Many TV Viewers May Risk Seizures
An animated promo for the London 2012 Olympics has raised seizure concerns.
June 7, 2007 — -- If the goal of an animated promo for the London 2012 Olympics logo was to elicit a strong response from audiences, it worked.
But it's hard to imagine that the creators had seizures -- and a subsequent public outcry -- in mind.
The vividly animated footage promoting the logo was removed from the organizers' Web site Tuesday amid concern that it could trigger epileptic fits, British press reported.
Even though all reported cases of seizures occurred in the U.K. and the clip has since been pulled from broadcast, the case has revived some neurologists' claims that not enough is being done to protect those with photosensitivity -- a vulnerability to light-induced seizures -- in the United States from similar threats.
"The issue is that in the U.S., television shows and video games are not screened for these factors," said Dr. Giuseppe Erba, professor of neurology at the University of Rochester. "There is a population at risk for this, so it is a public health problem of some extent."
"Although only a small percent of the general population has this problem, television is viewed by millions, and some might respond with a seizure," said Dr. Anthony Murro, neurology professor at the Medical College of Georgia.
Denise Pease, 54, said she never knew about photosensitivity disorder until it became a very real part of her life.
After recovering from cognitive problems due to a traumatic brain injury she suffered in a car accident 12 years ago, she said that she began experiencing lost time and confusion at work.
"Sometimes I would be sending e-mails, and there would be spurts of time where I would just be out of it," she told ABC News.
She finally realized that her desk was situated directly below a ceiling fan that created a "strobe" effect from the fluorescent lights above. Pease's neurologist later confirmed that this flashing light was likely responsible for her nonviolent -- albeit debilitating -- seizures.
Pease, now on the board of directors of the Epilepsy Foundation in New York, said she now takes special care in choosing how she views movies and television shows, as her photosensitivity puts her at risk of seizures from some of the images and sequences that are shown.
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