Interpretación popular del ictus en la Galicia antigua: el mito del dragón / The popular interpretation of strokes in ancient Galicia: the dragon myth

Introducción. La gran prevalencia y morbimortalidad del ictus ha favorecido una consecuentemente amplia representación en la medicina precientífica del pueblo gallego. Presentamos una interpretación no estudiada hasta el momento, y que está, por otra parte, ligada al fenómeno jacobeo: el ictus como resultado de la influencia maligna de un dragón. Otro dragón aparece citado en el Códice Calixtino como impedimento a la traslación apostólica. Desarrollo. En el libro tercero del Códice Calixtino, donde se narran los hechos de la traslación de los restos del apóstol Santiago el Mayor desde Palestina hasta Santiago de Galicia, encontramos la principal referencia escrita de la figura del dragón del Pico Sacro. El símbolo pagano del dragón permanece acantonado en la medicina popular gallega, transmitida de forma predominantemente oral, como causante directo de procesos morbosos como el ictus. Conclusiones. En la medicina popular gallega, la patología ictal se atribuye mayoritariamente a un subtipo del llamado ‘aojamiento’ o ‘mal de ojo’. Por vez primera, hasta donde sabemos, se revela el símbolo del dragón como explicación mágica directa de una patología vascular cerebral. Por otra parte, la interpretación precientífica del ictus en Galicia encuentra,en el mito del dragón, un puente de unión con el relato legendario de la traslación del apóstol Santiago a Galicia. Tal relación apoya la veracidad del relato de la traslación del Códice Calixtino, en detrimento de reelaboraciones posteriores (AU)

Introduction. The high prevalence and mortality of stroke has consequently brought about a wide presence of this pathology in the Galician pre-scientific folk medicine. A new interpretation of stroke, linked to the local tradition around the figure of Saint James the Apostle, is presented in this paper: stroke is considered to be the result of the evil influence of a dragon. In the Codex Calixtinus, a xii century manuscript containing various materials around the figure of Saint James, a dragon is also mentioned as an obstacle for the translation of the apostolic body. Development. The third book of Codex Calixtinus containing the narration of the translation of the dead body of James the Greater from Palestine to its likely current location in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), also holds the major written record of the dragon of the Pico Sacro mountain. The pagan symbol of the dragon has remained in the orallytransmitted Galician folk medicine as a direct cause for neurological diseases such as stroke. Conclusions. For the first time, in our knowledge, the symbol of a dragon as the magical explanation for cerebral vascular disease has been described. Moreover, this mythical explanation, found only in the Galician folk medicine, is strongly linked to the legend of the translation of James the Apostle to Galicia. Such a link supports the originality of the narration in the Codex Calixtinus as opposed to other versions of the apostolic translation which can be found in other manuscripts (AU)

[The popular interpretation of strokes in ancient Galicia: the dragon myth]. / Interpretación popular del ictus en la Galicia antigua: el mito del dragón.

INTRODUCTION: The high prevalence and mortality of stroke has consequently brought about a wide presence of this pathology in the Galician pre-scientific folk medicine. A new interpretation of stroke, linked to the local tradition around the figure of Saint James the Apostle, is presented in this paper: stroke is considered to be the result of the evil influence of a dragon. In the Codex Calixtinus, a xii century manuscript containing various materials around the figure of Saint James, a dragon is also mentioned as an obstacle for the translation of the apostolic body. DEVELOPMENT: The third book of Codex Calixtinus containing the narration of the translation of the dead body of James the Greater from Palestine to its likely current location in Santiago de Compostela (Galicia, Spain), also holds the major written record of the dragon of the Pico Sacro mountain. The pagan symbol of the dragon has remained in the orally-transmitted Galician folk medicine as a direct cause for neurological diseases such as stroke. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, in our knowledge, the symbol of a dragon as the magical explanation for cerebral vascular disease has been described. Moreover, this mythical explanation, found only in the Galician folk medicine, is strongly linked to the legend of the translation of James the Apostle to Galicia. Such a link supports the originality of the narration in the Codex Calixtinus as opposed to other versions of the apostolic translation which can be found in other manuscripts.

Phage types, virulence genes and PFGE profiles of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolated from raw beef, soft cheese and vegetables in Lima (Peru).

The present study was conducted in Lima Metropolitana to evaluate the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 in raw beef, raw ground beef, soft cheese and fresh vegetables, sampled at different markets in the city. Between October 2000 and February 2001, 407 food samples were collected from different markets in the 42 districts of Lima Metropolitana. Samples were assayed for E. coli O157 by selective enrichment in modified Tryptic Soy Broth containing novobiocin, followed by immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and plating onto sorbitol MacConkey agar supplemented with cefixime and potassium tellurite. Fifty (12.3%) of 407 food samples resulted positive for E. coli O157 isolation (23 of 102 ground beef; 15 of 102 beef meat; eight of 102 soft cheese and four of 101 fresh vegetables). Thirty-five E. coli O157 isolates were further analysed for the presence of virulence genes. All 35 were positive by PCR for O157 rfbE, fliCh7, eae-gamma1 and ehxA genes. In addition, genes encoding Shiga toxins were detected in 33 of 35 isolates, five isolates (14%) encoded stx(1), stx(2), and 28 (80%) stx2 only. The isolates were of seven different phage types (PT4, PT8, PT14, PT21, PT34, PT54, and PT87) with three phage types accounting for 80% of isolates: PT4 (15 isolates), PT14 (8 isolates), and PT21 (5 isolates). Interestingly, the majority (31 of 35; 89%) of E. coli O157:H7 isolates characterized in this study belonged mainly to the phage types previously found in STEC O157:H7 strains associated with severe human disease in Europe and Canada. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of 32 isolates revealed 14 XbaI-PFGE groups (I to XIV) of similarity >85%, with 23 (72%) isolates grouped in five clusters. Some isolates from different districts presented a high clonal relatedness. Thus, PFGE group VIII clustered eleven strains from nine different districts. The broad range of PFGE subtypes found in this study demonstrates the natural occurrence of many genetic variants among STEC O157:H7 spread in Lima.

Ischemic preconditioning: a novel target for neuroprotective therapy.

Ischemic preconditioning involves a brief exposure to ischemia in order to develop a tolerance to injurious effects of prolonged ischemia. The molecular mechanisms of neuroprotection that lead to ischemic tolerance are not yet completely understood. However, it seems that two distinct phases are involved. Firstly, a cellular defense function against ischemia may be developed by the mechanisms inherent to neurons such as posttranslational modification of proteins or expression of new proteins via a signal transduction system to the nucleus. Secondly, a stress response and synthesis of stress proteins (heat shock proteins) may be activated. These mechanisms are mediated by chaperones. The objective of ischemic preconditioning research is to identify the underlying endogenous protective cellular receptors and signaling cascades, with the long-term goal of allowing therapeutic augmentation of the endogenous protective mechanisms in cerebral ischemia and possibly development of new neuroprotective strategies for ischemic stroke treatment.