Hystero-epilepsy

Hystero-epilepsy is an alleged disease "discovered" by 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. It is considered a famous example of iatrogenic artifact, or a disease created by doctors.

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The disease was considered a combination of hysteria and epilepsy. Charcot housed his "hystero-epilepsy" patients in the same ward as patients with epilepsy, because both were considered "episodic" diseases. Symptoms included "convulsions, contortions, fainting, and transient impairment of consciousness."

Joseph Babinski convinced Charcot that he was inducing the symptoms in his patients because of his treatment regimen. ^[1]

See also

• Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

References