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Nearly three millennia ago, a Babylonian tablet described a curious illness called miqtu.
接近三千年前，一座巴比伦的石碑描述了一种名为“miqtu”的疾病。
Said to cause symptoms ranging from facial twitching to full body convulsions,
那疾病据说会引起症状包括面部抽搐到全身抽搐，
the Babylonians believed those afflicted were possessed by evil spirits, and the only treatment was divine intervention.
巴比伦人认为那些受苦的人是被恶魔附身，而唯一的治疗方法是神的介入。
Today, we know the symptoms of miqtu by another name, and modern medicine has developed numerous treatments for those experiencing seizures.
现在我们认识的是“mique”疾病的另一个名字，并且现代医学已经发明出多种治疗方法给那些经历癫痫发作的人。
But these ancient afflictions still hold a surprising number of secrets.
但这些古老的痛苦还包含着数量惊人的秘密。
Doctors define a seizure as any set of symptoms resulting from excess electrical activity in the brain.
医生将癫痫定义为任何一组包括大脑过度电活动症状的疾病。
Outside this shared feature, there is a massive range of seizure symptoms, and researchers have identified a variety of different seizure types.
除了这一共同特征之外，还存在大范围的癫痫症状，并且研究人员已经确定了各种不同的癫痫类型。
But regardless of the underlying conditions that cause them, every seizure begins here.
但不管是什么潜在原因导致的，每一次癫痫发作都从这里开始。
Hippocrates identified the brain as the source of seizures around 400 BCE.
希波克拉底在公元前400年左右确认大脑是癫痫发作的源头。
However, this insight didn't immediately lead to better treatments. Generally, ancient Greeks prescribed medicinal herbs and alterations in diet.
然而这一发现并没有立即带来更好的治疗。一般来说，古希腊人会开药方和改变饮食。
If they believed the seizure was caused by bleeding in the skull, they sometimes employed a technique called trepanation.
如果他们认为癫痫是因颅骨出血引起的，他们有时会运用一种称为钻孔的技术。
This early surgery involved drilling a hole in the skull to let blood escape and relieve pressure on the brain.
这个早期手术包括在颅骨上钻一个洞让血液流出并减轻大脑的压力。
Trepanation had... sizable risks. But it wasn't until the 19th century that scientists would make the next leap forward in seizure treatment.
钻孔技术有...相当大的风险。但直到19世纪，科学家才在癫痫治疗方面取得了新的飞跃。
In 1870, two German researchers discovered that using electricity to stimulate specific areas of a dog's brain could move parts of its body.
在1870年，两名德国研究人员发现，用电刺激狗的大脑的特定区域可以使其身体的某些部位移动。
Around the same time, other scientists discovered the brain and nervous system were connected via a network of cells called neurons
大约在同一时间，其他科学家发现大脑和神经系统是通过一个叫做神经元的细胞网络连接起来的，
that transmitted electrical signals throughout the body.
这些细胞在全身传递电信号。
This established the brain as the control center for nerve impulses that determine our thoughts and movement.
这使大脑成为决定我们思想和运动的神经冲动的控制中心。
Better yet, this model made it clear that seizures were due to errors in that control center, such as misfiring neurons or excess electrical activity.
更好的是，这个模型清楚地表明癫痫发作是因为控制中心的差错，像神经元失效或过度电活动。
Early experiments even suggested that different patterns of misfiring could account for different seizure types and symptoms.
早期试验甚至表明不同神经元失效模式可以解释不同种类的癫痫和症状。
So if seizures were due to neurons misfiring, how could doctors stop this from happening?
所以如果癫痫发作是因为神经元失效，医生怎么可以阻止这种情况发生？
Physicians like Sir Charles Locock hypothesized that sedative drugs might calm overactive brain activity,
像查尔斯·洛科克爵士这样的医生假设镇静药物可能会平息过度的大脑活动，
a theory he confirmed by treating seizures with a medication called potassium bromide.
他用一种名为溴化钾的药物治疗癫痫证实了这一理论。
Others like Sir Victor Horsley suspected that removing damaged parts of the brain might stop a patient's seizures.
其他像维克多·霍斯利爵士这样的人认为，切除受损的大脑部分可能会阻止病人的癫痫发作。
In 1886, he performed a craniotomy, temporarily removing part of a patient's skull to extract scarred brain tissue.
在1886年，他主刀了一项开颅手术，暂时切除了一个病人的部分头骨，以去除伤痕累累的脑组织。
Not only did his patient survive, but his seizures improved, launching further research in surgical treatments.
他的患者不仅活了下来，而且癫痫发作也得到了改善，让他在外科治疗方面展开了进一步的研究。
Over the next two centuries, seizure treatments advanced rapidly.
在接下来的两个世纪里，癫痫治疗有了迅速发展。
And today, there are dozens of available seizure medications that work with unprecedented specificity.
现在，有数十种可用的治疗癫痫药物具有前所未有的独特性。
Some newer medications are able to focus on specific proteins in the neuron to help manage electrical activity.
一些较新的药物能专注于神经元中的特定蛋白质以帮助管理电运动。
And advanced brain imaging techniques can sometimes allow doctors to pinpoint exactly what parts of the brain are causing an individual's seizures.
而先进的脑成像技术有时可以让医生精确地指出大脑的哪些部分是导致癫痫发作的原因。
Surgeons then use this information to perform targeted surgeries.
外科医生利用这些信息去进行更有针对性的手术。
These various treatments help doctors manage the majority of seizure cases, allowing most people with seizures to live healthy and comfortable lives.
这些不同的治疗方法帮助医生处理大部分的癫痫病例，让大多数癫痫患者过上健康又舒适的生活。
But the underlying pathology of many seizures remains elusive.
但许多癫痫发作的潜在原因仍然让人难以捉摸。
In cases without clear brain damage or certain types of pre-existing conditions, it's incredibly difficult to determine what causes neurons to misfire.
在没有明显脑损伤或某些类型的先决条件的情况下，很难确定是什么导致神经元失效。
It's also not always clear why some treatments are effective.
同时也不清楚为什么某些治疗有效。
And even more mysterious are cases where seizures are resistant to existing treatments that work on similar seizure types.
更为神秘的是有些癫痫发作病例抗拒现有的对类似癫痫发作有效的治疗方法。
Scientists are still working on these questions, but there are clear answers for what to do if you encounter someone experiencing a seizure.
科学家们还在努力解答这些问题，但对于如果你遇到癫痫发作的人该怎么做有明确的答案。
You should never hold a seizing person down, put objects in their mouth, or perform CPR.
你不应该把人放躺在地上，不要把东西放进他们的嘴里，也不要做心肺复苏术。
Instead, try to keep the person safe from falling or bumping their head, shift them onto their side to keep airways open, and stay with them until medical help arrives.
而是尽量不要让这个人跌倒或撞到头，将身体侧身保持呼吸道畅通，并陪伴他们直到医疗帮助到达。
