list of people with epilepsy
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This is a list of notable people who have, or had, the medical condition epilepsy. Following from that, there is a short list of people who have received a speculative, retrospective diagnosis of epilepsy. Finally there is a substantial list of people who are often wrongly believed to have had epilepsy.
Epilepsy and greatness
A possible link between epilepsy and greatness has fascinated biographers and physicians for centuries. In his Treatise on Epilepsy, the French 17th century physician Jean Taxil refers to Aristotle's "famous epileptics". This list includes Heracles, Ajax, Bellerophon, Socrates, Plato, Empedocles, Maracus of Syracuse, and the Sibyls.{{cite web
| url = http://asklepios.chez.com/taxil/Livre1_Chap15.htm
| title = Traicté de l'Epilepsie
| access-date = 22 August 2009
| author = Jean Taxil
| year = 1602
}} However, historian of medicine Owsei Temkin argues that Aristotle had in fact made a list of melancholics and had only associated Heracles with the "Sacred Disease".{{cite book
| author = Owsei Temkin
| title = The Falling Sickness: A History of Epilepsy from the Greeks to the Beginnings of Modern Neurology (Softshell Books)
| publisher = The Johns Hopkins University Press
| year = 1994
| isbn = 978-0-8018-4849-0
| page = 161
}} Taxil goes on to add his own names: Roman Emperor Caligula, Drusus (tribune of the Roman people), and Petrarch. Neurologist John Hughes concluded that the majority of famous people alleged to have epilepsy did not in fact have this condition.{{cite journal
| author=Hughes JR
| title=Did all those famous people really have epilepsy?
| journal=Epilepsy & Behavior
| year=2005
| pages=115–39
| volume=6
| issue=2
| pmid=15710295
| doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.11.011| s2cid=10436691
|author=Jenna Martin
|url=http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1107544697
|title=Rewriting History: Did All Those Famous People Really Have Epilepsy?
|work=Epilepsy.com
|access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902150057/http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1107544697
|archive-date=2 September 2009 }}
Certain diagnosis
The following categorized chronological list contains only those people for whom a firm and uncontested diagnosis was made during their lifetime.
=Acting=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
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| 1895–1974 | Comedian (half of the "Abbott and Costello" duo) who had epilepsy all his life, but tried to control and hide it. | author = Tom Raymond | url = http://abbott-and-costello-whos-on-first.info/bud-abbott-biography/ | title = Bud Abbott Biography | work = Abbott and Costello – Who's on First | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1903–1960 | A film actor. His epilepsy led to his exclusion from the draft during World War II. | author = Randy W Roberts | title = John Wayne: American | publisher = University of Nebraska Press | date = 1 October 1997 | isbn = 978-0-8032-8970-3 | quote = Ward Bond, an epileptic 4-F, remained in the Hollywood | page = 232 }} |
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| 1912-1979 | English TV, film and stage actor. Former husband of Elizabeth Taylor. Died as a result of head injuries sustained as a result of a fall after an epileptic seizure. | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19790709&id=P0FYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1PYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6830,1074723 | title = Michael Wilding dead from fall | newspaper = The Bulletin}} |
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| 1927–1987 | An American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. In 1961, Fosse's epilepsy was revealed when he had a seizure onstage during rehearsals for The Conquering Hero. | last=Gottfried | first=Martin | title=All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse | pages=49, 65, 81, 85, 104, 116, 124–125, 130, 139 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3miug24d_oC | publisher=Da Capo Press | year=1998 | isbn=978-0-306-81284-2 }} |
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| 1931-2019 | An American actor and comedian, Taylor died in 2019 having been hospitalized for having an epileptic seizure a week prior. | url = https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/06/entertainment/rip-taylor-death/index.html | title= Rip Taylor, the Confetti-tossing actor and comedian is dead | work = CNN | medium = online | location = USA |date = 6 October 2019 | access-date = 31 January 2024 }} |
| Boryslav Brondukov
|1938–2004 |A Ukrainian film character actor, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. Epilepsy seizures from 1998. |
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| 1940–1971 | A television and film actor whose epilepsy is thought to have been brought on during adolescence by head injuries sustained in an automobile accident. | |
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| born 1946 | An actor and film director who had epilepsy from age 15 to age 35. | url = http://www.ibe-epilepsy.org/search_det.asp?CategoryID=Archive&ID=33 | title = Famous Star of the Big Screen steps out from the Shadows | work = International Bureau for Epilepsy | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071117042814/http://www.ibe-epilepsy.org/search_det.asp?CategoryID=Archive&ID=33 | archive-date = 17 November 2007 | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1952-2003 | American stage and screen actor who died from having an epileptic seizure. | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VGUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA6 | title = The Advocate | date = 17 February 2004 | publisher = Here | access-date = 10 February 2025 }} |
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| 1955–1996 | A film actress and model who had epilepsy from the age of seven. Her death was attributed to suicide by an intentional overdose of phenobarbital, which is an anticonvulsant, but see the footnoted article for an alternative explanation. | author = Hara Estroff Marano | year = 1996 | url = http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199612/what-killed-margaux-hemingway | title = What killed Margaux Hemingway? | work = Psychology Today | publisher = Sussex Publishers | access-date = 22 August 2009 }} |
| Melanie Griffith
|born 1957 |American actress whose seizures are thought to be induced by stress |{{Cite web |title= Melanie Griffith: I Was Diagnosed with Epilepsy|date=20 October 2017 |url=https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a46562/melanie-griffith-reveals-epilepsy-diagnosis/}}{{Cite web |title= Melanie Griffith Reveals Epilepsy Diagnosis|url=https://people.com/health/melanie-griffith-reveals-epilepsy-diagnosis/}} |
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| 1958-2014 | Successful comedy actor in various UK comedy series and some comedy films. He developed epilepsy arising from a quad bike accident in 1998. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/10/rik-mayall-happy-healthy-death-friend-young-ones |title=Rik Mayall happy and healthy moments before death, says friend |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 June 2014 |last1=Ellis-Petersen |first1=Hannah }} |
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| born 1960 | An actor who has taken anticonvulsants for epilepsy since his first seizure at age 13. | people= Anna Spencer and Linda Ray (writers) | date= 1995 | title = Portraits: People with Epilepsy | medium = Video | location = Australia | publisher=Epilepsy Queensland Inc | people= (writer) | date= 2004 | title = Portraits: Epileptic pep talk | medium = Video | location = USA | publisher=Home & Garden Publications }} |
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| born 1961 | Actor and former bassist with the pop band Spandau Ballet. He developed epilepsy after having two brain tumours in the 1990s. {{cite web |url=http://www.encephalitis.info/NewsEvents/News.html |title=Encephalitis Information Resource News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070219052746/http://www.encephalitis.info/NewsEvents/News.html |archive-date=19 February 2007 }} |
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| 1976-2025 | Taiwanese actress and star of the Mandarin-speaking TV show Meteor Garden, former TV Host and Pop Star. She had a medical history of epilepsy and heart disease. |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgy81rv22do |title=Meteor Garden: Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu dies at 48 |work=BBC |date=3 February 2025 |last=Koh |first=Ewe }} |
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| born 1992 | An Indian actress who has had epilepsy for much of her life. | title=Fatima Sana Shaikh opens up about epilepsy diagnosis, says exercising daily makes her 'feel good' | url= https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/fatima-sana-shaikh-opens-up-about-epilepsy-diagnosis-says-exercising-daily-makes-her-feel-good/articleshow/95507978.cms | date= 14 November 2022 | medium =online | location=INDIA | publisher=Indiatimes.com}} |
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| born 1995 | A Canadian actress best known for playing "Molly Ross" in Burden of Truth (TV Series) who has also starred in films and is also a dancer. As part of the Orange Daisy Project she seeks to promote mental health in young women and has had epilepsy since the age of sixteen. |
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| 1999–2019 | An actor best known for his roles as Luke Ross on the Disney Channel series Jessie and as Carlos on the TV film Descendants, previously diagnosed with epilepsy. Boyce died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). |
=Leadership, politics and royalty=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 1010–1041 | A Byzantine emperor who had frequent tonic-clonic seizures since adolescence. The seizures were interpreted at the time to be demonic possession as punishment for his sins. His royal entourage were alert to signs of an impending seizure and tried to hide the emperor when he was ill. |vauthors=Lascaratos J, Zis P | title = The epilepsy of Emperor Michael IV, Paphlagon (1034–1041 A.D.): accounts of Byzantine historians and physicians. | journal = Epilepsia | volume = 41 | issue = 7 | pages = 913–7 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10897168 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/119003610/PDFSTART | format = PDF | doi = 10.1111/j.1528-1157.2000.tb00264.x | s2cid = 33556463 | doi-access = free }}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} |
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| 1798–1834 | Founder and first emperor of the Empire of Brazil. There are many accounts of him having seizures throughout his life, just like his sister Infanta Isabel Maria of Braganza. One author describes them happening as early as 1811, when he was thirteen years old. |
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| 1615–1645 | Illegitimate son of Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway, Hans Ulrik was an officer in the Danish Royal Navy and the commander of a royal castle, the Kronborg. He was prone to epileptic incidents, and during a state visit to Spain with his father's ambassador in 1640, he had a seizure shortly after a bullfight. He had to be sent home to Denmark.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} | first = J[ulius]. A[lbert]. | last = Fridericia | year = 1892 | title = Gyldenløve, Hans Ulrik, Dansk biografisk Lexikon, Bind VI: Gerson – H. Hansen | publisher = Gyldendal Boghandels | pages = 339–340 | url = https://runeberg.org/dbl/6/0341.html | first = Asta | last = Bredsdorff | year = 2009 | title = The Trials and Travels of Willem Leyel: An Account of the Danish East India Company in Tranquebar, 1639–48 | publisher = Museum Tusculanum Press | isbn = 978-87-635-3023-1 | page = 63 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6sFMlG26RhQC&pg=PA63 }} |
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| 1666–1696 | Older half brother of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Ivan V was feeble-minded, epileptic, and half-blind. Would have never become Tsar except for the support of his sister Sophia, who wanted to become regent over him. His sister, with the military backing of the Streltsy, made Ivan V rule as co-tsar with Peter I (Great) (who had already been tsar for a few weeks). | first = Miriam | last = Greenblatt | year = 2000 | title = Rulers and Their Times: Peter the Great and Tsarist Russia | publisher = Benchmark Books | isbn = 978-0-7614-0914-4 | page = [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761409144/page/80 80] | url = https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761409144/page/80 }} |
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| 1790-1873 | Former President of Venezuela Statesman and Military Commander who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence against Spain for Simón Bolívar. He had epilepsy also while a battlefield Commander. |url=https://prodavinci.com/jose-antonio-paez-el-maltratado/ |title=El Maltratado |work=prodavinci.com |date=19 July 2023 |access-date=19 July 2023 }}https://contrapunto.com/sin-categoria/paez-tuvo-un-ataque-de-epilepsia-y-mataron-a-nevado-la-otra-cara-de-la-batalla-de-carabobo/ |
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| 1792–1878 | Had childhood epilepsy. |author=Terry H Jones |url=http://saints.sqpn.com/saintp0l.htm |title=Pius IX |work=Patron Saints Index |access-date=22 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081230022520/http://saints.sqpn.com/saintp0l.htm |archive-date=30 December 2008 }}{{Cite book | first = Owen | last = Chadwick |date=March 2003 | title = A History of the Popes 1830–1914 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-926286-1 | page = 113 | year = 2000 | url = https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000903_pius-ix_en.html | title = Pope Pius IX | work = L'Osservatore Romano | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1802–1852 | A Jew who converted to Christianity and studied for priesthood. Epilepsy prevented his ordination for many years. |
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| 1847–1907 | First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901. Her epilepsy started in adulthood and was to become quite disabling and inconvenient. As was normal for the time, great efforts were made to keep this secret. Her husband, William McKinley would cover her face with a napkin when she had symptoms at dinner parties. | author = Anne Adams | url = http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/idamckinley.htm | title = Ida Saxton McKinley | work = History's Women: The Unsung Heroines | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1870–1924 | First Premier of the Soviet Union. Lenin's final year was characterized by neurological decline and loss of function. In his last few months, he developed epilepsy. His seizures worsened and he died in status epilepticus, which had lasted 50 minutes. |vauthors=Lerner V, Finkelstein Y, Witztum E | title = The enigma of Lenin's (1870–1924) malady. | journal = Eur J Neurol | volume = 11 | issue = 6 | pages = 371–6 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15171732 | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2004.00839.x | s2cid = 14966309 }} |
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| Caligula | 12–41 | Roman Emperor. Suetonius states that "As a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness [epilepsy], and while in his youth he had some endurance, yet at times because of sudden faintness he was hardly able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to hold up his head." | author = Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (translation by James Loeb) | url = https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html | title = The Life of Gaius (Caligula) | work = The Lives of the Twelve Caesars | access-date = 13 February 2011 }} |
