Hippocrates: the forefather of neurology.

Hippocrates is one of the most influential medical doctors of all times. He started observing and experimenting in times of mysticism and magic. He carried a holistic and humanitarian approach to the patient with examination as the principal approach-inspection, palpation and auscultation are still the most important tools in diagnosing algorithms of today. He had immense experience with the human body most likely due to numerous wound treatments he had performed; some even believe he performed autopsies despite the negative trend at the time. Hippocrates identified the brain as the analyst of the outside world, the interpreter of consciousness and the center of intelligence and willpower. Interestingly, Hippocrates was aware of many valid concepts in neurology; his treatise On the Sacred Disease was the most important for understanding neurology and epilepsy. His other ideas pioneered modern day neurology mentioning neurological diseases like apoplexy, spondylitis, hemiplegia, and paraplegia. Today, 10 % of neurological Pubmed and 7 % of neuroscience Scopus reviews mention Corpus Hippocraticum as one of the sources. Therefore, Hippocrates may be considered as the forefather of neurology.

Anthropological aspects of alcohol consumption and alcohol related problems.

Authors believe that drinking alcoholic beverages can be associated with customs and habits specific to small communities, societies and even entire nations. The primary family, as the foundation of customs and habits of the first generation, has a role in stimulating drinking and alcoholism. The authors have examined some sociocultural factors, mostly taking into consideration relations in the primary family, by means of a questionnaire filled out by alcoholics (N = 200) and non-alcoholics (N = 100). The alcoholics usually have their first drink earlier, start drinking regularly earlier, and in the primary family there is a high tolerance towards the use of alcoholic beverages. The authors believe that the prevention should be directed primary towards the primary family with a view to changing their customs and habits as well as attitudes towards the use of alcoholic beverages.

Psycho-social characteristics of female alcoholics.

This paper presents the survey and benefits of various questionnaires for the examination of male and female population of alcoholics. It continues to show the results of an investigation carried out at the Department for Psychiatry, Alcoholism and Other Dependences of the University Hospital "Sestre milosrdnice" in Zagreb. The aim of this study was to obtain the most accurate and recent information about alcohol dependence and the socio-psychiatric characteristic of alcoholism in the Croatian urban environment on the basis of a specially prepared questionnaire. The group of 166 treated alcoholic persons consisted of 120 males and 46 females. The age of examinees ranged between 30 to 40. The great difference in psycho-social characteristics between male and female alcoholics was confirmed. Symptomatic alcoholism observed in women was due to primary and secondary family disorders and resulted in the anxious depressive disturbance. The incidence of primary female alcoholism is on the rise. This trend can be ascribed to the changes in the life style of urban female population.

Biological markers of alcohol related disorders.

The authors in this study lay out a relatively new approach to the diagnostics of alcoholism. Measuring the biological markers of this disease is a useful extension of the standard clinical examination and a promising method for improving prevention. Studies about markers of alcoholism provide a new, exact and quantitative way of diagnosing alcoholism, by means of determining the "state" markers, which include markers of the cerebral process of dependency development and markers of acute and chronic intoxication by alcohol; and by means of determining the "trait" markers, which suggest the disposition for the development of alcohol disease. The authors believe that measuring the biological markers is a promising new approach that should improve the diagnostics and prevention of alcoholism.

Tuberculosis and alcoholism in Croatia.

Alcoholism and tuberculosis represent very difficult problem in treatment because both illnesses require complex treatment which cannot be adequately obtained on classic wards. Tuberculosis in the last 50 years showed the constant decline of incidence--in Croatia (4,500,000 inhabitants) from approximately 20,000 to approximately 2000 cases per year. This study compares preliminary results of AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) in the group of tuberculosis patients with the diagnosis of alcoholism (group 1) and in the group of tuberculosis patients who had not the diagnosis of alcoholism (group 2) and who all were admitted to the Hospital for pulmonary diseases and tuberculosis Klenovnik where is an organised unique ward management for tuberculosis and alcoholic patients functioning for the last 25 years on the basic principles of therapeutic community. Their average AUDIT score was 25.44--very high, and all patients scored above 8, what indicated on harmful and hazardous drinking. Additionally, in the group of patients admitted for hospital treatment of tuberculosis without diagnosis alcoholism there were more than 50% of harmful or hazardous alcohol drinkers who ranged 8 or more on AUDIT score, what could indicate that modern identification of hazardous drinking (for example using AUDIT) should be used in all pulmonary and tuberculosis wards. Patients for whom diagnostic procedure shows that they drink harmfully or hazardously should be treated simultaneously for tuberculosis and alcohol use disorders. Because of hidden alcohol problems the group sociotherapy should be organised for all patients at all wards for treatment of tuberculosis in a common and special alcohologic way.

Differences between values for plasma and serum in tests performed in the Ektachem 700 XR Analyzer, and evaluation of "plasma separator tubes (PST)".

We measured 25 analytes in plasma and serum from the same blood specimen, using the Kodak Ektachem 700 XR Analyzer. For 22 of the analytes, values for plasma were practically the same as those for serum; for the other three, differences between concentrations in plasma and serum were significant, both statistically and medically. Values for the same analytes in plasma from regular heparinized tubes were essentially indistinguishable from those for plasma obtained by use of Plasma Separator Tubes (PST).