Head Injuries in Homer's Iliad.

The Iliad is an epic poem chronicling the journey of Achilles in the Trojan War. The poem is one of the earliest sources of written literature in the Western canon. It is not a medical text, but the many and varied descriptions of injuries and their consequences mean that it is an important source for examining the earliest notions of anatomy and knowledge of the pathologies that result from trauma. Head injuries feature prominently in the text and represent written accounts of neurotrauma from nearly 3000 years ago. Previous work on the poem has suggested an awareness of neurological concepts such as nystagmus, syncope, and pupillary dilatation after trauma. In this paper, we identify and categorize all of the head injuries detailed in the text and examine these to identify concepts of functional neuroanatomy that are revealed by the descriptions. We identify and discuss 2 detailed descriptions of head injury, suggesting an awareness of decerebrate posturing after brainstem injury and cerebrospinal fluid leakage following a basal skull fracture.

Bridging the gap between primary care and mental health.

Major depression is a leading cause of disability in the United States and is frequently diagnosed and managed within a primary care setting, with less-than-optimal results. Studies have shown that adequate follow up significantly affects patient outcomes, including mortality; however, primary care providers face many challenges in providing this care within the constraints of a primary care setting. Collaborative care models have been shown to be effective in managing depression, and accordingly, the Translating Initiatives for Depression into Effective Solutions (TIDES) model was selected by the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System to help primary care providers manage depressed patients within the primary care setting. This article describes the implementation of TIDES and identifies a new role for mental health nurses outside of the traditional mental health setting.