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| Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland | 1889–1918 | The youngest son of Gustaf V of Sweden. | author = John Van der Kiste | title = Northern crowns: the kings of modern Scandinavia | publisher = Sutton Pub | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-7509-1812-1 | page = 52}} |
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| Prince John of the United Kingdom | 1905–1919 | The youngest son of King George V, John had epilepsy from the age of 4 until his death after a seizure aged 13. John's epilepsy, along with intellectual disability and possibly autism, led to his living most of his life at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate away from visitors who were not family members. | people= Stephen Poliakoff (writer, director) | date= 2005 | title = The Lost Prince | medium = TV-Drama | location = UK | publisher= BBC }} |
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| 1930–2016 | A rabbi and broadcaster, best known for his contributions to "Thought for the Day" on BBC Radio 4's Today program. His epilepsy was diagnosed when he was aged 57 and is successfully controlled with medication. |author = Lionel Blue |url = http://www.fundraisingdinner.com/index.pl/donate.html |title = Donation Appeal |work = fundraisingdinner.com (Epilepsy Research Foundation) |access-date = 10 February 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070530095955/http://www.fundraisingdinner.com/index.pl/donate.html |archive-date = 30 May 2007 | title = Celebrity Health – Rabbi Lionel Blue | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5322880.stm | publisher = BBC News | date = 10 September 2006 | access-date = 21 November 2006 }} |
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| 1934–1999 | A businessman and founder of The Longaberger Company, makers of handcrafted maple wood baskets and accessories. He overcame epilepsy and a stutter, eventually graduating from high school aged 21. |year = 2007 |url = http://www.longaberger.com/companyHistory2.aspx |title = Longaberger: Our History |publisher = The Longaberger Company |access-date = 22 August 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090312010640/http://www.longaberger.com/companyHistory2.aspx |archive-date = 12 March 2009 }} |
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| 1936–2009 | Joseph (Joe) Doyle was an Irish Fine Gael politician. He was a long-standing public representative for the Dublin South-East and served as a member of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and Dublin City Council before serving as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1998 to 1999. He first developed epilepsy at the age of 16. He became one of Ireland's most prominent advocate's for epilepsy and was a member of the board of directors of Brainwave, the Irish Epilepsy Association, at the time of his death. |url = http://www.epilepsy.ie/index.cfm/spKey/news.brainwave/spId/334829AE-D6E9-39EE-9999FDCA13E936EB.html |title = Joe Doyle – epilepsy loses a true advocate |access-date = 30 June 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150112161751/http://www.epilepsy.ie/index.cfm/spKey/news.brainwave/spId/334829AE-D6E9-39EE-9999FDCA13E936EB.html |archive-date = 12 January 2015 }} |
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| born 1938 | The former Governor of Hawaii who campaigned for increased funding for epilepsy research. He was diagnosed with epilepsy in his early thirties. | author = Natalie Frazin | url = http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/proceedings/conference_curing_epilepsy_summary.htm | title = White House-Initiated Conference on Epilepsy | work = National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke | access-date = 7 February 2006 | archive-date = 11 February 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060211111409/http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/proceedings/conference_curing_epilepsy_summary.htm | url-status = dead | url = http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/epilepsyusa/congressbrief.cfm | title = Congress Alerted to Critical Issues in Women's Health | publisher = Epilepsy Foundation | access-date = 7 February 2006 }} |
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| 1940–1979 | A prominent spokesperson of the left-wing German student movement of the 1960s. An assassination attempt in 1968, when he was shot twice in the head, left him partially blind and with frequent epileptic attacks. He drowned in the bathtub after having a seizure. |title=This Miserable Little Case |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,909750,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204085305/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,909750,00.html |archive-date=4 February 2013 |magazine=Time |date=1 February 1971 |access-date=5 September 2006 }}{{cite magazine|title=Milestones |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,923870,00.html |magazine=Time |date=7 January 1980 |access-date=5 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930093016/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0%2C8816%2C923870%2C00.html |archive-date=30 September 2007 }} |
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| born 1942 | A former United States congressman who developed epilepsy aged 16, possibly as a result of an earlier head injury. This would lead to rejection by his family and the Jesuits for "possession by the devil".{{Cite book | first = B.T. | last = McMahon |author2=L.R. Shaw |date=September 1999 | title = Enabling Lives: Biographies of Six Prominent Americans with Disabilities | chapter = Chapter Six: Tony Coelho | publisher = CRC Press | isbn = 978-0-8493-0351-7 | quote = neurologist Dr. John Doyle Sr. explained to Tony that he had epilepsy, a recurrent seizure disorder. He stated that, "The good news is that you don't have to serve in Vietnam, but the bad news is that you won't be able to become a Catholic priest – more specifically, a Jesuit." A section of the Roman Catholic Church's 1917 Code of Canon Law stated that those with epilepsy, or "possessed by the devil", could not be considered for ordination. […rescinded in the early 1980s] }} He has campaigned as a congressman for disabled rights and chairs the Epilepsy Foundation's national board of directors. |
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| born 1943 | A former Northern Ireland People Before Profit MLA from Derry and Councillor who developed epilepsy in 2006.{{cite news | url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tributes-as-eamonn-mccann-quits-derry-council-on-health-grounds/40147584.html | title=Tributes as Eamonn McCann quits Derry council on health grounds | newspaper=Belfasttelegraph.co.uk | date=2 March 2021 }} |
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| born 1955 | Roberts is the 17th Chief Justice of the United States. He was appointed to office by President George W. Bush on 29 September 2005. His first seizure occurred in 1993 which was disclosed to the Senate Judiciary Committee who confirmed him. His second seizure occurred in 2008 when he fell 5 to 10 feet onto a dock near his house. |
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| born 1955 | O'Donovan is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as a Senator from 1989 to 1992, 1997-2002 and since 2007. He was appointed to serve as Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann from 2016 to 2020 and also served as a TD for Cork South-West from 2002 to 2007. He first had a grand-mal seizure in 2020 and later episodes which left him close to death. He has since spoken publicly about his experiences in the role of an advocate. |
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| born 1964 | British Conservative Party politician. She was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet. She revealed in parliament in October 2010 that she had epilepsy, but had been seizure-free for seven years. | author = UK Parliament | url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101012/halltext/101012h0001.htm#10101241000459 | title = Official record of debate in Westminster Hall, 12 October 2010 | access-date = 13 October 2010 }} |
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| born 1975 | British Conservative Party politician. He was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool North and Cleveleys. In 2010, he was appointed vice-president of the charity Epilepsy Action. | author = Paul Maynard | url = http://paulmaynard.co.uk/about-paul-maynard | title = Paul Maynard's biography | work = Website of Paul Maynard MP | access-date = 11 July 2010 }} |
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| born 2000 | Irish Labour Party politician. He was elected at the 2024 Irish general election as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Cork North-Central. He had previously served as a Councillor on Cork County Council from 2024 and is a former Schoolteacher. He was diagnosed with epilepsy during the 2024 Irish general election campaign as he had a seizure while preparing for a RTE Drivetime Radio Programme.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/we-were-about-to-go-on-drive-time-and-i-suffered-a-seizure-labours-eoghan-kenny-on-epilepsy-diagnosis-and-being-dails-youngest-td/a284536227.html |title='We were about to go on 'Drive Time' and I suffered a seizure' – Labour's Eoghan Kenny on epilepsy diagnosis and being Dáil's youngest TD |date=8 January 2025 }} |
=Music=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
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| 1925–1976 | An American blues singer. His epilepsy diagnosis in 1957 was delayed due to an assumption that he was suffering from attacks of delirium tremens. He died after an epileptic seizure aged 51. |editor1=Vladimir Bogdanov |editor2=Chris Woodstra |editor3=Stephen Thomas Erlewine | title = All Music Guide to the Blues | date = 1 April 2003 | publisher = Backbeat Books | isbn = 978-0-87930-736-3 | chapter = Mathis James Reed | chapter-url = http://www.bluesharp.ca/legends/jreed.html | page = 464 | url = http://www.rockhall.com/inductees/jimmy-reed | title = Jimmy Reed: performer | access-date = 23 August 2009 | year = 2005 | publisher = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum }} |
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| born 1945 | Canadian singer-songwriter, formerly of bands Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Disliked the effects of his medication; seeking personal stability as an alternative means of control. | last = Young | first = Scott | author-link = Scott Young (writer) | title = Neil and Me | date = 30 July 1997 | publisher = Music Sales Distributed | isbn = 978-0-9529540-2-6 | chapter = Chapter 8: Buffalo Springfield and Epilepsy | quote =he went on daily medication to control his epilepsy – and grew to dislike the medication's effect on him so much that a few years later he stopped using, feeling that in his case control had more to do with personal stability than medication. | page = 68 }} |
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| born 1949 | The guitarist and singer in the music group Fleetwood Mac was taken to hospital after a seizure while on tour, aged 29. His epilepsy was successfully controlled by anticonvulsant drugs. | first = Daisann | last = McLane | year = 1980 | title = Five Not So Easy Pieces | magazine = Rolling Stone | issue = 310 | url = http://www.nicksfix.com/rs_issue310.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080116203855/http://www.nicksfix.com/rs_issue310.htm | archive-date = 16 January 2008 | first = Bob | last = Brunning |date=January 2004 | title = The Fleetwood Mac Story: Rumours and Lies | publisher = Omnibus Press | isbn = 978-1-84449-011-0 | page = 139 }} |
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| born 1952 | New Zealand indie musician (Toy Love, Tall Dwarfs) has addressed his epilepsy in such songs as "Lapse", and it is also referenced in his album title Seizure. | first = John | last = Dix | title = Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock'n'Roll, 1955–1988 | year = 1988 | publisher = Paradise Publications | isbn = 978-0-473-00638-9 | title-link = Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock'n'Roll, 1955-1988 }} |
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| born 1954 | Singer and one of the four original members of the British pop group Bucks Fizz. Developed epilepsy after a coach accident in 1985. |url=http://www.easternandcoastalkent.nhs.uk/your-health/your-health-magazine/real-life-stories/making-my-mind-up/ |title=Making my mind up |date=May 2011 |publisher=NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent |access-date=6 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524121539/http://www.easternandcoastalkent.nhs.uk/your-health/your-health-magazine/real-life-stories/making-my-mind-up/ |archive-date=24 May 2011 }} |
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| 1956–1980 | The vocalist and lyricist of the band Joy Division was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 22. The cover of their album Unknown Pleasures resembles an EEG tracing, but is actually the tracings of the radio emissions of a pulsar. He would often suffer grand mal seizures while performing and his dancing would mimic the seizures he suffered. The condition was a primary cause of his suicide in 1980 aged 23. |url=http://www.iancurtis.org/biography/ |title=Biography |work=Ian Curtis and Joy Division Fan Club |access-date=2 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060518105546/http://www.iancurtis.org/biography/ |archive-date=18 May 2006 }} |
| Marie Fredriksson
|1958–2019 |A Swedish pop singer, songwriter, pianist and painter. She collapsed in a bathroom after becoming nauseated, with the impact of the fall fracturing her cranium. She then had an epileptic seizure. |
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| Prince | 1958–2016 | American singer, who had epilepsy as a child and sang about his condition in the song "The Sacrifice of Victor". | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8024864.stm | title = Prince reveals childhood epilepsy | work = BBC News Entertainment | date = 29 April 2009 | access-date = 2 April 2010 }} |
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| born 1960 | Formerly the lead singer with the punk rock group The Skids, now a television presenter and film maker. He has absence seizures. | first = Ajay | last = Close | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/richard-jobson-pop-star-poet-poseur--and-at-last-auteur-555047.html | title = Richard Jobson: Pop star, poet, poseur – and, at last, auteur | work = The Independent | date = 31 July 2004 | access-date = 22 August 2009 }}{{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} |
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| born 1961 | Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain's Got Talent on 11 April 2011. She had epilepsy as a child. |
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| born ca.1961 | New Zealand musician (Nocturnal Projections, This Kind of Punishment). |url=http://www.geocities.com/zaaz813/jefferies.html |title=Electricity |work=Radio New Zealand interview, 1998 |access-date=11 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091022084819/http://geocities.com/zaaz813/jefferies.html |archive-date=22 October 2009 }} |
