From Biblical times to the present, epilepsy has been a disease shrouded in mysticism and fear. Seizures, which are now known to be a neurophysiological phenomenon, are the defining characteristic of epilepsy. Although they are still considered dangerous and undesirable, science has made much advancement in the treatment of epilepsy and other seizure disorders, which will be discussed in greater detail later in this paper. Epilepsy is a disorder affecting approximately one in every two hundred people.
Epileptic seizures begin when one or more unstable neurons fire in an uncontrollable manner.
This occurs when the neuronal membrane is made particularly sodium permeable in an area that is not supposed to have increased sodium permeability. As the neurons fire, the signal spreads until it encompasses part or all of the brain. Seizures vary from partial, which involve only part of the brain and may not cause unconsciousness, to generalized, which involve the entire brain, and an almost certain loss of consciousness. The initial neuronal instability may be due to many factors including inherent genetic instability of proteins in ion pumps or channels, metabolic abnormalities like low blood glucose or high alcohol concentration, and physical factors like head trauma or a brain tumor. Most of the original medications used to treat epilepsy were first discovered by serendipity.