Extreme Measures The seizures and convulsions of epilepsy are associated with a variety of brain dysfunctions including, but not limited to, a head injury, an infection, a tumor, a stroke or even an inherited predisposition. Like many other neurological diseases, epilepsy has had a number of unusual and even bizarre "cures" attached to it. In ancient Roman times, according to the writer Pliny (c. 23-79 A.D.), "Epileptic patients are in the habit of drinking the blood even of gladiators . . ." This stemmed from their belief that life is in blood. On this date in 1933, another attempt to relieve epileptic symptoms was undertaken at the New York Medical College and Flower Hospital in New York City when the top of a patient's skull was sliced in a circular motion, lifted slightly and replaced. Karl Winfield Ney, M.D., professor of neurosurgery at the hospital, made the demonstration before the members of the Eastern Homeopathic Medical Association and Clinical Congress.
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