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| born 1963 | A Japanese composer who has autism, epilepsy and intellectual disability and has created two successful classical-music CDs. He is the son of Kenzaburō Ōe, the Japanese novelist who won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature. | first = Lindsley | last = Cameron | title = The Music Of Light: The Extraordinary Story of Hikari and Kenzaburo Oe | date = 12 June 1998 | publisher = Free Press | isbn = 978-0-684-82409-3 | url = https://archive.org/details/musicoflightextr00came }} |
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| born 1965 | A singer-songwriter whose work inspired those in the anti-apartheid movement. |url=http://vusi_mahlasela.mondomix.com/en/portrait2908.htm |title=Vusi Mahlasela |work=Mondomix Portraits |author=Daniel Brown |date=October 2005 |access-date=23 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100106190932/http://vusi_mahlasela.mondomix.com/en/portrait2908.htm |archive-date=6 January 2010 }} |
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| Tone Loc | born 1966 | American actor, rapper, voice actor, and producer known for his raspy voice, his hit songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina". Tone Lōc has collapsed onstage multiple times since 1995; some if not all of these collapses have been due to seizures, according to at least one report. |
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| born 1966 | Member of the music group Beastie Boys. |date=June 1994 | title = Interview with Adam Horovitz | journal = Details Magazine | year = 1994 | title = Interview with Adam Horovitz | journal = Spin }} |
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| born 1974 | Scottish television presenter and a radio D.J., who had epilepsy as a child. |
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| born 1978 | Also known as The Streets, he had epilepsy between the ages of 7 and 20. | first = Ben | last = Thompson | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/apr/25/shopping.popandrock | title = Dead cert | work = The Guardian | date = 25 April 2004 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| born 1979 | A member of the band Thursday, who discovered he had epilepsy while on tour. |first=James |last=Montgomery |url=http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1493556/20041109/thursday.jhtml?headlines=true |title=Despite Everything They Said, Thursday Aren't Breaking Up |publisher=VH1 Music News |date=10 November 2004 |access-date=2 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050416132734/http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1493556/20041109/thursday.jhtml?headlines=true |archive-date=16 April 2005 }}{{cite news | first = Chris | last = Harris | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1510427/20050927/story.jhtml | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061112123735/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1510427/20050927/story.jhtml | url-status = dead | archive-date = 12 November 2006 | title = Thursday Frontman Says He Doesn't Want To Exploit My Chemical Romance, But ... | publisher = MTV News | date = 27 September 2005 | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1979–2022 | Canadian country-music singer songwriter. He had been suffering from epilepsy and died of a grand mal seizure.{{cite web | url=https://nativeviewpoint.com/cree-country-music-singer-shane-yellowbird-dies-at-42/ | title=Shane Yellowbird dies at 42 | date=27 April 2022 }} |
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| born 1982 |American rapper revealed in March 2013 that he has epilepsy. He has suffered with the disease since childhood and admits that he rarely remembers his seizures.{{cite news|last=Gundersen|first=Edna|title=Lil Wayne can't recall seizures: 'I don't feel sick'|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/05/08/lil-wayne-has-no-memory-of-seizures/2145185/|access-date=10 May 2013|newspaper=USA Today|date=10 May 2013}} | first = Gil | last = kaufman | url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706632/lil-wayne-seizures-hospitalized-again.jhtml | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130504133827/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1706632/lil-wayne-seizures-hospitalized-again.jhtml | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 May 2013 | title = Lil Wayne Hospitalized Again For Seizures | publisher = MTV | date = 1 May 2013 | access-date = 1 May 2013 }} |
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| born 1982 |Critically acclaimed UK solo artist and writer who has released 4 Albums and 5 EPs since 2007 some of which has featured on TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy, CSI Miami and After Life. Grammy Nominated he has embarked on a solo career since 2006 following his return to music after his diagnosis of epilepsy. In the song "Red Brick" he refers to his epilepsy medication with the lyric: "Don't hide my medicine." | first = Graham | last = Reid | url = https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/richard-walters-the-animal/NWTCZ3S3EOOG5HJAISXHITBX3M/?c_id=1501119&objectid=10640091 | title = Richard Walters The Animal | publisher = NZ Herald | date = 21 April 2010 | access-date = 25 March 2025 }} |
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| Jinxx | born 1986 | An American musician and member of the Black Veil Brides, diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 27 after having a seizure at a gig. | url = https://www.epsyhealth.com/seizure-epilepsy-blog/inspirational-epilepsy-stories-jinxx | title = Inspirational Epilepsy Stories: Jinxx | publisher = Epsy Health | date = 4 May 2021 | access-date = 21 May 2021 }} |
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| born 1986 | An American rapper, poet, producer and songwriter who set the Guinness World Record for the longest rapping marathon. He inherited epilepsy and has written about his experiences with the condition in his debut book "How to Ruin Everything." | url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/read-an-excerpt-of-how-to-ruin-everything-by-george-watsky-58477fe6519b9002ae7a2044/ | title = My Brain is Threatening to Kill Me | publisher = Nathalie Lagerfield | date = 11 June 2016 | access-date = 22 March 2025 }} |
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| born 1987 | An American singer, songwriter and actress who appeared in the original Broadway cast of Spring Awakening. | url =http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2011/04/lauren_pritchard_on_spring_awa.php | title = Lauren Pritchard on Spring Awakening and Living With the Presleys | access-date = 10 April 2013 | year = 2011 }} |
| George Joji Kusunoki Miller
|born 1993 |Japanese-Australian singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. While Miller has kept his personal life and health extremely private, he revealed that he was diagnosed with a neurological condition that causes him to have stress induced seizures in 2014. Since then he has mentioned his condition and the medication he takes daily to manage it in several interviews. He has also been forced to cancel a number of live performances citing health reasons. However, it's worth mentioning that Miler himself has not used the word epilepsy to describe his condition, most likely in an attempt to dissuade his fans from digging into his health. |{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdaRIH_atZA |title=The Viral Mastermind Behind The Harlem Shake Meme Wrote An Album About Heartbreak (HBO) |date=2017-11-03 |last=VICE News |access-date=2024-06-11 |via=YouTube}}{{Cite web |last=Zadeh |first=Joe |date=2019-05-01 |title=The Joker: Joji |url=https://notion.online/the-joker-joji/ |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Notion |language=en-GB}} |
=Sport=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
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| 1887–1950 | A major league baseball pitcher who tried to hide his epilepsy with alcohol, which was at the time considered to be a more socially acceptable problem. Ty Cobb said he "suffered hell on the field." | first = Rick | last = Swaine |date=March 2004 | title = Beating the Breaks: Major League Ballplayers Who Overcame Disabilities | chapter = Chapter five: Neurological and Psychological Disorders | pages = 159–167 | publisher = McFarland & Company | isbn = 978-0-7864-1828-2 }} |
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| 1903–1946 | A major league baseball player who probably died after seizure that occurred when he was alone at home. | first = Rick | last = Swaine |date=March 2004 | title = Beating the Breaks: Major League Ballplayers Who Overcame Disabilities | chapter = Chapter five: Neurological and Psychological Disorders | pages = 168–169 | publisher = McFarland & Company | isbn = 978-0-7864-1828-2 }} |
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| born 1942 | A major league baseball player and manager. He developed epilepsy after a severe beating. | first = Rick | last = Swaine |date=March 2004 | title = Beating the Breaks: Major League Ballplayers Who Overcame Disabilities | chapter = Chapter six: Other Disabilities | publisher = McFarland & Company | isbn = 978-0-7864-1828-2 | page = 203 }} |
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| 1946–2012 | A former cricketer and commentator who was involved with Epilepsy Action Australia. He had his first seizure, aged 14, during a tennis game but has successfully controlled his epilepsy with medication. |url = http://www.epilepsy.org.au/our_board.asp#5 |title = Our Board |work = Epilepsy Action (Australia) |access-date = 2 February 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050617121706/http://epilepsy.org.au/our_board.asp#5 |archive-date = 17 June 2005 }} |
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| born 1949 | A former running back in the NFL, host of American Gladiators and Manager of WWE RAW. He has epilepsy and received a Personal Achievement Award for his work with the Epilepsy Foundation in 2007 where he is a member of the Greater Chicago Division Board of Directors. An active fundraiser, Adamle was diagnosed with dementia in 2017 and that his CTE diagnosis could have resulted from his years of epileptic seizures a consequence of his concussions on the field of play.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/mike-adamle-cte-story-nbc-5-chicago/29897/ |title='It Shook My World': Mike Adamle Tells His Story |date=7 February 2017 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/society.pl?societyDate=2007-04-16| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107004657/http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/society.pl?societyDate=2007-04-16 | archive-date=7 January 2009 | title=Chicago Business News, Analysis & Articles | Epilepsy Foundation | Crain's }} }} |
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| born 1951 | A major league baseball player and manager. |
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| born 1951 | A Hall of Fame basketball player who developed epilepsy and a heart problem as an adult, but persevered with his game. |author=David Friedman |year=2005 |url=http://www.hoopshype.com/articles/jones_friedman.htm |title=The ultimate team player |work=Hoops Hype |access-date=2 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060217175506/http://hoopshype.com/articles/jones_friedman.htm |archive-date=17 February 2006 }}{{Cite web |title=The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Bobby Jones |url=https://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers/bobby-jones/ |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=www.hoophall.com |language=en}} |
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|1952–1996 |An Olympic boxer from the USSR. The youngest Olympic champion in boxing history, at the age of 28 he was already a sick person. Brain vascular atrophy developed, vision was severely impaired, liver problems were encountered and psoriasis and epilepsy. |
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| born 1958 | A boxer who was IBF world light-welterweight champion. His diagnosis of epilepsy in 1987, aged 29, forced him into retirement undefeated. | first=Phil | last=Berger | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/07/sports/boxing-notebook-marsh-finds-profitable-life-out-of-ring.html | title=Boxing Notebook; Marsh Finds Profitable Life Out of Ring | work=The New York Times | date=7 October 1987 | access-date = 23 August 2009 | first = Terry | last = Marsh |date=September 2005 | title = Undefeated | publisher = Terry Marsh Publishing | isbn = 978-0-9549999-0-2 }} |
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| born 1959 | A major league baseball player who collapsed on field with a tonic-clonic seizure. He had a further seizure in hospital that night and took anticonvulsant medication for the next two years. Walker had a childhood history of seizures until the age of 4. | agency = Associated Press | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/01/sports/walker-suffers-second-seizure.html | title = Walker Suffers Second Seizure | work = The New York Times | date = 1 August 1988 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| 1959–1998 | A track and field athlete with world records in the 100 m and 200 m. She developed seizures in her thirties, possibly due to a cavernous angioma that was discovered on autopsy. She died from asphyxiation after a grand mal seizure while asleep. |first=Kristina Rebelo |last=Anderson |url=http://www.salon.com/news/1998/12/cov_04newsa.html |title=The Uneasy Death of Florence Griffith Joyner |work=Salon |date=4 December 1998 |access-date=2 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207041128/http://salon.com/news/1998/12/cov_04newsa.html |archive-date=7 February 2006 }} |
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| born 1959 | One of Australia's greatest rugby league players, national team captain 1984–89. After retirement from the sport, he became a television sports presenter, but became disoriented during a live-to-air broadcast in late 2006. Medical tests revealed that he had epilepsy. | author = not given | url = http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Wally-Lewis-reveals-he-has-epilepsy/2006/12/01/1164777790633.html | title = Wally Lewis reveals he has epilepsy | work = The Age | date = 1 December 2006 | access-date = 11 January 2007 }} |
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| born 1962 | Former Australian national Football (soccer) player and television sports commentator. Wade had epilepsy all his life but was only diagnosed as an adult. He kept it secret until he had a seizure on live television in 2001. Drugs weren't controlling the seizures so, in 2002, he had surgery to remove a scar in his brain. He is now seizure free. | author = Matthew Hall | url = http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/21/1032054999132.html | title = Wade ready to kick on again | work = The Age | date = 22 September 2002 | access-date = 12 August 2006 | url = http://www.epilepsy.org.au/home/headline/files/web2/04_winter/h62_insight2.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060829130107/http://www.epilepsy.org.au/home/headline/files/web2/04_winter/h62_insight2.asp | archive-date = 29 August 2006 | title = Coaching With Surgical Precision | access-date = 12 August 2006 | year = 2004 | work = Australian Headlines (National Epilepsy Magazine) | publisher = Epilepsy Action (Australia) }} |
