Could this possibly be an undocumented SUDEP death?

I spend some time trawling the web for yet another person who died in SUDEP circumstances.  This is not as straightforward as it may seem.  Here in the UK nowadays coroners generally clearly define deaths as SUDEP when appropriate.  That is not the case in other countries.  Indeed in many countries epilepsy itself is still carries considerable social stigma, and thus talking getting a SUDEP verdict through an autopsy could be a challenge.

Avoiding SUDEP, No1: Breathing Monitor

So far one thing is clear - no one knows very little about the why's and wherefore's of SUDEP.  So the best advice is to stay clear of seizures as much as possible, probably that means an effective drug regime.  There are however a number of products on the market to help identify the moments around a seizure and try to do something about it.  A role for this blog must be to bring to your attention devices that might help do something about it.

So for the first in this series how about a mini-breathing monitor as designed by Dr Esther Rodriguez-Villegas of Imperial College, London.  If, just if our daughter's breathing had had one of these devices then emergency help might have been called to her sooner, and perhaps just soon enough.  The time taken between Jane's seizure and the time death was confirmed at hospital was less than an hour.  In such instances of course every second counts.  This seizure could have been like any other that Jane had had.  She could have recovered, but she didn't.  If this device had been on the market and had Jane had it fitted, then I feel it could have made that difference.