The origin of certain epilepsies is now better understood
Different forms of epilepsy exist. Those which strike children and teenagers have causes which are generally unknown. An important step has nevertheless just been taken in the understanding of the mechanisms responsible for triggering one amongst them: juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. Derived from the Greek term ‘epilambanenin’, which means ‘taken by surprise,’ and by extension ‘have fits, be in the grip of attacks,’ epileptic seizures were for a long time interpreted as the possession of the human body by various evil spirits or demons according to common beliefs, which could only be chased out through the intervention of a ‘minister of God’ thanks to the practice of exorcism. Nonetheless, Hippocrates, one of the great figures of the history of medicine and acknowledged as the first doctor to reject the superstitions and beliefs which attributed the causes of illnesses to divine or supernatural forces, already put epilepsies down to cerebral disturbances. But we had to wait until the 18th and 19th centuries of our era before this idea began to take root.
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© 2007 ULi�ge
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