Arab medicine:

Avicenna

(980 - 1037)

Canon medicinae (The Canon of Medicine)

Epilepsy is a disease which prevents those organs affected from using the senses, moving and walking upright ... And this is caused by a blockage. Usually it is a general seizure, caused by some damage, which affects the front cerebral ventricle ... and it is impossible for the person affected to remain standing upright.

Correct statement:

• Epileptic seizures originate in the brain and often lead to loss of upright posture (falling) and "impairment of the senses" (e.g. twilight states or unconsciousness).

Incorrect statement:

• Epileptic seizures are caused "mechanically" by a blockage and are localised in the front cerebral ventricle. (Correct: Epileptic seizures are the result of a stimulation disturbance in the cerebral nerve cells.)

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