**7. Conclusions**

146 Novel Aspects on Epilepsy

Penry (1929-1996), in 1969, will publish his treatise *Basic Mechanisms of the Epilpsies* and afterwards *Antiepileptic Drugs, Neurosurgical Management of the Epilepsis, Complex Partial Seizures and their Treatment* and *Antiepileptic Drugs Mechanisms of Action.* Although carbamazepine and valproate were available in Europe during the 60s, no other drug was

In 1970, Penry and Cereghino were employed in designing clinical trials for anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). Carbamazepine was the first drug to be licensed by the FDA based on the results of clinical trials. Charles Pippenger (1939- ) developed methods for measuring blood levels of AEDs (Painter et al., 1978), whereas Fritz Dreifuss (1926-1997) worked on videomonitoring of absence seizures and helped in the classification of various epileptic conditions (Penry et al., 1975). An important development in the field of neuroscience was that of Erwin Neher (1944- ), who invented the patch clamp method to measure the flow of current through single-ion channels (Neher et al., 1978). Prince *et al* will make the first studies of cellular phenomena of epileptic events in the human cortex (Schwartzkroin & Prince, 1978; Wong & Prince, 1978, 1981). Meldrum will prove that the assumption connecting brain damage from seizures as a result of hypoxia, is wrong (Meldrum & Horton, 1973a, 1973b; Meldrum et al., 1973); he demonstrated that the excessive excitatory

The advent of the new decade, the 1908s, was marked by huge advances in the fields of neuro-imaging techniques, such as the CT, MRI, PET-scanning, and video-EEG monitoring. Epileptics are being evaluated psychologically and socially and before 1990, Quality of Life tools were developed. During the 1990s, the decade of the brain, the Global Campaign Against Epilepsy, launched in 1997 by the WHO, ILAE and IBE brought epilepsy out of the Shadows improving diagnosis, treatment, prevention and social acceptability. Various changes regarding the epileptic brain damage will also be studied, such as the mossy fiber sprouting and synaptic reorganization (Houser et al., 1990; Sutula et al., 1989; Sutula et al., 1988) (Tauck & Nadler, 1985). In 1993, Gabapentin (Neurontin) marketed in the US as the

licensed in the US.

Fig. 5. Henri Gastaut (1915 -1995)

activity is responsible for the brain cellular loss.

first AED which is not metabolized in the liver.

The fascinating history of epilepsy is connected with the history of humanity; early reports on epilepsy go back to the ancient assyrian and babylonian texts, scanning a period of almost 4,000 years. The first hallmark in the history of epilepsy are the Hippocratic texts which set in doubt the divine origin of the disease. Major advances in the understanding of epilepsy will come much later, during the 18th and 19th century; theories on epilepsy during this period are formulated on a solid scientific basis and epileptics are for the first time treated as patients and not as lunatics or possessed. During this period, experimental studies were conducted as well as advances made in the pathology of the disease and the connection of epilepsy with various psychiatric symptoms. The work of John Hughlings Jackson was preceded by a plethora of studies by Dutch, German, English and French physicians who evolved scientific thought and performed thorough studies on epilepsy. The advent of the 20th century led to the in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of the disease, the development of effective drugs and neuro-imaging methods. Last but not least, one should mention the important advances in the molecular biology of the disease and the connection of various genes with various forms of epilepsy.
