Ceasing Antiquated Conceptions: A Telling of the Early and Evolving History of Epilepsy

Abstract

The word epilepsy is derived from the Greek word epilambanein, meaning “to seize.” This term came to embody the disease as early descriptions characterized seizures as events in which the faculties of the mind and body were “seized” from the individual. This notion of seizing the mind and body’s faculties has in essence remained a constant throughout the evolution of epilepsy. The theories elucidating the significance of the event, however, have surely shifted with the times, reflecting an elegant battle among magic, science, and theology. Subsequent advents in clinical observation, diagnostic evaluation, and therapeutics unfurled many mysteries of the brain and revolutionized prevailing theories, landing epilepsy as it is known today far beyond the primitive and highly supernatural notions that predominated in antiquity.