Charles Dickens made history as an author. Vincent van Gogh painted masterpieces that sell for millions of dollars. Cyclist Marion Clignet won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. What do these people have in common? Besides being famous and successful, each of them has (or had) a condition called epilepsy.

What Is Epilepsy?
It's a strange word, isn't it? Epilepsy comes from a Greek word meaning "to hold or seize," and people who have epilepsy have seizures. You might also hear a seizure called a convulsion, fit, or spell.

Seizures happen when there is unusual electrical activity in the brain. Your brain cells are constantly sending out electrical signals that travel along nerves to the rest of the body.

These signals tell the muscles to move. During a seizure, a person's muscles tighten and relax rapidly or stop moving completely. Seizures come on suddenly, and people who have them cannot control their muscles while they are having a seizure. If too many brain cells are sending signals at the same time, it causes an overload and a person may pass out and shake all over. People who have epilepsy may have seizures only once in a while or as frequently as every day.

What's a Seizure?
Most seizures occur without warning, although some people have a funny feeling, an upset stomach, or a weird smell or taste right before a seizure. This is called an aura. Others find that certain things may bring on a seizure, like not getting enough sleep or playing video games.

Even though a seizure may look scary, it's not painful. During a seizure, the person may fall down, shake, stiffen, throw up, drool, urinate (pee), or lose control of their bowels. Other seizures are less dramatic. The person may just stare into space or have jerking movements in one part of the body. When the seizure is over, the person may feel sleepy and won't remember what happened.

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