Epilepsy over the centuries: a disease survived at the time.

ABSTRACT

In this study, we have made a historical review of epilepsy through the centuries, from pre-Christian era to the present time. The epileptic was examined by Hippocrates, the first to recognize epilepsy as a disease and not as a supernatural manifestation called Morbus Sacer. The dark years of the Middle Ages were the worst for the disease, where the sufferer was even subjected to torture. The period of the Renaissance saw the epileptic isolated from society while the Enlightenment century improved the knowledge about the disease, thanks also to the first autopsies that showed post traumatic neurological lesions. However, some stigmata of the disease that prevented the marriage of epileptics persisted. It was the prelude to the years 1800-1900, characterized by Lombrosian concepts and Nazi convictions. Lombroso included epileptics among delinquents and criminals, identifying them as such on the basis of physical alterations. Nazi racism introduced the concept of eugenics excluding the epileptic from the so-called pure race. Today, epilepsy is considered a treatable neurological disorder. Morbus Sacer belongs to a remote past.