My father, may God rest his soul, used to suffer from epilepsy, and I’ve seen what it does to people, as well as to the people who live with them. I have also seen how frightening it can be, and the social taboos that have historically (and indeed still do even in so-called modern societies) existed regarding people who have epilepsy.
Historically people have called Epilepsy a kind of madness, because to the layperson, someone going through an epileptic fit, is going through something quite terrifying.
However, to be perfectly honest, all the epileptics that I’ve known through my life, ranging from a few of my teachers - both at College and University, as well as in the Islamic Seminary, to my late father, have proven to be amongst the most sane, understanding, intelligent, lucid and coherent people that I’ve ever had the honour of meeting. As the saying goes, just because the masses suggest that one is insane, that doesn’t necessarily make it so, indeed, it is generally those who suggest that another is insane, that are infact insane (culturally insane that is to say).
Wikipedia has an interesting write-up on Epilepsy. The National Society for Epilepsy has also got some excellent information on support groups and background on Epilepsy. Another interesting site on Epilepsy is my.epilepsy.com.
Now-a-days, there are plenty of good and reliable medicines that can curb the effects of epilepsy, and reduce the fits that sufferers get every once in a while, I’ve also been advised that there are dietary regimes that can assist.
Anyways, on my trawls through the Internet, I’ve found something quite interesting on New Scientist that I thought I’d share:
In severe epileptic fits, over-excited brain cells fire at such a rate they can raise the brain’s temperature in that area. This causes more nerves to fire in a feedback mechanism that makes the fit even worse. One way of preventing such escalating fits is to cool the area of the brain that is susceptible.
So Takashi Saito and colleagues at Yamaguchi University in Japan have developed a heat pipe that is surgically implanted into the affected region of the brain and then connected to a heat sink on the outside of the skull. This device carries heat away from the affected area, keeping it cool and reducing the chances of severe epileptic fits in future.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor
Source: New Scientist Blog
That’s all for now, if you can, say a prayer for my mother and father, both of whom passed away many years ago, but who I miss all the time. al-Fateha.
Warm Regards,
Shabbir
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