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| born 1964 | A Franco-American cyclist who found that she has epilepsy at the age of 22. She was shunned by the U.S. cycling federation and subsequently rode in the colors of France. She has since won six world titles, two Olympic silver medals, and numerous races worldwide. |author=James Raia |year=2007 |url=http://www.byjamesraia.com/articles/18/1/Marion-Clignet-The-Life-amp-Times-Of-An-Epileptic-Cycling-Champion/Page1.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071007010526/http://www.byjamesraia.com/articles/18/1/Marion-Clignet-The-Life-amp-Times-Of-An-Epileptic-Cycling-Champion/Page1.html |archive-date=7 October 2007 |title=Marion Clignet: The Life & Times Of An Epileptic Cycling Champion |url-status=usurped |access-date=20 November 2008 }}{{cite web | url = http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/teamprofiles/2000/clingon00.shtml | title = Marion Clignet's Back | access-date = 20 November 2008 | author = Epsy Health | url = https://www.epsyhealth.com/seizure-epilepsy-blog/inspirational-epilepsy-stories-marion-clignet | title = Inspirational Epilepsy Stories: Marion Clignet | work = epsyhealth.com | access-date = 14 April 2021 }} |
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| born 1965 | Four times British Paralympic swimmer, winning 3 gold, 5 silver and 7 bronze. McEleny has paraplegia and epilepsy. In 2000, she was made an MBE and awarded a Golden Jubilee Award by the British Epilepsy Association. |url = http://www.sisport.com/sisport/files/goldzone_summer_2004.pdf |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061102130628/http://www.sisport.com/sisport/files/goldzone_summer_2004.pdf |archive-date = 2 November 2006 |author = Doug Gillon |title = The Journey to Athens |access-date = 23 August 2009 |year = 2004 |publisher = Scottish Institute of Sport }} |
| Mikhail Tatarinov
|born 1966 |A retired Russian ice hockey defenceman. Alcohol withdrawal epilepsy seizures. |
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| 1966–2013 | An Olympic cyclist of France who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He died from an epileptic seizure. |
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| born 1969 | A cricketer who is involved with Epilepsy South Africa. | url = http://www.epilepsy.org.za/download/files/6.pdf | title = 'Epilepsy is not disabling', says Jonty | work = Epilepsy South Africa, National Newsletter | year = 2007 | access-date = 23 August 2009 | archive-date = 22 July 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110722143819/http://www.epilepsy.org.za/download/files/6.pdf | url-status = dead }} |
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| 1971–2022 | Former Scottish international and Northampton Saints rugby player. He had epilepsy since the age of 18. His seizures occurred only at night, during sleep. He was a patron of the Scottish epilepsy charity, Enlighten. | year = 2005 | url = http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/node/1076 | title = Survey Reveals Impact Of Epilepsy On Men | publisher = Epilepsy Action | access-date = 4 September 2007 | author = David Ferguson | url = http://sport.scotsman.com/rugby/Smith-tries-to-put-illness.2239897.jp | title = Smith tries to put illness in perspective | work = The Scotsman | date = 24 October 2000 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| born 1975 | A former American football player who played cornerback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. | title = Tiki Barber: Epilepsy in the Family | date = 13 December 2007 | url = http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2007/12/13/4377688-tiki-barber-epilepsy-in-the-family | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120302013528/http://allday.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2007/12/13/4377688-tiki-barber-epilepsy-in-the-family | archive-date = 2 March 2012 | access-date = 19 February 2012 }} |
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| born 1975 | A former American football player, who played running back for the New York Giants. |
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| born 1976 | An American football guard in the pro football Hall of Fame. The nine-time All-Pro was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 15 and takes the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, which successfully controls his seizures. | url = http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/aboutus/pressroom/pr20060202.cfm | title = Epilepsy Foundation Salutes Steelers' Alan Faneca on Super Bowl Sunday | publisher = Epilepsy Foundation | access-date = 23 August 2009 | author = Adam Modzelesky | url = http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/epilepsyusa/faneca.cfm | title = Not Faster than a Speeding Bullet, but More Powerful than a Locomotive, this Man of Steel is an Inspiration for Everyone | work = Epilepsy USA | access-date = 15 January 2006 | author = Epsy Health | url = https://www.epsyhealth.com/seizure-epilepsy-blog/inspirational-epilepsy-stories-alan-faneca | title = Inspirational Epilepsy Stories: Alan Faneca | work = epsyhealth.com | access-date = 14 April 2021 |
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| born 1976 | A former American football cornerback who played for the Baltimore Ravens. | url = https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=3122595 | title = Ravens Cornerback Rolle Reveals He Has Epilepsy | publisher = ESPN | access-date = 22 November 2007 | date = 21 November 2007 }} |
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| born 1980 | A goalie in the US 2006 Winter Olympic women's hockey team. Gunn was diagnosed with juvenile absence epilepsy at the age of 9, which was treated with valproic acid. Epilepsy meant that she had to give up her childhood sports of swimming and surfing, but these were soon replaced with hockey. | author = Peggy Peck | year = 2006 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/02/07/profile.gunn/ | title = Epilepsy can't stop U.S. Olympic goalie | work = MedPageToday.com | publisher = CNN | access-date = 16 February 2006 }} |
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| born 1982 | A member of the Ireland women's cricket team. Seizure-free since 2018 Beamish has spoken publicly about her anxiety that seizures may re-occur and her decision not to have children as a result. | author = Sheila Wayman | year = 2025 | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/health/your-wellness/2025/02/04/epilepsy-its-like-having-the-sword-of-damocles-above-your-head/ | title = Epilepsy: 'It's like having the sword of Damocles above your head' | work = irishtimes.com | publisher = irishtimes.com | access-date = 8 February 2025}} |
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| born 1983 | An American football player with the Atlanta Falcons. | publisher = Epilepsy Foundation | title = Shedding Light On Epilepsy | date = 19 February 2010 | url = http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Disease_420/Shedding_Light_On_Epilepsy.shtml | access-date = 24 March 2013 }} |
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| born 1984 | An Olympic swimmer for the United States who had epilepsy as a child |
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|born 1985 |A Belarusian professional ice hockey forward for HC Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). The hockey player suffered several serious epilepsy seizures in one month. He was treated in Canada in 2004. |
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| born 1985 | An English professional footballer, who currently plays for Port Vale as a central defender. His epilepsy is currently controlled. |last=Johnson |first=Simon |title=Epilepsy has not stopped Leon Legge achieving his |newspaper=London Evening Standard |date=9 December 2010 |url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23905283-epilepsy-has-not-stopped-legge-achieving-his-goal.do |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505071601/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23905283-epilepsy-has-not-stopped-legge-achieving-his-goal.do |archive-date=5 May 2013 |access-date=3 February 2011 }} |
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| born 1986 | A Welsh hurdler who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles event. Greene is the current European, Commonwealth and World Champion. |last=Malone |first=Sam |title=Gold medal hero Dai Greene: Athletics freed me from my battle with epilepsy |newspaper=Western Mail |date=8 September 2011 |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/09/08/gold-medal-hero-dai-greene-athletics-freed-me-from-my-battle-with-epilepsy-91466-29384454/ |access-date=10 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015181338/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/09/08/gold-medal-hero-dai-greene-athletics-freed-me-from-my-battle-with-epilepsy-91466-29384454/ |archive-date=15 October 2012 }} |
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| born 1986 | An Ultra-marathon cyclist and Indoor Track Cycling four time world record holder, who was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 9 before undergoing major transformative brain surgery to control her condition. |
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| born 1987 | An Australian Football League player who has had Epilepsy since 2015. | url = http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/buddy-franklin-health-swans-star-hospitalised-after-suffering-suspected-seizure/news-story/94288bcfc475ab0c0e8eca065be0863b | title = Buddy Franklin health: Swans star hospitalised after suffering suspected seizure | work = The Daily telegraph | access-date = 19 November 2016 | date = 9 September 2015 }} |
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|born 1987 |A baseball pitcher named as an all-star in 2018 with the Milwaukee Brewers. |{{Cite web |title=Jeffress added as Brewers' 5th All-Star |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/jeremy-jeffress-named-to-first-all-star-team-c285527036 |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-08-12 |title=SN Conversation: Brewers' Jeremy Jeffress talks about epilepsy, rehab realizations and his dog |url=https://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/brewers-jeremy-jeffress-talks-about-epilepsy-rehab-realizations-and-his-dog/fbze5ql8fc0a140sbwls795mg |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=www.sportingnews.com |language=en-us}} |
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|born 1990 |An Irish middle distance paralympic runner with a mild form of cerebral palsy and epilepsy who has won Gold at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. |
| Viktorija Senkutė
|born 1996 |Lithuanian rower, 2024 Olympic bronze medallist. At the age of 15 she was diagnosed with focal, or partial, epilepsy after she started experiencing convulsions during the night. |{{cite web|url= https://www.15min.lt/sportas/naujiena/vandens-sportas/irkluotoja-v-senkute-nenoriu-kad-zmones-bijotu-zodzio-epilepsija-863-2028698?utm_medium=copied |title= Irkluotoja V.Senkutė: "Nenoriu, kad žmonės bijotų žodžio "epilepsija" |publisher= 15min |accessdate=3 August 2024}} |
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| born 1998 | A Canadian dancer who competed in World of Dance and stars in The Next Step. After having a seizure during a dance rehearsal, she was misdiagnosed with anxiety, but two years later, a neurologist confirmed she has epilepsy. |{{Cite news|url=https://www.popsugar.co.uk/fitness/Dancer-Briar-Nolet-Interview-About-Epilepsy-Diagnosis-46129305|title=World of Dance Star Briar Nolet Aims to Inspire Following Her Epilepsy Diagnosis: "Do What You Love"|work=PopSugar|access-date=5 January 2020}}{{Cite news|url=http://theepilepsynetwork.com/world-of-dance-star-briar-nolet-aims-to-inspire-following-her-epilepsy-diagnosis-do-what-you-love/|title=World of Dance Star Aims to Inspire Following Her Epilepsy Diagnosis: "Do What You Love"|work=The Epilepsy Network|access-date=5 January 2020}} |
| Mike Towell
|1991–2016 |A Scottish professional boxer from Dundee, Scotland. Who died after fight 'should have never been in the ring' after having epileptic seizures |
| Justin Fields
|born 1999 |A first round pick in the 2021 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. His condition was made public prior to the draft. |{{Cite web |title=Ohio State QB Justin Fields managing epilepsy as he heads into 2021 NFL Draft |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/ohio-state-qb-justin-fields-has-confirmed-to-nfl-teams-he-s-managing-epilepsy |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=NFL.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Justin Fields signs rookie contract with Bears; initial first-round QB to agree to deal |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/justin-fields-signs-rookie-contract-with-bears-initial-first-round-qb-to-agree-t |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=NFL.com |language=en-US}} |
=Art and writing=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 1812–1888 | An artist, illustrator and writer known for his nonsensical poetry and limericks. His epilepsy, which he developed as a child, may have been inherited (his elder sister Jane had frequent seizures and died young). Lear was ashamed of his epilepsy and kept it a secret. He did, however, record each seizure in his diary. | url = http://www.charge.org.uk/htmlsite/lear.shtml | title = Edward Lear | work = Charge – The experience of Epilepsy | access-date = 2 February 2006 }} |
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| 1821–1881 | A Russian writer whose epilepsy was probably inherited (both his father and his son had seizures). He incorporated his experiences into his novels – creating four different characters with epilepsy. Dostoyevsky's epilepsy was unusual in that he claimed to experience an ecstatic aura prior to a seizure, whereas most people experience unpleasant feelings. | url = http://www.charge.org.uk/htmlsite/dost.shtml | title = Fyodor Dostoevsky | work = Charge – The experience of Epilepsy | access-date = 2 February 2006 | author=Hughes JR | title=The idiosyncratic aspects of the epilepsy of Fyodor Dostoevsky | journal=Epilepsy & Behavior | year=2005 | pages=531–8 | volume=7 | issue=3 | pmid=16194626 | doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.07.021| s2cid=2492211 }} |
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| 1825–1894 | An American painter who had epilepsy from childhood. |url = http://virtualology.com/GEORGEINNESS.NET/ |title = George Inness |access-date = 14 August 2006 |author = Stanley L. Klos |year = 2001 |publisher = Virtualology.com |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184846/http://virtualology.com/GEORGEINNESS.NET/ |archive-date = 30 September 2007 }} |
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| 1825–1900 | Author of Lorna Doone. | last = Dunn | first = Waldo Hilary | title = R. D. Blackmore: The Author of Lorna Doone, a Biography | url = https://archive.org/details/rdblackmoreautho00dunn | url-access = registration | year = 1956 | publisher = R. Hale | pages = [https://archive.org/details/rdblackmoreautho00dunn/page/19 19], 74,253 }} |
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| 1832–1893 | Artist and father of Arthur Conan Doyle. His alcoholism and a violent outburst led him to be detained in an asylum. Whilst there, he developed epilepsy and severe memory problems. | last = Beveridge | first = Allan | year = 2006 | title = What became of Arthur Conan Doyle's father? The last years of Charles Altamont Doyle. | journal = Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh | volume = 36 | pages = 264–270 | url = http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/journal/issue/journal_36_3/U_Beveridge2.pdf | access-date = 23 August 2009 | pmid = 17214131 | issue = 3 | doi = 10.1177/1478271520063603022 }} |
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| 1832–1910 | Norwegian writer and the 1903 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. Developed focal epilepsy following a stroke in the final year of his life. | author = Aarli J | title = [Medical treatment abroad. Why Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson died in Paris 1910] | journal = Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen | volume = 115 | issue = 30 | pages = 3740–4 | year = 1995 | pmid = 8539743 }} |
