Only our second episode of the season and we’re already getting in over (and inside) our heads with one of the biggest topics we’ve taken on yet: epilepsy. In this episode, we navigate the constantly changing definitions of epilepsy, make our way through the many different types of seizures, and dig into the inner workings of the brain as we attempt to understand the pathophysiology of this disease. And that’s just the biology section! The history of epilepsy proves to be just as intense, as shown by the multitude of meanings this disease has held over thousands of years. The past merges with the present – and maybe the future – when we delve into some of the technologies that have helped us to gain a clearer picture of this disease and may lead to improvements in prevention, detection, and management of seizures in years to come.
| History | Biology |
| Temkin, Owsei. The falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology. Vol. 2. JHU Press, 1972. | Beghi, E., 2020. The epidemiology of epilepsy. Neuroepidemiology, 54(2), pp.185-191. |
| Fadiman, Anne. The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures. Macmillan, 2012. | Moshé, S.L., Perucca, E., Ryvlin, P. and Tomson, T., 2015. Epilepsy: new advances. The Lancet, 385(9971), pp.884-898. |
| Brodie, M. J. “The history and stigma of epilepsy.” Epilepsia 44.Suppl 6 (2003): 12-4. | Martin-McGill, K.J., Bresnahan, R., Levy, R.G. and Cooper, P.N., 2020. Ketogenic diets for drug‐resistant epilepsy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6). |
| Gross, Robert A. “A brief history of epilepsy and its therapy in the Western Hemisphere.” Epilepsy research 12.2 (1992): 65-74. | D’Andrea Meira, I., Romão, T.T., Pires do Prado, H.J., Krüger, L.T., Pires, M.E.P. and da Conceição, P.O., 2019. Ketogenic diet and epilepsy: what we know so far. Frontiers in neuroscience, 13, p.5. |
| Khalil, Nadia, Selim Benbadis, and Derrick Robertson. “Ceasing antiquated conceptions: a telling of the early and evolving history of epilepsy.” European Neurology 83.3 (2020): 341-344. | Patel, D.C., Tewari, B.P., Chaunsali, L. and Sontheimer, H., 2019. Neuron–glia interactions in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 20(5), pp.282-297. |
| Lai, Chi‐Wan, and Yen‐Huei C. Lai. “History of epilepsy in Chinese traditional medicine.” Epilepsia 32.3 (1991): 299-302. | Löscher, W., Hirsch, L.J. and Schmidt, D., 2015. The enigma of the latent period in the development of symptomatic acquired epilepsy—traditional view versus new concepts. Epilepsy & Behavior, 52, pp.78-92. |
| Magiorkinis, Emmanouil, Kalliopi Sidiropoulou, and Aristidis Diamantis. “Hallmarks in the history of epilepsy: epilepsy in antiquity.” Epilepsy & behavior 17.1 (2010): 103-108. | Falco-Walter, J., 2020, December. Epilepsy—definition, classification, pathophysiology, and epidemiology. In Seminars in Neurology (Vol. 40, No. 06, pp. 617-623). Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.. |
| Magiorkinis, Emmanouil, et al. “Highights in the history of epilepsy: the last 200 years.” Epilepsy research and treatment 2014 (2014). | Sawires, R., Buttery, J. and Fahey, M., 2022. A review of febrile seizures: recent advances in understanding of febrile seizure pathophysiology and commonly implicated viral triggers. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 9, p.1596. |
| Mao, Lingyan, et al. “Felt Stigma and Its Underlying Contributors in Epilepsy Patients.” Frontiers in public health (2022): 991. | Kuhlmann, L., Lehnertz, K., Richardson, M.P., Schelter, B. and Zaveri, H.P., 2018. Seizure prediction—ready for a new era. Nature Reviews Neurology, 14(10), pp.618-630. |
| Masia, Shawn L., and Orrin Devinsky. “Epilepsy and behavior: a brief history.” Epilepsy & behavior 1.1 (2000): 27-36. | Perucca, E., 2021. The pharmacological treatment of epilepsy: recent advances and future perspectives. Acta Epileptologica, 3(1), pp.1-11. |
| Millett, David. “Hans Berger: From psychic energy to the EEG.” Perspectives in biology and medicine 44.4 (2001): 522-542. | Improving the lives of people with epilepsy: a technical brief. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO |
| Patel, Puja, and Solomon L. Moshé. “The evolution of the concepts of seizures and epilepsy: What’s in a name?.” Epilepsia Open 5.1 (2020): 22-35. | |
| Von Storch, T. C. “An essay on the history of epilepsy.” Annals of medical history 2.6 (1930): 614. | |
| Wolf, Peter. “History of epilepsy: nosological concepts and classification.” Epileptic Disorders 16.3 (2014): 261-269. |
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