Wilmington neurologist uses her past to help patients have positive future

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A doctor in Wilmington is using her own personal experience with a neurological disorder to help children and families in the community.

Dr. Christine Tangredi is a child neurologist at the Novant Health Nunnelee Pediatric Multispeciality Care Clinic at Autumn Hall. She specializes in working with children with neurologic disorders including epilepsy.

“It does make people nervous, of course, when they witness a seizure and I think the automatic assumption also is that children with epilepsy are mentally delayed or challenged — which, some are of course but the majority are not,” Tangredi said.

Fighting the stigma surrounding epilepsy and educating people is very personal for Tangredi because she deals with epilepsy as well. After experiencing her first seizures in high school, Tangredi says she knew she wanted to specialize in child neurology.

“I think once a parent hears their child has seizures or epilepsy, they can be devastated and very frightened and think that their future is not going to be what they had hoped,” Tangredi said. “When I share with them that I do suffer from epilepsy still and take medication they are relieved to know that people can live normal lives with it.”

With multiple types of seizures and varying degrees of severity of epilepsy, Tangredi says families and children can usually manage the condition by following the guidance of their physicians.

For more information on the Nunnelee Clinic, visit here.