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| 1837–1889 | A Romanian children's writer and memoirist who had epilepsy for the last six years of his life. |url=http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/cultura/l_creanga.html |title=Ion Creangă |publisher=National Institute For Research & Development in Informatics |access-date=28 November 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025064036/http://www.ici.ro/romania/en/cultura/l_creanga.html |archive-date=25 October 2006 }} |
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| Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis | 1839–1908 | A Brazilian realist novelist, poet and short-story writer. He had epilepsy all his life, but was ashamed to mention it, using euphemisms when writing to friends. It is believed he had complex partial seizures, with secondary generalisation. | author = Guerreiro C | title = Machado de Assis's epilepsy. | journal = Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria | volume = 50 | issue = 3 | pages = 378–82 | year = 1992 | pmid = 1308419 | doi=10.1590/s0004-282x1992000300020 | doi-access = free |vauthors=Chapman A, Chapman-Santana M | title = Machado de Assis's own writings about his epilepsy: a brief clinical note. | journal = Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria | volume = 58 | issue = 4 | pages = 1153–4 | year = 2000 | url = http://www.scielo.br/pdf/anp/v58n4/3418.pdf | pmid = 11105089 | doi=10.1590/s0004-282x2000000600029 | doi-access = free }} |
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| 1855–1910 | A Russian artist, whose epilepsy interrupted his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. | url = http://www.taganrogcity.com/sinodi-popov.html | title = Dmitri Sinodi-Popov | publisher = Official Website of the City of Taganrog | access-date = 21 November 2006 }} |
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| 1867–1941 | A Japanese writer and naturalist. He had tonic-clonic seizures, with an aura that caused déjà vu. Postmortem MRI showed right hippocampal atrophy, consistent with temporal lobe epilepsy. |vauthors=Murai T, Hanakawa T, Sengoku A, Ban T, Yoneda Y, Fujita H, Fujita N | title = Temporal lobe epilepsy in a genius of natural history: MRI volumetric study of postmortem brain. | journal = Neurology | volume = 50 | issue = 5 | pages = 1373–6 | year = 1998 | pmid = 9595989 | doi=10.1212/wnl.50.5.1373 | s2cid = 1720104 | author = Sengoku A | title = [Kumagusu Minakata with temporal lobe epilepsy: a pathographic study] | journal = Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi | volume = 108 | issue = 2 | pages = 132–9 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16562514 }} |
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| 1879–1931 | A poet who took phenobarbital for his epilepsy. | first = John Hall | last = Wheelock | date = May 2002 | title = The Last Romantic: A Poet Among Publishers: The Oral Autobiography of John Hall Wheelock | publisher = Univ of South Carolina Press | isbn = 978-1-57003-463-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/lastromanticpoet0000whee/page/97 97] | url = https://archive.org/details/lastromanticpoet0000whee/page/97 }} |
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| 1914–1997 | A poet, novelist and screenwriter, best known for his autobiographical trilogy (which includes Cider with Rosie). His epilepsy probably developed after he was knocked down by a bicycle at the age of 10. He kept it secret and it only surfaced when his papers were read by biographers after his death. |first=John |last=Knight |year=2000 |title=Laurie Lee: Myth And Reality – Book Review |journal=Contemporary Review |issue=June 2000 |url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1613_276/ai_63668452 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060326235718/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1613_276/ai_63668452 |archive-date=26 March 2006 }} |
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| 1918–2006 | A landscape painter. His epilepsy ended his army career and may have prevented him marrying. | first = Rian | last = Evans | date = 4 September 2006 | title = Obituary: Sir Kyffin Williams | work = The Guardian | url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/sep/04/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| 1943–2017 | A publicist known for representing controversial clients. He developed epilepsy at the age of 46. | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/01_january/radio_times_lost_prince.shtml | title = What would they do now? – Max Clifford on how today's monarchy might handle Prince John | work = BBC Worldwide Press Releases | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| born 1944 | An author, feminist and writer on Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Her temporal lobe epilepsy went undiagnosed for many years. She wrote in her autobiography that when (in her early thirties) she was finally given the diagnosis, it was "an occasion of pure happiness". | first = Karen | last = Armstrong | url = https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/20/health.comment | title = I'm no freak, so don't treat me like one | work = The Guardian | date = 20 May 2005 | access-date = 23 August 2009 | first = Karen | last = Armstrong |date=January 2005 | title = The Spiral Staircase | publisher = Harper Perennial | isbn = 978-0-00-712229-5 }} |
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| born 1945 | Author of short stories, many of which include characters with epilepsy. | author = Natalie Angier | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/12/science/in-the-temporal-lobes-seizures-and-creativity.html | title = In the Temporal Lobes, Seizures and Creativity | work = The New York Times | date = 12 October 1993 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| 1951–1985 | An author who was known for his books criticising the Freemasons. He started having seizures in 1977 and in 1980, agreed to take part in a BBC documentary TV program Horizon on epilepsy. The producers arranged for a brain scan, which showed up a tumour. This was removed but returned in 1984 and despite further surgery he died in 1985. | last = Whittington-Egan | first = Richard |date=June 2002 | title = Stephen Knight | journal = Ripperologist | volume = 41 | url = http://casebook.org/authors/obituaries/knight.html | access-date = 24 November 2006 }} |
| valign="top"
| born 1953 | Fitness and health author and writer. | title = Out of the Shadows | work = Fayetteville Observer | date = 29 November 1999 }} |
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| born 1957 | A programming instructor and game developer who co-created the Head First series of books on computer programming. She had her first tonic-clonic seizure at the age of four. These were frequent and severe but greatly diminished by adulthood and were always preceded by an aura. | first = Kathy | last = Sierra | date = 11 April 2005 | url = http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2005/04/whos_in_chargey.html | title = Who's in charge – you or your brain? | publisher = Creating Passionate Users | access-date = 21 November 2006 }} |
| valign="top"
| Tamlik | born 1964 | An Australian-Aboriginal who paints using Western Desert Art style. He became diagnosed with epilepsy in 1984. |
| valign="top"
| 1966–2006 | Aristocrat, surfer and cyber artist. He died in his bath due to an epileptic seizure, which was recorded as a sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). | author = Heathcote Williams | title = Obituary: Jago Eliot | url = https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/may/01/guardianobituaries.mainsection | work = The Guardian | date = 1 May 2006 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| 1967 | American Author and critic who lives in London. Former literary editor of The Times and currently a writer with The New Statesman. She was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 12 and her book Seizure is a novella that features a family who deal with the issue of epilepsy. | author = Nicola Swanborough | title = A Smell of Burning: The Story of Epilepsy | url = https://epilepsysociety.org.uk/blog/smell-burning-story-epilepsy | work = epilepsysociety.org | date = 25 August 2016 | access-date = 23 March 2025 }} |
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| born 1973 | An Irish radio presenter on RTE 2FM since 2001 who was first diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of sixteen. He has been patron of Epilepsy Ireland since 2006. | url = https://www.independent.ie/style/celebrity/dj-rick-oshea-reveals-his-battle-with-epilepsy-and-says-he-wont-be-beaten-by-it/26871633.html | title = DJ Rick O'Shea reveals his battle with epilepsy and says he won't be beaten by it | date = 3 July 2012 }} |
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| born 1980 | An Indian artist-activist on a number of issues including sexuality, disability, mental health and human rights. Also known as Val Resh she has battled several conditions including Reye's Sydrome at a year and a half, schizophrenia and has scar epilepsy caused by meningioma in 2011 which though operated on recurred again in 2019. | url = https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/reshma-valliappan-on-creating-the-canvas-of-stories-surrounding-peoples-emotions/article33910886.ece | title = Reshma Valliappan creating the canvas of stories surrounding peoples emotions. | work = The Hindu | date = 26 February 2021 | last1 = Mathew | first1 = Sunalini }} |
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| born 1994 | An English Stand-up comedian co-host of Big Kick Energy that focuses on the Soccer League and who took part in Soccer Aid 2023. She was diagnosed with Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy at the age of 14.url = https://www.voicemag.uk/interview/4196/interview-with-maisie-adam|title = Interview with Maisie Adam - Edinburgh Fringe Festiva|date = 11 July 2018| |
=Miscellaneous=
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 1880–1909 | The youngest daughter of Mark Twain. She had epilepsy from age fifteen, which her father attributed to a childhood head injury. Her epilepsy was not successfully controlled and at one point she was sent to an epilepsy colony in Katonah, New York. She was found dead on Christmas Eve in her bath aged 29. The cause of death was reported as drowning due to epilepsy. | title = Miss Jean Clemens Found Dead in Bath | url = http://www.twainquotes.com/19091225.html | work = The New York Times | date = 24 December 1909 | access-date = 21 November 2006 |first = Laura Skandera |last = Trombley |url = http://www.pitzer.edu/offices/president/speeches/jean_clemens.htm |title = 'She Wanted to Kill': Jean Clemens and Postictal Psychosis |publisher = Pitzer College |access-date = 21 November 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060902095940/http://www.pitzer.edu/offices/president/speeches/jean_clemens.htm |archive-date = 2 September 2006 }} |
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| 1933–1953 | Hanged, aged 19, for a crime his partner committed, Bentley had epilepsy and a mental age of 11. He was pardoned after a 45-year campaign, which included the film Let Him Have It, starring Christopher Eccleston. | author = Chris Taylor | url = http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,14247,00.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090919015709/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,14247,00.html | archive-date = 19 September 2009 | title = Peace at Last for the Hanged Man | magazine = Time | date = 31 July 1998 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1934–1954 | The third of the Dionne quintuplets, Emilie's epilepsy was only made public after her death at a convent in Sainte Agathe, Quebec. She died from complications caused by a series of epileptic seizures. These were recorded at noon the previous day, 11{{nbsp}}pm, 3{{nbsp}}am, and 5{{nbsp}}am, but no doctor was called until after her death. Her death from epilepsy caused alarm, leading H. Houston Merritt to inform the public that "the mortality rate among epileptics is no greater than among non-sufferers". | author = United Press | title = Frailest Of 5 Dionnes Found Dead in Convent | publisher = Statesville Record & Landmark | date = 7 August 1954 | author-link = United Press International | author = (unknown) | title = Emilie Dionne Laid To Rest Amid Bitter Sobs Of Surviving Quintuplets | publisher = The Newport Daily News | date = 9 August 1954 }} |
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| 1948–1997 | A woman who had agoraphobia, hypergraphia and epilepsy. Her eccentric husband Alvin was charged with her murder but cleared after the jury accepted that she may have suffocated during a seizure. She had not been seen outside her home for 25 years. |
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| 1944–2001 | A protein-structure biochemist. He kept his epilepsy secret, did not treat it, and died under mysterious circumstances, possibly owing to a seizure. | first = Thomas | last = Jordan | title = Scientist Don Wiley May Have Had Seizure | publisher = The Commercial Appeal | date = 15 January 2002 }} |
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| born 1960 | Initially convicted but later acquitted of murdering the British television presenter Jill Dando. Has epilepsy, mental health problems and is autistic. | author = Nick Hopkins |author2=Steven Morris | title = Life and times of Barry George | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/jul/02/jilldando.media | work = The Guardian | date = 2 July 2001 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| born 1965 | Co-owner of the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada and star of the History series Pawn Stars; had epilepsy when he was in his youth. |
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| born 1975 | English reality television contestant (The Apprentice, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!) and businesswoman, who developed epilepsy as a teenager | |
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| born 1979 | An autistic savant who is a talented mnemonist and language learner. He had temporal lobe epilepsy as a child. | url = http://www.optimnem.co.uk/charity.php | title = Charity | access-date = 28 November 2006 | author =Daniel Tammet | publisher = Optimnem (official web site of Daniel Tammet) | author = Richard Johnson | title = A genius explains | url = https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/feb/12/weekend7.weekend2 | work = The Guardian | date = 12 February 2005 | access-date = 23 August 2009 }} |
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| born 1981 | During his review of Turkish Star Wars, the Cinema Snob mentions that he has been epileptic since 4th grade and takes Tegretol (carbamazepine). | url = http://www.thecinemasnob.com/the-cinema-snob/turkish-star-wars | title = Cinema Snob review of 'Turkish Star Wars' | access-date = 4 August 2014 }} |
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| born 1969 | During his interview on Philly Who, Keith revealed he been epileptic since a car crash that killed his fiancée and left him with severe injuries and in Baltimore, Maryland. He admitted to working as a winemaker in Napa Valley and Chianti for years without revealing his neurological disorder to his employers. | url = https://podphillywho.com/2018/10/10/wine/ | title = Keith Wallace: Creating The Wine School of Philadelphia | access-date = 9 January 2019 | date = 10 October 2018 | archive-date = 10 January 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190110183529/https://podphillywho.com/2018/10/10/wine/ | url-status = dead }} |
Retrospective diagnosis
The following people were not diagnosed with epilepsy during their lifetime. A retrospective diagnosis is speculative and, as detailed below, can be wrong.
