Ulises en la literatura médica / Ulysses in the medical literatura

INTRODUCCIÓN: Es frecuente el empleo de manifestaciones culturales como origen de descriptores en el campo de las ciencias de la salud. La historia de Odiseo (Ulises) es una de las obras más antiguas e influyentes de la literatura universal y ha dado lugar a múltiples creaciones posteriores, con un fuerte arraigo en la cultura popular. OBJETIVO: Ponderar el uso del relato de Odiseo en la literatura médica, describir los términos en los que se emplea y discutir la pertinencia de estos. DESARROLLO: Tras una revisión en PubMed, se hallaron 112 publicaciones de carácter médico con referencias al mito de Odiseo, de un total de 343 resultados. Se recogen hasta cinco entidades diferentes directamente nombradas a partir de Ulises (tres síndromes de Ulises, el contrato de Ulises y el conflicto de Ulises), y dos más sobre otros personajes que forman parte de su ciclo (síndrome de Elpenor y síndrome de Penélope), las cuales analizamos de forma crítica respecto al material original del que se parte. CONCLUSIONES: La historia de Odiseo constituye una de las fuentes de inspiración más frecuentes en la medicina, tanto para la elaboración de descriptores como para el empleo de símiles, metáforas u otras figuras retóricas, particularmente en el área de las neurociencias

INTRODUCTION: Cultural manifestations are frequently used as a source of descriptors in the field of the health sciences. The story of Odysseus (Ulysses) is one of the oldest and most influential works of world literature and has given rise to many subsequent creations, with strong roots in popular culture. AIMS: To consider the use of the story of Odysseus in the medical literature, to describe the terms in which it is used, and to discuss its relevance. DEVELOPMENT: From a review performed in PubMed, 112 medical publications with references to the myth of Odysseus were found, out of a total of 343 results. Five different conditions named directly after Ulysses were found (three Ulysses syndromes, the Ulysses contract and the Ulysses conflict), together with two others that have been given the names of other characters who are part of the same cycle (Elpenor syndrome and Penelope syndrome), which we analyse in a critical manner referring to the original material from which they have been taken. CONCLUSIONS: The story of Odysseus constitutes one of the most frequent sources of inspiration in medicine, both for the creation of descriptors and for the use of similes, metaphors or other rhetorical figures, particularly in the area of neuroscience

Did René Descartes Have Exploding Head Syndrome?

ABSTRACT: René Descartes (1596-1650), "the Father of Modern Philosophy" and advocate of mind-body dualism, had three successive dreams on November 10, 1619 that changed the trajectory of his life and the trajectory of human thought. Descartes' influential dreams have been of interest to a number of commentators including the famous neurologist and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Descartes' second dream in particular, in which he heard a loud noise in his head before seeing a bright flash of light upon awakening, has been discussed extensively. Commentators have employed psychoanalytic and medical explanations to account for Descartes' unusual nocturnal experience. In this tradition, I propose that Descartes' second dream was not a dream at all; rather, it was an episode of exploding head syndrome; a benign and relatively common parasomnia. I further suggest that Adrien Baillet's account of Descartes' experience constitutes the earliest description of exploding head syndrome, predating the account described by Silas Weir Mitchell in 1876 by nearly 200 years.