Epilepsy is the earliest recorded brain disorder. People with epilepsy have been feared and isolated by society throughout history. Ancient Greeks thought people with epilepsy had mystical powers. Romans treated people with epilepsy as lepers and outcasts. Other theorists believed that those who had seizures sinned against God and as a punishment were now possessed by demonic spirits.

It was early 400 B.C. when Hippocrates linked seizures to problems in the brain. This view was not accepted by his contemporaries and was pushed aside. It was not until the late 1800s that people again began to understand that epilepsy was caused by a brain malfunction.

Two European physicians, John Hughlings Jackson and W.R. Gowers, studied people with epilepsy at the National Hospital for Paralyzed and Epileptics in London and proved Hippocrates' theory that epilepsy is a brain malfunction.

Still, the 19th century health care systems in Europe isolated people with epilepsy and forced them to live in colonies away from society.

It is a common problem that people with epilepsy are discriminated against however this is completely unnecessary as most people can live normal lives with epilepsy. Epilepsy is a common condition that can occur for no obvious reason in anyone. The disease is in no way contagious or transmittable. Most people who develop the condition either grow out of the condition or can lead normal lives through the use of medication or surgery. Therefore those with the disease should in no way be treated any differently to others.

Surgery is then left as an option to a minority of sufferers. In special cases the injured brain tissue can be removed through surgery which is a procedure similar to a lobotomy. This only happens when medication fails and the injured tissue is confined to one area of the brain and can be safely removed without damaging personality or functions.

The brain is a highly complex and sensitive organ as it controls and regulates all our actions. It controls all motor movements, sensations, thoughts and emotions. As well as all involuntary actions such as blinking. The brain works by sending electric charges between different nerve cells in the brain and all other parts of the body as a means of communication. The onset of a seizure is caused by abnormal brain wave activity. The brain waves start off by having an abnormal rhythm caused by excessive and synchronous nerve cell discharges. This change in brain waves triggers off the seizure. If the abnormal brain wave activity only occurs in one area of the brain it is called a partial seiz

Some common words found in the essay are:
Idiopathic Epilepsy, Epilepsy Fewer, Epileptics London, , Ancient Greeks, BC Hippocrates, people epilepsy, WR Gowers, brain wave activity, normal lives, wave activity, brain wave, brain waves, nerve cells, epilepsy common, generalized seizure, nerve cells brain, brain malfunction, abnormal brain wave,  diseases,
Approximate Word count = 1051
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)