The fact that recovery is rare should not be hidden from patients and friends. Perhaps 8 per cent of all classes recover—and "recovery" may only be a long interval—but 4 per cent of these are Jacksonian, syphilitic or accident cases. Only one victim in every thirty recovers from true epilepsy; and these are very mild cases, in which the fits are infrequent, there is no mental impairment, and bromides are well borne. The earlier the onset, the more severe and frequent the attacks, the deeper the coma, and the worse the mental decay, the poorer the outlook.
Cure is exceptional, but by vigorous treatment the severity of the malady may be much abated. Petit mal is no more hopeful than grand mal; less so in cases with severe giddiness; in all cases, the better the physical condition and digestive powers of the patient, the brighter the outlook.
To sum up, epilepsy is a chronic abnormality of the higher nervous system, characterized by periodic attacks of alteration of consciousness, often accompanied by spasms of varying violence, affecting primarily the brain and secondarily the body, based on an abnormal readiness for action of the motor cells, occurring in persons with congenital nerve weakness, and leading to mental decay of various types and degrees of severity.
CHAPTER IV
CAUSES OF EPILEPSY
"Find out the cause of this effect,
Or rather say, the cause of this defect,
For this effect defective comes by cause."