Discover what we know — and don’t know — about the causes and treatment of seizures, and what to do if you encounter someone experiencing a seizure.

--

Nearly 3,000 years ago, a Babylonian tablet described a curious illness called “miqtu” that caused symptoms ranging from facial twitching to full body convulsions. Today we know miqtu as seizures, and modern medicine has developed numerous treatments for those experiencing them. So what causes seizures, and is there any way to stop them from happening? Christopher E. Gaw investigates.

Lesson by Christopher E. Gaw, directed by Bálint Gelley, CUB Animation Ltd.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission
----------------------------------------------
Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon
Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop
----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us
----------------------------------------------
Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletter
Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebook
Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter
Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram
----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning
----------------------------------------------
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-causes-seizures-and-how-can-we-treat-them-christopher-e-gaw
Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-causes-seizures-and-how-can-we-treat-them-christopher-e-gaw#digdeeper

Animator's website: https://www.cubanimation.com
----------------------------------------------

Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Regina Post, Mary Collins, Kari Teffeau, clumsybunnie, Adam Leos, Jeremy Laurin, Cindy Lai, Liz, Bhargav Pandravada, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, sarim haq, Chin Beng Tan, Alejandro Gomez, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Isorn Sookwanish, Iryna Panasiuk, Diane Gallin, Aaron Torres, Vasundhar, Eric Braun, Denka Wee, Daru Bhargav, Sonja Worzewski, Amy, Michael Clement, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Xavi Ramos, Ron Kakar, Jennifer Heald, flóra lili donáti, Megulo Abebe, TAO7 HORUS, isolwi, Vedasheersh, Michael Chang, Waqar Sheikh, Alexander Gruber, Irene Y., Kate Sem, VPpurplebelt, Ujjwal Dasu, Theunis Groenewald and Minh Quan Dinh.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices