The goal of this report is to describe the therapeutic methods and surgical techniques used by Hippocrates (5th century BC) in the treatment of nasal injuries. We studied the original Greek texts of the (generally considered genuine) Hippocratic book Mochlicon and, especially, the analytical On Joints. We identified the treatments and techniques applied to the restoration of injured noses. We found that Hippocrates classified nasal injuries, from simple contusions of soft tissues to complicated fractures. Hippocrates provided detailed instructions for each case, from poultice application and bandaging to reconstruction and reshaping of the nasal bones in cases of fractures and deviation. Hippocrates' texts reflect the interest of the classical period in nasal injuries, a common enough accident in athletics. Hippocratic conservative and surgical management for each form of injury was adopted by later physicians and influenced European medicine.
Nicolas Taptas's contribution to the development of the artificial larynx was vital because he devised and applied one of the first external laryngeal artificial prostheses with satisfactory functional results.
Informed consent is a question of central importance in contemporary medical ethics, and clinical practice is inconceivable without considering the issues it raises. Although it is often vigorously argued that consent, informed or otherwise, is a recent phenomenon and that no sources testify to its existence before the 20th century, it is difficult to accept that a process for regulating the common and fundamental parameters in the relationship between doctor and patient and the planning of treatment had not concerned previous eras. A review of the Registers of the Islamic Court of Candia (Heraklion) in Crete, a series of records that touches on, among other things, matters of medical interest, reveals that the concept of informed consent was not only known during a period that stretched from the mid-17th to the early 19th century, but it was concerned with the same principles that prevail or have been a point of contention today. An extension of this study into other periods may thus provide contemporary researchers with material and information valuable in the discussion of today's bioethical issues.
Purpose
Greece has legislated health decentralization several times since the 1920s, but none had been implemented until 2001. Even so, the decentralized system was subsequently modified several times, curtailing the powers that were initially delegated to the health regions, while the whole process has been criticized as limited in scope. The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons that the decentralization process did not fulfil its initial aims.
Design/methodology/approach
Elite interviews were conducted with 37 of the 50 directors of health regions who served between 2001 and 2009. Interview transcripts were divided into four themes and analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
The participants agreed that health decentralization in Greece was only administrative rather than political and did not include fiscal decentralization. They described problematic and competitive relations with party officials and civil servants. They blamed their short tenure for the inability to fulfil their plans. Findings indicate that decentralization in Greece did not achieve its objectives because of the dominant mentality of centralized control, the lack of political support, the discontinuity in health policies and opposition from vested interests.
Originality/value
The value of the present study lies in the fact that it examines in depth the issue of health decentralization drawing on the experiences of the former directors of the Greek health regions, i.e. the persons who were called on to put into practice the process of regional decentralization.
A medical school was founded in Constantinople in 1827. Greek medics were involved with the new school right from its foundation, mainly because they had studied in Europe and knew other European and Asian languages. This paper reviews the lives of five of them: Stefanos Caratheodory; Constantinos Caratheodory; Sarantis Archigenis; Spyridon Mavrogenis; and Marco Pitsipio (Apostolidi Pasha), who was appointed a director of the Medical School. A few of the other Greek professors are also briefly discussed.
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