%0 Journal Article
%T Highights in the History of Epilepsy: The Last 200 Years
%A Emmanouil Magiorkinis
%A Aristidis Diamantis
%A Kalliopi Sidiropoulou
%A Christos Panteliadis
%J Epilepsy Research and Treatment
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/582039
%X The purpose of this study was to present the evolution of views on epilepsy as a disease and symptom during the 19th and the 20th century. A thorough study of texts, medical books, and reports along with a review of the available literature in PubMed was undertaken. The 19th century is marked by the works of the French medical school and of John Hughlings Jackson who set the research on epilepsy on a solid scientific basis. During the 20th century, the invention of EEG, the advance in neurosurgery, the discovery of antiepileptic drugs, and the delineation of underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, were the most significant advances in the field of research in epilepsy. Among the most prestigious physicians connected with epilepsy one can pinpoint the work of Henry Gastaut, Wilder Penfield, and Herbert Jasper. The most recent advances in the field of epilepsy include the development of advanced imaging techniques, the development of microsurgery, and the research on the connection between genetic factors and epileptic seizures. 1. Introduction The history of epilepsy is intermingled with the history of human existence; the first reports on epilepsy can be traced back to the Assyrian texts, almost 2,000 B.C. [1]. Multiple references to epilepsy can be found in the ancient texts of all civilizations, most importantly in the ancient Greek medical texts of the Hippocratic collection. For example, Hippocrates in his book On Sacred Disease described the first neurosurgery procedure referring that craniotomy should be performed at the opposite side of the brain of the seizures, in order to spare patients from ¡°phlegma¡± that caused the disease [2]. However, it was not until the 18th and 19th century, when medicine made important advances and research on epilepsy was emancipated from religious superstitions such as the fact that epilepsy was a divine punishment or possession [3, 4]. At the beginning of the 18th century, the view that epilepsy was an idiopathic disease deriving from brain and other inner organs prevailed. One should mention the important work in this field by William Culen (1710¨C1790) and Samuel A. Tissot whose work set the base of modern epileptology describing accurately various types of epilepsies. 2. Anatomy and Physiology of Epilepsy 2.1. Evolution of Thoughts around the Pathophysiology and Causes of Epilepsy At the beginning of the 19th century, physicians from the French medical school started to publish their research in the field of epileptology; famous French physicians published their works on epilepsy such as Maisonneuve (1745¨C1826)
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ert/2014/582039/