A report from the International Registry of Antiepileptic Drugs and Pregnancy (EURAP) in this issue of The Lancet Neurology illustrates how neurologists can reap the fruits of information technology and global collaboration. Perhaps no other neurological disease is more inherently attached to social history than is epilepsy; for centuries, its causes were deemed to be supernatural and explained according to the fads of the age. Not until the 19th century was it recognised that medical therapies could help patients. Molecular, pharmacological, and neurosurgical findings characterised the 20th century but, at the dawn of the 21st century, many clinical questions remain unanswered. The work of the EURAP study group suggests that research "globalisation" is the best approach for tackling these questions.
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