Blog #7: Dangers of Bathing or Swimming Alone

(This blog was originally posted on July 29, 2011)

   

People who suffer from epilepsy should avoid swimming unless someone who is capable of rescuing them is present should a seizure occur.

            If possible, people who have epilepsy should take baths and showers only when someone is home and the bathroom door is open. This is because nine patients in my neurology practice drowned at home. Three had a convulsion in the shower. They fell face-down and blocked the drain. Their faces were submerged under inches of water that collected in the basin. Mark Twain’s daughter had epilepsy; she drowned in the bathtub. I remember one young woman I treated for epilepsy whom I cautioned about the dangers of swimming alone in her backyard pool. One day her lifeless body was found floating by her pool maintenance workers.

            Mothers with epilepsy need to use care in holding their infants over bathtubs and hot surfaces. Dropping the baby during a seizure would be disastrous.

            One need not forsake these activities. The above scenarios are meant to remind people of these risks and that they should use appropriate precautions.

 

 

 

Lance Fogan, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. DINGS is his first novel.

 

 

 

 

Lance Fogan, M.D. is Clinical Professor of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Conner’s Little “Dings” is his first novel.