(Health Korea News / Yu Ji-in) Since the name of the disease was changed from ‘epilepsy’ to ‘epilepsy,’ it has been confirmed that the disease is being approached scientifically when covered in the media.
The reason why the disease name ‘epilepsy’ was changed to ‘epilepsy’ in Korea in 2011 was because the word ‘epilepsy’ had a negative connotation, almost like a social stigma.
In 2008, the Korean Epilepsy Society changed the name to ‘epilepsy’ to eliminate the negative image of ‘epilepsy’ and to approach it in a more scientific and neutral way. Afterwards, in 2010, it was officially recognized as the name by the Korean Medical Association, and in 2011, it began to be used officially through the National Assembly.
Professor Choi Jun-young’s team (Professor Koh Seung-yeon and Professor Kwon Soon-sun of the Department of Mathematics at Ajou University) at the Department of Neurology at Ajou University Hospital analyzed newspaper articles on epilepsy over a period of 20 years from 2001 to 2022 to determine what changes occurred after the name change.
The research team divided it into the following periods: △ 2001~2003, the ‘Era of Epilepsy’ when only epilepsy was used; △ 2011~2014, the ‘Era of Transition’ when epilepsy changed to epilepsy; △ 2017~2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic; △ 2020~2022, the ‘Era of Epilepsy’ when only epilepsy was used.
As a result, the proportion of articles using the term ‘epilepsy’ was 60% between 2011 and 2014, and recently increased to 80% between 2020 and 2022, gradually replacing it with ‘epilepsy’ over time.
In particular, we confirmed that newspaper articles have become more patient-centered and have become more positive in their approach to patients’ lives.
For example, while newspaper articles from the epilepsy era used negative and unscientific words like “disability,” “limitation,” or “soul,” “devil,” and “ghost,” the recent epilepsy era has seen the use of scientific words like “hippocampus,” “neuron,” “electrical signal,” and “connection.”
It is noticeable that emergency treatment-related terms such as ‘emergency room,’ ‘tie,’ ‘belt,’ and ‘securing the airway,’ as well as new drug-related terms such as ‘Epidiolex (cannabis-based drug, anticonvulsant Cenobamate)’ were used together.
In the case of sentiment analysis, negative feelings toward the disease ‘epilepsy’ reached 80% in the era of epilepsy, but decreased to less than half in the era of epilepsy.
Professor Choi Jun-young said, “Epilepsy can be treated well like various other common diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes, and patients can live their daily lives without any problems if they are managed well,” and added, “Since the name change, we have seen positive changes in perspectives and emotions regarding ‘epilepsy.’”
He added, “The divorce rate and unemployment rate among epilepsy patients are still several times higher,” and “I hope that epilepsy can shed its negative image from the past and that more people will stop having vague, negative prejudices.”
This study is scheduled to be published in the international academic journal Epilepsy & Behavior in August under the title, ‘Shifting perspectives: From ‘Epilepsy’ to ‘Cerebroelectric disorder’.
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Source: www.hkn24.com
