Epilepsy: A Brief History

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes. These include sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain.  A NY Times article describes the similarity between the sound of “Valentine’s” in German: it translates to “the falling disease.” You can see the connection as epilepsy can cause falling seizures. There are all different ranges of epilepsy one could have. It can be based on the severity or even the patient. 

Long Ago

Back when there wasn’t a lot of technology around but all of the diseases were still there, the people of that time had no idea what to do with or how to treat epilepsy. Some believed that to have epilepsy was to have a magical aspect about you. As we now know, epilepsy isn’t so magical for someone that is diagnosed with it. With this circling around for many, many years it was a hard myth to abolish. 

Modern Times

We can thank the technology we have today and the advances in medical science for establishing epilepsy as its own sickness, neither a gift or a flaw. There is nothing wrong with you if you have epilepsy. In fact, epileptics are not totally unable to do normal things in a day that a “normal” person can do. Never give up your life and time you have on this earth for something that makes you unique from everyone else.