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| Socrates | 470–399 BC | Ancient Greek philosopher. It is speculated that his daimonion was a simple partial seizure and that he had temporal lobe epilepsy. |
| valign="top"
| 100–44 BC | Roman military and political leader. There is documentation of symptoms experienced by Caesar beginning on his 50th birthday that some scholars believe were complex partial seizures. There is family history of epilepsy amongst his ancestors and descendants. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius who was born after Caesar's death. However, some scholars believe that Caesar's symptoms, as well as the deaths of his father and paternal grandfather, may be better explained by cardiovascular disease and stroke, and that the documentation of his epilepsy could be unreliable since certain symptoms were not described until after his death. Epilepsy was considered a "sacred disease" and therefore may have been publicized by family members after his death to portray a specific public image. |{{cite journal | author = Hughes J | title = Dictator Perpetuus: Julius Caesar—did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology? | journal = Epilepsy Behav | volume = 5 | issue = 5 | pages = 756–64 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15380131 | doi = 10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.05.006| s2cid = 34640921 }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Gomez J, Kotler J, Long J | title = Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to a brain tumor? | journal = The Journal of the Florida Medical Association | volume = 82 | issue = 3 | pages = 199–201 | year = 1995 | pmid = 7738524}}{{citation|title=as the diagnosis of a stroke been overlooked in the symptoms of Julius Caesar?|last1=Galassi|first1=Francesco M|last2=Ashrafian|first2=Hutan|year=2015|journal=Neurological Sciences|volume=36|issue=8|pages=1521–1522|doi=10.1007/s10072-015-2191-4|pmid=25820216|s2cid=11730078}} |
| valign="top"
| 1769–1821 | French military leader and emperor. A paper by William Osler in 1903 stated, "The slow pulse of Napoleon rests upon tradition; it has been suggested that his epilepsy and attacks of apathy may have been associated features in a chronic form of Stokes-Adams disease", which implies the seizures were not epileptic in origin. However, in 2003, John Hughes concluded that Napoleon had both psychogenic attacks due to stress and epileptic seizures due to chronic uremia from a severe urethral stricture caused by gonorrhea. |{{cite journal | author = Osler W | title = On the so-called Stokes-Adams disease (slow pulse with syncopal attacks, &c.) | journal = The Lancet | volume = 2 | issue = 4173 | pages = 516–524 | year = 1903 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)66180-9| url = https://zenodo.org/record/1997389 }}{{cite journal | author = Hughes J | title = Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte: did he have seizures? Psychogenic or epileptic or both? | journal = Epilepsy Behav | volume = 4 | issue = 6 | pages = 793–6 | year = 2003 | pmid = 14698723 | doi = 10.1016/j.yebeh.2003.09.005| s2cid = 23675533 }} |
| Harriet Tubman
|1822-1913 |American abolitionist who rescued slaves with a network of antislavery activists collectively known as the Underground Railroad. A slave overseer threw a metal weight towards another slave but hit Tubman in the head instead. After this she experienced seizures along with painful headaches, fainting spells, and religious experiences. Temporal lobe epilepsy is considered one of the possible diagnoses. |{{Cite web |last=Donnella |first=Leah |date=2019-11-03 |title=Harriet Tubman's 'Visions' |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775818750/harriet-tubmans-visions |access-date=2024-08-14 |website=NPR}}{{Cite web |title= Did Harriet Tubman have epilepsy? | Epilepsy blog|url=https://www.epsyhealth.com/seizure-epilepsy-blog/did-harriet-tubman-have-epilepsy#:~:text=Auburn%2C%20New%20York.-,Why%20did%20Harriet%20Tubman%20have%20seizures%3F,slave%2C%20accidentally%20striking%20Harriet%20instead.}} |
| valign="top"
| 1898–1937 | American composer. The first symptoms of his glioblastoma multiforme tumor were possibly olfactory-uncinate simple partial seizures. He noticed the smell of burnt rubber at the same time as dizziness or, occasionally, brief blackouts. His condition deteriorated and he died six months later, despite surgery to remove the tumor. |
| Rosemary Kennedy
|1918–2005 |The younger sister of American President John F. Kennedy. She developed "convulsions" and violent fits around the age of 20. To her parents, it appeared to be a degenerating neurological disturbance or disease. The Kennedy family arranged a lobotomy to control her behaviour which reduced her mental capabilities to that of a toddler. A formal epilepsy diagnosis has never been disclosed. |
=Religious figures=
{{Main|Mystical experience#Neurology|Neurotheology|l1=Mysticism|l2=Neurotheology}}
{{See also|Ecstatic seizures|Geschwind syndrome}}
There is a long-standing notion that epilepsy and religion are linked, and it has been speculated that many religious figures had temporal lobe epilepsy. The temporal lobes generate the feeling of "I", and give a sense of familiarity or strangeness to the perceptions of the senses. The temporal lobes and adjacent anterior insular cortex seem to be involved in mystical experiences,{{cite web
|access-date=21 August 2006 |url=http://www.slideshare.net/dominic54/artikel-5593315
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214151842/http://www.slideshare.net/dominic54/artikel-5593315
|archive-date=14 February 2016
|title=The Neurophysiology of the Brain: Its Relationship to Altered States of Consciousness (With emphasis on the Mystical Experience)
|author=Peter Fenwick
|year=1980
|publisher=Wrekin Trust
}} and in the change in personality that may result from such experiences.
Raymond Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness (1901) contains several case-studies of people who have realized "cosmic consciousness". James Leuba's The psychology of religious mysticism noted that "among the dread diseases that afflict humanity there is only one that interests us quite particularly; that disease is epilepsy."{{Citation | last =Leuba | first =J.H. | year =1925 | title =The psychology of religious mysticism | publisher =Harcourt, Brace}} Several of Bucke's cases are also mentioned in J.E. Bryant's 1953 book, Genius and Epilepsy, which has a list of more than 20 people that combines the great and the mystical.{{cite book
| first1 = Ernest J.
| last1 = Bryant
| title = Genius and Epilepsy. Brief sketches of Great Men Who Had Both
| year = 1953
| publisher = Ye Old Depot Press
| location = Concord, Massachusetts
}}
Slater and Beard renewed the interest in TLE and religious experience in the 1960s. Dewhurst and Beard (1970) described six cases of TLE-patients who underwent sudden religious conversions. They placed these cases in the context of several western saints who had a sudden conversion, who were or may have been epileptic. Dewhurst and Beard described several aspects of conversion experiences, and did not favor one specific mechanism.{{Citation | last =Devinsky | first =O. | year =2003 | title =Religious experiences and epilepsy | journal =Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=4 | issue =1 |pages=76–77 | doi=10.1016/s1525-5050(02)00680-7 | pmid=12609231| s2cid =32445013 }}
Norman Geschwind described behavioral changes related to temporal lobe epilepsy in the 1970s and 1980s.{{Citation
| last1 =Drvinsky
| first1 =Julie
| last2 =Schachter
| first2 =Steven
| year =2009
| title =Norman Geschwind's contribution to the understanding of behavioral changes in temporal lobe epilepsy: The February 1974 lecture
| journal =Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=15 | issue =4
|pages=417–424
| doi =10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.06.006 | pmid =19640791
| s2cid =22179745
}}
Now called Geschwind syndrome, he defined a cluster of specific personality characteristics often found in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, which include increased religiosity. Evidence of Geschwind syndrome has been identified in some religious figures, in particular pronounced religiosity and hypergraphia (excessive writing). However, critics note that these characteristics can be the result of any illness, and are not sufficiently descriptive for patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.{{cite web
| access-date = 23 August 2009
| url = http://www.epilepsy.com/articles/ar_1064250059
| title = Is there an epileptic personality?
| author = William Barr
| date = 22 September 2003
}}
Neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick, in the 1980s and 1990s, also found a relationship between the right temporal lobe and mystical experience, but also found that pathology or brain damage is only one of many possible causal mechanisms for these experiences. He questioned the earlier accounts of religious figures with temporal lobe epilepsy, noticing that "very few true examples of the ecstatic aura and the temporal lobe seizure had been reported in the world scientific literature prior to 1980". According to Fenwick, "It is likely that the earlier accounts of temporal lobe epilepsy and temporal lobe pathology and the relation to mystic and religious states owes more to the enthusiasm of their authors than to a true scientific understanding of the nature of temporal lobe functioning."{{cite web
| access-date = 15 August 2006
| url = http://www.start.gr/user/symposia/fen4.htm
| title = Untitled
| author = Peter Fenwick
| date = 7 January 1994
| publisher = 4th International Science Symposium on Science and Consciousness.
}}
The occurrence of intense religious feelings in people with epilepsy in general is considered rare, with an incident rate of about 2–3%. Sudden religious conversion, together with visions, has been documented in only a small number of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy.{{cite journal
|vauthors=Dewhurst K, Beard A
|title=Sudden religious conversions in temporal lobe epilepsy. 1970.
