In the second century AD, the physician Galen was able to categorize epilepsy has originating from the brain (termed idiopathic) or other body parts (termed sympathetic) with subsequent involvement of the brain, based on the behavioural manifestations of a seizure.1 He also coined the term ‘aura’ (breeze, In Greek), from a patient who described initial symptoms of a seizure as a sensation of a cold breeze moving up the legs towards the head.1
During the Renaissance (1300‒1600), observations that seizures were a manifestation of diseases such as syphilis, scurvy, smallpox, and measles, led to the concept of ‘symptomatic epilepsy’, where the symptom was a complication of epilepsy rather than a sign.1
References:
1. Patel P, Moshé SL. The evolution of the concepts of seizures and epilepsy: What’s in a name? Epilepsia Open 2020; 5 (1): 22‒35.
2. Kaculini CM, Tate-Looney AJ, Seifi A. The history of epilepsy: From ancient mystery to modern misconception. Cureus 2021; 13 (3): e13953.
3. Anonymous. The history and stigma of epilepsy. Epilepsia 2003; 44 (Suppl 6): 12‒14.