FAMOUS PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY

Leornado Da Vinci (1452–1519)

-Tuscan polymath: scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer

-Nervous shaking and spasms when furious.







Martin Luther (1483–1546)

- German monk, theologian, and church reformer

-In John Osborne's play Luther, his visions are the result of epileptic seizures. Luther had many documented illnesses, but any recurrent attacks were probably due to Ménière’s disease.






Joan Of Arc (1412–1431)

-15th century saint and national heroine of France

-Experienced religious messages through voices and visions which she said others could sometimes experience simultaneously. Some researchers consider the visions to be ecstatic epileptic auras, though more recent research may implicate idiopathic partial epilepsy with auditory features. Epileptic seizures with clear auditory and visual hallucinations are very rare. This, together with the extreme length of her visions, lead some to reject epilepsy as a cause.




Prince John of the United Kingdom (1905–1919)

-member of the British Royal Family

-The youngest son of King George V, John had epilepsy from the age of 4 until his death after a seizure aged 13. The shame of his epilepsy, along with other neurological problems, meant he was kept from the public eye.






Grover Cleveland Alexander (1887–1950)

-A major league baseball pitcher who tried to hide his epilepsy with alcohol, which was at the time considered to be a more socially acceptable problem.












Jimmy Reed (1925–1976)

-An American blues singer. His diagnosis of epilepsy in 1957 was delayed due to an assumption that these were attacks of delirium tremens. He died after an epileptic seizure aged 51.










Florence Griffith Joyner (1959–1998)

-An athlete with world records in the 100 m and 200 m. She developed seizures in her thirties, possibly due to a cavernous angioma that was discovered on autopsy. She died from asphyxiation after a grand mal seizure while asleep.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_with_epilepsy