|journal=Epilepsy & Behavior
|volume=4
|issue=1
|pages=78–87
|year=2003
|pmid=12609232
|url=http://www.uni-graz.at/~schulter/se04_religiosity.pdf
|doi=10.1016/S1525-5050(02)00688-1
|s2cid=28084208
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930061342/http://www.uni-graz.at/~schulter/se04_religiosity.pdf
|archive-date=30 September 2007 }} The occurrence of religious experiences in TLE-patients may as well be explained by religious attribution, due to the background of these patients.{{citation | url=http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-25/edition-7/neuroscience-soul | author=Aaen-Stockdale, Craig | title=Neuroscience for the soul | journal=The Psychologist | year=2012 | volume=25 | issue=7 | pages=520–523}} Nevertheless, the neurological research of mystical experiences is a growing field of research, searching for specific neurological explanations of mystical experiences. Study of ecstatic seizures may provide clues for the neurological mechanisms giving rise to mystical experiences, such as the anterior insular cortex, which is involved in self-awareness and subjective certainty.{{Citation
| last1 =Picard
| first1 =Fabienne
| year =2013
| title =State of belief, subjective certainty and bliss as a product of cortical dysfuntion
| journal =Cortex |volume=49 | issue =9
|pages=2494–2500
| doi=10.1016/j.cortex.2013.01.006
| pmid=23415878| s2cid =206984751
}}
{{Citation
| last1 =Picard
| first1 =Fabienne
| last2 =Kurth
| first2 =Florian
| year =2014
| title =Ictal alterations of consciousness during ecstatic seizures
| journal =Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=30 |pages=58–61
| doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.09.036
| pmid=24436968| s2cid =45743175
}}
{{Citation
| last1 =Gschwind
| first1 =Markus
| last2 =Picard
| first2 =Fabienne
| title =Ecstatic Epileptic Seizures - the Role of the Insual in Altered Self-Awareness
| journal =Epileptologie |year=2014 |volume=31}}
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| The Priestly source of the Pentateuch | c700 BC | According to one researcher, the writing has a pedantic and aggressive style, shows extreme religiosity, verbosity and redundant style. These are said to be evidence of Geschwind syndrome, though there is no evidence of any seizures since we have no personal information regarding the author. |author = Altschuler E |title = Temporal lobe epilepsy in the priestly source of the Pentateuch. |journal = South African Medical Journal |volume = 94 |issue = 11 |page = 870 |year = 2004 |url = http://blues.sabinet.co.za/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:autho=pubmed:password=pubmed2004&/AdvancedQuery?format=F&next=images/ejour/m_samj/m_samj_v94_n11_a3.pdf |archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090320005316/http://blues.sabinet.co.za/WebZ/Authorize?sessionid=0:autho=pubmed:password=pubmed2004&/AdvancedQuery?format=F&next=images/ejour/m_samj/m_samj_v94_n11_a3.pdf |archive-date = 20 March 2009 |pmid = 15587438 }} |
| valign="top"
| Ezekiel | 622BC–? | Fainting spells, periodic loss of speech, compulsive writing, extremely religious, pedantic speech. | author = Altschuler E | title = Did Ezekiel have temporal lobe epilepsy? | journal = Archives of General Psychiatry | volume = 59 | issue = 6 | pages = 561–2 | year = 2002 | pmid = 12044200 | doi = 10.1001/archpsyc.59.6.561 | first = Alison | last = Motluk | url = https://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mental-health/dn1565.html | title = Old Testament prophet showed epileptic symptoms | work = New Scientist | date = 17 November 2001 | access-date = 21 July 2006 }} |
| valign="top"
| 3–10 – 62–68 | Epilepsy is one of many suggestions regarding his "thorn in the flesh". F.F. Bruce says, "Many guesses have been made about the identity of this "splinter in the flesh"; and their very variety proves the impossibility of a certain diagnosis. One favourite guess has been epilepsy ... but it is no more than a guess". Researchers disagree about the cause of his conversion and vision on the road to Damascus. In addition to a seizure, heat exhaustion, the voice of conscience together with a migraine, and even a bolt of lightning have been suggested. | author = Frederick Fyvie Bruce | title = Paul Apostle of the Heart Set Free | publisher = Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-8028-4778-2 | author = Bullock J | title = Was Saint Paul struck blind and converted by lightning? | journal = Survey of Ophthalmology | volume = 39 | issue = 2 | pages = 151–60 | year = 1994 | pmid = 7801224 | doi = 10.1016/0039-6257(94)90161-9 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1303–1373 | Her skull shows evidence of a meningioma, which is a cause of epilepsy and may explain her visions. However, it is not in the temporal lobe and other researches suggest psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, or a combination. | author = Landtblom A | title = Did St Birgitta suffer from epilepsy? A neuropathography. | journal = Seizure | volume = 13 | issue = 3 | pages = 161–7 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15010053 | doi = 10.1016/S1059-1311(03)00160-2 | s2cid = 15255983 | doi-access = free {{cite web |url = http://www.ilae-epilepsy.org/Visitors/Archive/pdfs/epigraph1_2001.pdf |title = Was St. Birgitta suffering from epilepsy? |year = 2001 |access-date = 21 August 2006 |author = Anne-Marie Landtblom |work = Epigraph |publisher = International League Against Epilepsy |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015307/http://www.ilae-epilepsy.org/Visitors/Archive/pdfs/epigraph1_2001.pdf |archive-date = 27 September 2007 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1412–1431 | Experienced religious messages through voices and visions which she said others could sometimes experience simultaneously. Some researchers consider the visions to be ecstatic epileptic auras, though more recent research may implicate idiopathic partial epilepsy with auditory features. Epileptic seizures with clear auditory and visual hallucinations are very rare. This, together with the extreme length of her visions, lead some to reject epilepsy as a cause. |vauthors=Foote-Smith E, Bayne L | title = Joan of Arc. | journal = Epilepsia | volume = 32 | issue = 6 | pages = 810–5 | year = 1991 | pmid = 1743152 | doi = 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1991.tb05537.x | s2cid = 221736116 |vauthors=d'Orsi G, Tinuper P | title = "I heard voices...": from semiology, a historical review, and a new hypothesis on the presumed epilepsy of Joan of Arc. | journal = Epilepsy & Behavior | volume = 9 | issue = 1 | pages = 152–7 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16750938 | doi = 10.1016/j.yebeh.2006.04.020 | s2cid = 24961015 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1447–1510 | "[A]bnormal mental states" diagnosed as hysteria by Leuba; according to Dewhurst and Beard the symptoms may also suggest temporal lobe epilepsy. According to Dewhurst and Beard, Saint Catherine of Genoa, Saint Marguerite Marie and Mme Guyon "had periodic attacks which included the following symptoms: sensations of extremes of heat and cold, trembling of the whole body, transient aphasia, automatisms, passivity feelings, hyperaesthesiae, childish regression, dissociation, somnambulism, transient paresis, increased suggestibility, and an inability to open the eyes." |
| valign="top"
| 1515–1582 | Visions, chronic headaches, transient loss of consciousness and also a four-day coma. | author = Garcia Albea E | title = [The ecstatic epilepsy of Teresa of Jesus] | journal = Revista de Neurología | volume = 37 | issue = 9 | pages = 879–87 | year = 2003 | pmid = 14606057 | doi = 10.33588/rn.3709.2003291 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1522–1590 | Visual hallucinations. Loss of consciousness for 28 hours. |
| valign="top"
| 1647–1690 | "[A]bnormal mental states" diagnosed as hysteria by Leuba; according to Dewhurst and Beard the symptoms may also suggest temporal lobe epilepsy. According to Dewhurst and Beard, Saint Catherine of Genoa, Saint Marguerite Marie and Mme Guyon "had periodic attacks which included the following symptoms: sensations of extremes of heat and cold, trembling of the whole body, transient aphasia, automatisms, passivity feelings, hyperaesthesiae, childish regression, dissociation, somnambulism, transient paresis, increased suggestibility, and an inability to open the eyes." |
| valign="top"
| 1648–1717 | "[A]bnormal mental states" diagnosed as hysteria by Leuba; according to Dewhurst and Beard the symptoms may also suggest temporal lobe epilepsy. According to Dewhurst and Beard, Saint Catherine of Genoa, Saint Marguerite Marie and Mme Guyon "had periodic attacks which included the following symptoms: sensations of extremes of heat and cold, trembling of the whole body, transient aphasia, automatisms, passivity feelings, hyperaesthesiae, childish regression, dissociation, somnambulism, transient paresis, increased suggestibility, and an inability to open the eyes." |
| valign="top"
| 1688–1772 | Swedish scientist, philosopher, seer, and theologian. |vauthors=Foote-Smith E, Smith T | title = Emanuel Swedenborg. | journal = Epilepsia | volume = 37 | issue = 2 | pages = 211–8 | year = 1996 | pmid = 8635433 | doi = 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1996.tb00014.x | s2cid = 221731257 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1805–1844 | Seized with a strange power, rendered speechless, and fell on his back. Visions of darkness and light. |
| valign="top"
| 1827–1915 | Severe head injury followed by three weeks of limited consciousness. Her visions involved loss of consciousness, upward eye deflection, visual hallucinations, affective changes, gestural automatisms, preservation of speech, a post-ictal-like period. Further, she meets several criteria for the Geschwind syndrome: extreme religiosity, hypergraphia (100,000 pages in 4,000 articles), repetitiveness, hypermoralism, and hyposexuality. |url=http://www.ellenwhite.org/seizures.htm |title=Ellen G. White and the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Visions or Partial-Complex Seizures? |access-date=10 August 2006 |author1=Delbert H. Hodder |author2=Gregory Holmes |work=Abstract of presentation at the American Academy of Neurology |publisher=The Ellen White Research Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060617090958/http://ellenwhite.org/seizures.htm |archive-date=17 June 2006 }} Note: This web site may not be considered a neutral source.{{cite web |url=http://www.ellenwhite.org/headinjury.htm |title=The Significance of Ellen White's Head Injury |access-date=10 August 2006 |author=Molleurus Couperus |date=June 1985 |work=Adventist Currents |publisher=The Ellen White Research Project |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627142524/http://www.ellenwhite.org/headinjury.htm |archive-date=27 June 2006 }} Note: This web site may not be considered a neutral source.[http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/visions.html Visions or Seizures: Was Ellen White the Victim of Epilepsy?] by Donald I. Peterson, MD |
| valign="top"
| 1836–1886 | Bengali mystic, highly influential in the development of Hindu Universalism and Neo-Vedanta, through his disciple Swami Vivekananda, who held that religious experience was a valid method of gaining knowledge. From the age of six onwards, he had ecstatic trances.{{Sfn|Zaleski|2006|pp=162–163}}{{Sfn|Bhawuk|2003}} From his 10th or 11th year on, the trances became common, and by the final years of his life, Ramakrishna's samādhi periods occurred almost daily.{{Sfn|Bhawuk|2003}} Early on, these experiences have been interpreted as epileptic seizures,Bardwell L. Smith (1982), Hinduism: New Essays in the History of Religions, BRILL, p.70Vivekananda (Swami), Advaita Ashrama, Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India, Volume 110, p.482Swami Adiswarananda (2005), The Spiritual Quest and the Way of Yoga: The Goal, the Journey and the Milestones p.65{{sfn|Katrak|2006}} an interpretation which was rejected by Ramakrishna himself. |
| valign="top"
| 1873–1897 | Seized with "strange and violent tremblings all over her body". Visual hallucinations and celestial visions. |
| valign="top"
| 1879–1950 | At age 16, Ramana was seized by a sudden fear of death. He was struck by "a flash of excitement" or "heat", which he characterized as some avesam, a "spirit", "current" or "force" that seemed to possess him. After this event, he lost his interest in the usual life-routines, and immersed himself in emotional worship of Shiva and of Tamil saints. He left home, to live at the holy mountain Arunachala for the rest of his life, where he was worshipped as an avatar, due to his prolonged trance. In 1912, a major fit took place, accompanied with various sensations as a "white shield" over part of his vision, and "swimming in the head", and in which he lost consciousness. Ramana later stated that these fits appeared occasionally. |{{Cite web|url=http://sri-ramana-maharshi.blogspot.com/2008/05/bhagavans-death-experience.html|title=Arunachala and Ramana Maharshi: Bhagavan's death experience|first=David|last=Godman|date=7 May 2008|access-date=13 January 2020}}{{Citation | last =Narasimha Swami | year =1993 | title =Self Realisation: The Life and Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi | publisher =Sri Ramanasraman | url =https://archive.org/details/SelfRealisation}}G.K. Pillai (2015), Monks are from Meditating Monkeys: Unravelling the Algorithm of True Spiritual Awakening, chapter six |
| valign="top"
| 1887–1968 | Had visions at an early age about God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary. |
| valign="top"
| 1895–1986 | Spiritual teacher, raised by Theosophians to become 'the world teacher.' In his 20s, he underwent an episode of severe pain in the neck accompanied by mystical experiences. Throughout his life "the process" occurred, accompanied by the presence of "the otherness". Sloss, daughter of Krishnamurti's long-term mistress, considered the process to be a purely physical event centred on sickness or trauma, and suggested the possibility of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy. |{{cite book|last=Sloss|first=Radha Rajagopal|year=1991|location=London|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|title=Lives in the Shadow with J. Krishnamurti|edition=1st|isbn=978-0-7475-0720-8|title-link=Lives in the Shadow with J. Krishnamurti}} |
Misdiagnosis
Many famous people are incorrectly recorded as having epilepsy. In some cases there is no evidence at all to justify a diagnosis of epilepsy. In others, the symptoms have been misinterpreted. In some, the seizures were provoked by other causes, such as acute illness or alcohol withdrawal.{{cite book
|author1=JW Sander |author2=MC Walker |author3=JE Smalls | year = 2007
| chapter = Fits, faints and funny turns – the differential diagnosis of epilepsy
| chapter-url = http://www.e-epilepsy.org.uk/pages/articles/pdfs/Chapter17Sander.pdf
| title = Epilepsy 2007: From Cell to Community, A Practical Guide to Epilepsy. 11th ed (2007)
| pages = 151–154
| publisher = International League Against Epilepsy (UK Chapter) and The National Society for Epilepsy.
| access-date = 29 October 2008
}}
=No evidence=
The following people are often reported to have had epilepsy but there is no evidence that they had any attacks or illnesses that even resembled epilepsy.
