RESUMEN
The church of San Bernardino in Ivrea (Piedmont) houses a cycle of frescoes of "The Life of Christ" by the Italian painter Giovanni Martino Spanzotti. In the painting, a damned soul of the Hell with a large bi-lobar goiter is represented, confirming the interest of Renaissance artists towards thyroid diseases.
Asunto(s)
Bocio/historia , Medicina en las Artes/historia , Pinturas/historia , Historia Antigua , Humanos , ItaliaRESUMEN
In 1911, the Danish physician Hans Christian Gram (1853-1938) sustained to have found signs of hyperthyroidism in a marble head of a Roman woman that he observed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. It could be one of the first examples of a clinical diagnosis of an endocrine disease in an ancient statue.
Asunto(s)
Endocrinología/historia , Hipertiroidismo/diagnóstico , Medicina en las Artes/historia , Escultura/historia , Dinamarca , Endocrinólogos/historia , Femenino , Cabeza/patología , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia Antigua , Humanos , Hipertiroidismo/historia , Mundo Romano/historia , Ciudad de RomaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Even if the contagious nature of tuberculosis was universally accepted during the nineteenth century, its transmission to health care workers (HCWs) was initially denied by the scientific community. Working among TB patients was not considered dangerous for healthy adults, so the potential risks for HCWs were branded as unwarranted "phthisiophobia" (fear of contracting tuberculosis). OBJECTIVES: This study aims at analyzing the problem of tuberculosis transmission among health care workers from an historical perspective, particularly highlighting the contribution made by the Italian Occupational Medicine community. METHODS: Scientific literature and historical sources on different theories regarding tuberculosis transmission were investigated, specially focusing on the period at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. RESULTS: At the beginning of the twentieth century, Luigi Devoto (1864-1936), an Italian pioneer in the field of Occupational Medicine, was one of the first scientists to conduct research on the transmission of tuberculosis among nurses. Since the 1920s several studies, conducted mainly on medical and nursing students, confirmed the risk for HCWs. However an international consensus on this issue was only achieved during the 1950s, when the institution of mandatory chest radiographs on admission for all patients significantly decreased the cases of tuberculosis among HCWs. CONCLUSIONS: Devoto was one of the first scholars who postulated the transmission of tuberculosis to HCWs. He also theorized that hospital personnel with active disease could also be a source of contagion to patients. Nowadays, "third party risk" and latent tuberculosis infection pose a new challenge for occupational physicians in hospitals.
Asunto(s)
Actitud Frente a la Salud , Personal de Salud , Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Paciente a Profesional/historia , Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Profesional a Paciente/historia , Medicina del Trabajo/historia , Trastornos Fóbicos/historia , Tuberculosis/historia , Tuberculosis/transmisión , Vacuna BCG , Trazado de Contacto , Infección Hospitalaria/epidemiología , Infección Hospitalaria/historia , Infección Hospitalaria/transmisión , Cultura , Brotes de Enfermedades/historia , Miedo , Infecciones por VIH/epidemiología , Personal de Salud/psicología , Personal de Salud/estadística & datos numéricos , Historia del Siglo XV , Historia del Siglo XVI , Historia del Siglo XVII , Historia del Siglo XVIII , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia Antigua , Humanos , Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Paciente a Profesional/prevención & control , Transmisión de Enfermedad Infecciosa de Profesional a Paciente/prevención & control , Italia/epidemiología , Personal de Hospital/psicología , Personal de Hospital/estadística & datos numéricos , Riesgo , Prueba de Tuberculina , Tuberculosis/diagnóstico , Tuberculosis/epidemiología , Tuberculosis/psicología , Vacunación/historiaRESUMEN
The public opinion and the scientific community incorrectly believe that the English term "lunatic" was originally related only to insanity, but it also referred to epileptic people. The aim of this article is to clarify the original meaning of the English word "lunatic" by analyzing the evolution of the relationship between psychiatric and neurological diseases and by pointing out the influence of the moon in the history of medicine, in popular traditions, and in English literature. The article also contains a detailed and accurate review of the modern scientific literature on the relationship between moon and epilepsy/psychiatric disorders.
Asunto(s)
Epilepsia/historia , Luna , Nombres , Psiquiatría/historia , Trastornos Psicóticos/historia , Europa (Continente) , Historia del Siglo XV , Historia del Siglo XVI , Historia del Siglo XVII , Historia del Siglo XVIII , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia del Siglo XX , Historia del Siglo XXI , Historia Antigua , Historia Medieval , HumanosRESUMEN
The relationship between air pollution and health had already been postulated by ancient authors. In the Eighteenth century, Bernardino Ramazzini, the founder of the Occupational Medicine, reported in its works relevant considerations against air pollution and its damages. During the Enlightenment, the studies on the eudiometry conducted by the physic Marsilio Landriani can be considered a first attempt to connect the measurement of air quality to medical issues. In the following centuries, Industrial Revolution and the diffusion of domestic heating were a determining factor in worsening the air quality. Despite specific legislations on smoke abatement, some air pollution "disasters" occurred during the last century. In conclusion, this historical analysis showed the complex evolution of the knowledge on the relationship between health and air pollution. Nowadays, an important contribution to the current scientific and political debate on this issue has been provided also by the Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Asunto(s)
Contaminación del Aire Interior/historia , Salud Ambiental/historia , Salud Laboral/historia , Historia del Siglo XIX , Historia del Siglo XX , Humanos , Características de la ResidenciaRESUMEN
The data here reviewed, obtained with in vitro models, indicate that growth factors and steroids play a significant role in astrocyte-neuron interactions. Different designs have been adopted: (1) GT1-1 cells (a cell line derived from a mouse hypothalamic LHRH-producing tumor) were cocultured with type 1 rat astrocytes; and (2) GT1-1 cells were exposed to the conditioned medium (CM) in which type 1 rat astrocytes had been grown for 24 h. LHRH release and mRNA LHRH levels were measured respectively in the medium and in cell homogenates, at different time intervals (LHRH release, by RIA; LHRH mRNA by Northern blot analysis). The data obtained show that type 1 astrocytes secrete in the medium TGFbeta, which is able to modulate the release and the gene expression of LHRH in GT1-1 cells; and that one or more LHRH-degrading enzymes is/are present in the conditioned medium of type 1 astrocytes. A second part of the experiments have indicated that type 1 astrocytes are also able to affect, in different directions, the metabolism of testosterone and progesterone into their 5alpha-reduced metabolites occurring in the GT1-1 cells. In particular, it has been observed that the conversion of testosterone into DHT is decreased by the coculture with type 1 astrocytes, while the conversion of progesterone into DHP is increased by the same coculture conditions. Moreover, type 1 astrocytes are sensitive to steroid hormones, and in particular to the 5alpha-reduced metabolites of progesterone; this has been shown by analyzing the effects exerted by different steroids on the gene expression of the typical astrocyte marker GFAP.