Hallmarks in the history of cerebral palsy: from antiquity to mid-20th century.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a term that has been applied over the years to a group of children with motor disability and related service requirements. The first conceptions of cerebral palsy and our knowledge about aetiology and pathogeny allow us to assume that cerebral palsy existed in the Ancient World. Although there is lack of detailed medical descriptions from before the 19th century, mentions to cerebral palsy can be found in representational art, literary sources and paleopathology; however, because of the poor medical documentation, the diagnosis of cerebral palsy must remain a more or less well-justified supposition. In the Ancient World, the first medical description of cerebral palsy was made by Hippocrates in his work "Corpus Hippocraticum". Concrete examples and definitions of cerebral palsy, however, did not emerge until the early 19th century with observations by William John Little; thus, Little was the first personality to intensely engage cerebral palsy. Towards the end of the 19th century, two more personalities emerged, adding to the historical hallmarks of cerebral palsy: William Osler and Sigmund Freud. The significant developments that have followed since then are all due to the contributions of these three personalities in the field of cerebral palsy.

Hallmarks in the history of enteral and parenteral nutrition: from antiquity to the 20th century.

Parenteral nutrition (PN) and enteral nutrition (EN) have a very long history, emerging in the ancient world and developing throughout the common epoch. This history dates back as far as 3500 bc to the ancient Egyptians, Indians, and Chinese. Their medical practices were the first reports of enteral feeding therapy, provided via rectum with enemas of wine, milk, whey, wheat, and barley. Hippocrates and Plato, in ancient Greece, were the first personalities to emphasize the importance of diet on health. In the following centuries, Erasistratus and Herophilus described the first notion of the circulatory system, and Oribasius and Celsus described the role of nutrition and disease. There is a great historical gap between the times of Galen (2nd century), who elaborated on the circulatory system; Ibn Zuhr (12th century), who constructed the first model of PN; and Capivacceus (16th century), who placed the first tube for EN. The 17th-19th centuries showed major developments in modern nutrition elements. Steps toward artificial nutrition began in 1628 with the detailed description of blood circulation by William Harvey; however, most of the advances in enteral and parenteral feeding techniques, solutions, and formulas took place in the 20th century. Over the last decade of the 20th century, research focused on metabolic control, multitude formulas, timing and the combination of EN and PN for intensive care patients.