni, under the guidance of Dumitru Bagdasar. They formed the first neurological team of Romania, later called “The golden team”, which helped develop neurosurgery in Romania.
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross March 1822 – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and political activist. When Tubman was a teenager, she acquired a traumatic brain injury when a slave owner struck her in the head. This resulted in her developing epileptic seizures and hypersomnia. Unfortunately, Tubman's experience of violence occurred on a daily basis which made her brain injury worse.
Alexa Irene Canady
Alexa Irene Canady. Dr. Alexa Canady was the first African American woman in the United States to become a neurosurgeon
Canady was accepted as a surgical intern at Yale-New Haven Hospital in 1975, breaking another barrier as the first woman and first African American to be enrolled in the program.