The idea of using simple and easily available remedies to treat different diseases is typical of ancient medicine and one of the first examples can be found in Galen's works. This type of Medicine was called ""Medicine for the poor"" in the 18th century. This expression refers to the use of simple substances, available in nature, like plants, herbs, flowers, fruit, minerals etc, to treat some of the more common diseases. Evidence of this tendency in the early 18th century is a textbook of Medicine written in France by Dubé in 1669. This work has been reprinted several times, and translated from French into English in 1704 and into Italian in 1715 by Sebastiano Castellini. In his work Dubè describes the therapeutic remedies made with natural substances. Some of these substances were used to treat renal diseases, in particular nephrolithiasis, kidney and bladder inflammatory disease, renal ulcer, dysuria and incontinence.
Kidney Diseases/history , France , History, 18th Century , Humans , Kidney Diseases/therapy , Poverty/history , Reference Books, Medical
The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) has been shown in previous research to measure a general dimension of alexithymia with three intercorrelated factors. This study evaluated the reliability and factorial validity of an Italian translation of the TAS-20 in a group of normal adults (N = 206) and in a mixed group of medical and psychiatric outpatients (N = 642). Using confirmatory factor analyses, the previously established three-factor model of the TAS-20 was found to be replicable in both groups. In addition, the Italian TAS-20 demonstrated adequate estimates of internal reliability and test-retest reliability. Although evaluation of the convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity of the TAS-20 is required in Italian populations, the present results support the use of the Italian translation of the scale for clinical and research purposes.
Affective Symptoms/diagnosis , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/standards , Psychometrics/standards , Adult , Aged , Chi-Square Distribution , Factor Analysis, Statistical , Female , Humans , Italy , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Psychological , Reproducibility of Results , Sampling Studies , Translating
A study of the relationship between sociodemographic conditions and suicidal risk was conducted on 377 cases of suicide committed in Genoa between 1985 and 1988. We used random subjects among Genoa residents as a control group. Data obtained were analyzed by means of an unconditional logistic regression model. The most interesting result of the study is the considerable suicide risk found among unmarried people.
Social Environment , Socioeconomic Factors , Suicide/statistics & numerical data , Urban Population/statistics & numerical data , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Incidence , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Marital Status , Middle Aged , Population Dynamics , Risk Factors , Suicide/psychology
A method is described for removing the anticomplementary activity of sera by the addition of normal porcine serum. Results of sera taken from four animal species immunized with influenza, coxsackievirus, echovirus, and vaccinia viral antigens are presented.
Blood , Complement System Proteins , Animals , Coxsackievirus Infections/immunology , Echovirus Infections/immunology , Haplorhini , Hemolysis , Immunization , Orthomyxoviridae Infections/immunology , Perissodactyla , Rabbits , Sheep , Swine , Vaccinia/immunology
