Schweizerische Rundschau für Medizin Praxis = Revue suisse de médecine Praxis
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Schweiz. Rundsch. Med. Prax. · Jul 1989
Historical Article[The mind and epilepsy: opinions and viewpoints over the course of time].
Among the very few diseases that can be traced back to ancient times none has stimulated human phantasy as much as epilepsy, and the many names given to epilepsy reflects the different trends of thinking on the topic over the past two and a half thousand years. The ancient Greek believed epilepsy to be a sacred disease with the body being invaded by a God. The view that demons and evil spirits rather than Gods were responsible for the disease prevailed throughout the middle ages, influenced by Christian thinking. ⋯ The process of distinguishing epilepsy from insanity began with the development of neurology as a new and independent discipline, helped by the discovery of electroencephalography EEG and potent antiepileptic drugs. It became more widely accepted that most epileptic patients have normal mental states. It was argued that the psychiatric consequences of having epilepsy depended on the existence of pathological brain lesions, side-effects of inadequate drugs and the psychological stress of living with a chronic and debilitating disease.
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Schweiz. Rundsch. Med. Prax. · Jul 1989
Biography Historical Article[The 60th anniversary of clinical electroencephalography].