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| ?–521 BC | Herodotus, writing eighty years after the king's death, is responsible for repeating what are now regarded as slanderous remarks that Cambyses was mad and had epilepsy. |editor = A. D. Godley (English Translation) |title = Herodotus, The Histories |url = http://perseus.uchicago.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126:book=3:chapter=33 |access-date = 3 September 2006 |year = 1920 |publisher = Harvard University Press |isbn = 978-0-674-99133-0 |chapter = Book 3, Chapter 33 |chapter-url = http://perseus.uchicago.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126:book=3:chapter=33 |quote = he is said to have been afflicted from his birth with that grievous disease which some call "sacred." (Epilepsy) }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite journal |vauthors=York G, Steinberg D | title = The sacred disease of Cambyses II. | journal = Archives of Neurology | volume = 58 | issue = 10 | pages = 1702–4 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11594937 | doi = 10.1001/archneur.58.10.1702 }} |
| valign="top"
| 582–507 BC | |
| valign="top"
| 384–322 BC | |
| valign="top"
| Hannibal | 247–183 BC |Carthaginian military leader. |
| valign="top"
| 1821–1894 | |
| valign="top"
| 1890–1976 | |
=Misdiagnosis by association=
Many individuals have been mistakenly recorded as having epilepsy due to an association with someone (real or fictional) who did have epilepsy, or something similar.
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 1265–1321 | In his fictional La Divina Commedia, he falls into a "dead faint". |
| valign="top"
| 1643–1727 | In 2000, a paper was published comparing Newton's psychosis with that of a patient with psychosis, who additionally happened to have generalised tonic-clonic seizures. It is possible that ambiguities in the introduction to this paper led readers to associate the epilepsy with Newton rather than the patient. |vauthors=Jeste D, Harless K, Palmer B | title = Chronic late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis that remitted: revisiting Newton's psychosis? | journal = Am J Psychiatry | volume = 157 | issue = 3 | pages = 444–9 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10698822 | doi = 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.3.444 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1770–1827 | His acquaintance Antonie Brentano had a son, Karl Joseph, who had epilepsy. |
| valign="top"
| 1809–1892 | Close family had epilepsy and mental illness, which led Tennyson to fear this in himself. |
| valign="top"
| 1834–1896 | His daughter, May, had epilepsy and this caused Morris to question if his temper rages were related to this. |
| valign="top"
| born 1966 | Played a boy with epilepsy in the 1986 Disney TV movie "A Fighting Choice". He won an award from the Epilepsy Foundation for his convincing portrayal. |url=http://www.tv.com/patrick-dempsey/person/5966/biography.html |title=Patrick Dempsey Biography |access-date=13 August 2006 |year=2006 |work=TV.com |publisher=CNET |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202121219/http://www.tv.com/patrick-dempsey/person/5966/biography.html%23 |archive-date=2 February 2008 }} |
=Provoked seizures=
The following people may have had one or more epileptic seizures but since the seizures were provoked, they do not result in a diagnosis of epilepsy:
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 1809–1849 | Multiple scholars have suggested Poe may have had focal seizures with impaired awareness, a condition which is reflected in multiple of his characters. This suggests a temporal lobe epilepsy potentially caused by life-long alcohol and drug abuse. It is unknown if Poe ever had a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, and the seizures he had may have been provoked by alcohol withdrawal. | author = Bazil C | title = Seizures in the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. | journal = Archives of Neurology | volume = 56 | issue = 6 | pages = 740–3 | year = 1999 | pmid = 10369317 | doi = 10.1001/archneur.56.6.740 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1828–1910 | "Fits of spleen" and anguish attacks. Had seizures while dying of pneumonia. |
| valign="top"
| 1837–1909 | Alcohol withdrawal attacks. |
| valign="top"
| 1832–1898 | Migraine and a possible seizure that was probably due to the effects of drug withdrawal. |
| valign="top"
| 1833–1896 | Febrile seizures in infancy. |
| valign="top"
| 1840–1893 | Seizures in the hours before death. Possible family history of epilepsy. |
| valign="top"
| 1924–1984 | Alcohol withdrawal seizures. |
| valign="top"
| 1925–1984 | Alcohol withdrawal seizures. |
| Elton John
|born 1947 |Drug- and alcohol-induced seizures |
=Similar conditions=
There are many conditions that produce paroxysmal attacks or events. These events (especially in historical, non-medical literature such as biographies) are often called fits, seizures or convulsions. Those terms do not exclusively apply to epilepsy and such events are sometimes categorised as non-epileptic seizures. When studied in detail, the attacks were more fully described as "fits of spleen", "seized by pain", "convulsed with anguish", etc.
| class=wikitable |
| style="width:17%;"| Name
! style="width:13%;"| Life ! style="width:65%;"| Comments ! style="width:5%;"| Reference |
|---|
| valign="top"
| 356–323 BC | Collapsed after taking strong medicine for pneumonia. | author = Hughes J | title = Alexander of Macedon, the greatest warrior of all times: did he have seizures? | journal = Epilepsy & Behavior | volume = 5 | issue = 5 | pages = 765–7 | year = 2004 | pmid = 15380132 | doi = 10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.06.002 | s2cid = 40812322 }} |
| valign="top"
| c.839–888 | Commonly regarded as a sickly king who had epilepsy, who had a "fit" in Frankfurt in 873. One author's recent detailed investigations cast doubt on the accuracy of certain reports, or their common interpretation. Instead, headache, malaria and a stroke are suggested. | last = Schutz | first = Herbert | author-link = Herbert Schutz | title = The Carolingians in Central Europe, Their History, Arts, and Architecture | url = https://archive.org/details/carolingianscent00schu | url-access = limited | date = 1 January 2004 | publisher = Brill Academic Publishers | quote = Charles suffered seriously from epilepsy | isbn = 978-90-04-13149-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/carolingianscent00schu/page/n160 129] | last = MacLean | first = Simon | title = Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire | url = https://archive.org/details/kingshippolitics00macl | url-access = limited | date = 25 September 2003 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = [https://archive.org/details/kingshippolitics00macl/page/n60 39]–41 | isbn = 978-0-521-81945-9 }} |
| valign="top"
| 849–899 | Acute pain. |
| valign="top"
| 1452–1519 | Nervous shaking and spasms when furious. |
| valign="top"
| 1475–1564 | A faint due to working in very hot weather. |
| valign="top"
| 1483–1546 | In John Osborne's play Luther, his visions are the result of epileptic seizures. Luther had many documented illnesses, but any recurrent attacks were probably due to Ménière's disease. |url=http://www.abilitymaine.org/breath/June06/ozer.html |title=Epilepsy in Literature and Its Reflection in Society |access-date=28 August 2006 |author=Irma Jacqueline Ozer |date=June 2006 |work=Breath & Shadow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060810203849/http://www.abilitymaine.org/breath/June06/ozer.html |archive-date=10 August 2006 }}{{cite journal | author = Feldmann H | title = [Martin Luther's seizure disorder] | journal = Sudhoffs Arch | volume = 73 | issue = 1 | pages = 26–44 | year = 1989 | pmid = 2529669 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1585–1642 | Bouts of tears. |
| valign="top"
| 1601–1643 | Episodes of violence, moodiness and fearfulness. |
| valign="top"
| Molière | 1622–1673 | A coughing fit. |
| valign="top"
| 1623–1662 | Breath-holding spells as a child. |
| valign="top"
| 1650–1702 | Fainting and coughing fits. |
| valign="top"
| 1667–1745 | Severe fits of giddiness due to Ménière's disease. |
| valign="top"
| 1685–1759 | A stroke. |
| valign="top"
| 1708–1778 | Attacks of gout. |
| valign="top"
| 1709–1784 |
| valign="top"
| 1712–1778 | Dizzy fits and agitation. |
| valign="top"
| 1751–1836 | Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. |
| valign="top"
| 1771–1832 | Seizures of cramp due to kidney stones and, later, a stroke. |
| valign="top"
| 1784–1840 | Repeated collapsing due to weakness. |
| valign="top"
| 1788–1824 |
| valign="top"
| 1792–1822 | Fits of pain and nervous attacks. |
| valign="top"
| 1803–1869 | "Fits of spleen". |
| valign="top"
| 1810–1856 | Depression and hallucinations. |
| valign="top"
| 1812–1870 | Renal colic. |
| valign="top"
| 1813–1855 | Collapsing due to weakness. |
| valign="top"
| 1821–1880 | In 1984, Henri Gastaut proposed a very specific retrospective diagnosis of a particular form of complex partial epilepsy. More recent biographical information led John Hughes, in 2005, to conclude that Flaubert had psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, and migraine. |vauthors=Gastaut H, Gastaut Y, Broughton R | title = Gustave Flaubert's illness: a case report in evidence against the erroneous notion of psychogenic epilepsy. | journal = Epilepsia | volume = 25 | issue = 5 | pages = 622–37 | year = 1984 | pmid = 6383791 | doi = 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1984.tb03472.x| s2cid = 35430227 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1850–1893 | Mental illness and hallucinations caused by inhaling ether. | author = Luis-Carlos Álvaro | title = Hallucinations and pathological visual perceptions in Maupassant's fantastical short stories—a neurological approach. | journal = Journal of the History of the Neurosciences | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 100–15 | year = 2005 | pmid = 16019655 | doi = 10.1080/096470490523399 | s2cid = 43274906 }} |
| valign="top"
| 1853–1890 | Over 150 physicians have produced nearly 30 different diagnoses for van Gogh's illness. Henri Gastaut's posthumous diagnosis was "temporal lobe epilepsy precipitated by the use of absinthe in the presence of an early limbic lesion". This agrees with that of van Gogh's own doctor, Felix Rey, who prescribed potassium bromide. That van Gogh's personality closely matches the Geschwind syndrome is seen as further evidence by some. Not everyone agrees – a recent review by John Hughes concluded that van Gogh did not have epilepsy. He certainly was mentally ill at times and had "fainting fits" after heavy drinking. | author = Blumer D | title = The illness of Vincent van Gogh. | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 159 | issue = 4 | pages = 519–26 | year = 2002 | pmid = 11925286 | doi = 10.1176/appi.ajp.159.4.519 | s2cid = 43106568 | author = Hughes J | title = A reappraisal of the possible seizures of Vincent van Gogh. | journal = Epilepsy & Behavior | volume = 6 | issue = 4 | pages = 504–10 | year = 2005 | pmid = 15907745 | doi = 10.1016/j.yebeh.2005.02.014| s2cid = 41174568 }} |
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| 1904–1991 | Greene was diagnosed with epilepsy as a young man, after several incidents during which he lost consciousness. His impending marriage was at risk and he considered suicide. Treatment consisted of good walks and Kepler's Malt Extract. Greene eventually distrusted the diagnosis and it is now considered likely that the episodes were fainting spells. | author = Reynolds E | title = The impact of epilepsy on Graham Greene. | journal = Epilepsia | volume = 42 | issue = 8 | pages = 1091–3 | year = 2001 | pmid = 11554900 | doi = 10.1046/j.1528-1157.2001.0420081091.x | s2cid = 21064153 | doi-access = free }} |
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| 1914–1972 | Diagnosed with petit mal epilepsy, now estimated to have been nervous exhaustion. Berryman had depression and alcoholism. | last = Mariani | first = Paul L. | title = Dream Song: Life of John Berryman | date = 1 March 1996 | publisher = University of Massachusetts Press | isbn = 978-1-55849-017-8 | quote =Dr Gene Shafarman … told Berryman that he had been diagnosed as having a mild form of epilepsy called petit mal. | page = 116 | url = http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/berryman/life.htm | title = John Berryman's Life and Career | access-date = 31 August 2006 | last = Athey | first = Joel | year = 1999 | work = Modern American Poetry | publisher = Department of English, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign }} |
Notes and references
{{Reflist|30em}}
Sources
{{refbegin}}
- {{Cite journal| last = Bhawuk| first = Dharm P.S.| title = Culture's influence on creativity: the case of Indian spirituality| journal = International Journal of Intercultural Relations| volume = 27| issue = 1| page = 8| publisher = Elsevier|date=February 2003| doi = 10.1016/S0147-1767(02)00059-7}}
- {{Citation | last =Katrak | first =Sarosh M | year =2006 | title =An eulogy for Prof. Anil D. Desai | journal =Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology |volume=9 |issue=4 |page=253 | doi =10.4103/0972-2327.29215 | s2cid =70463133 | url =http://www.annalsofian.org/article.asp?issn=0972-2327;year=2006;volume=9;issue=4;spage=253;epage=254;aulast=Katrak| doi-access =free }}
- {{Cite book|last=Zaleski|first=Philip |title=Prayer: A History|publisher=Mariner Books|year=2006|chapter=The Ecstatic}}
{{refend}}
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Category:Lists of people by medical condition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epilepsy, List Of People With}}