Biomedical subjects

Andrea Alberto Conti

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Alberto Conti.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The contributions of Paul Ehrlich to infectious disease.

Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) is nowadays considered a pioneer in a number of medical fields, and in the course of time his role in the establishment and development of disciplines such as histology, immunology, oncology and haematology has been acknowledged. Aim of this historical note is to illustrate, in the area of chemotherapy, the special importance of this brilliant scientist whose 150th anniversary of birth occurred in 2004. Already as a medical student, Ehrlich was obsessed by structural organic chemistry and dyes, and, continually studying these issues, he elaborated his theory regarding the discovery of a "magic bullet", able to specifically destroy tumour cells and micro-organisms. In practice he applied methylene blue to the treatment of malaria patients, following his intuition that such a dye could destroy parasites. However, his culminating achievements in the chemotherapic field, reached even at the expense of his health, were the concept of the one-dose treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, and the creation of arsphenamine (compound 606, or Salvarsan), the first really effective compound in controlling human syphilis. Within the many and various contributions of Ehrlich to the development of experimental and clinical medicine, a special mention of his experimental studies and clinical applications in the area of chemotherapy is essential, since his achievements in this biomedical area remain a paramount legacy in the history of the therapy of infections.

Allergy and Immunology↗

PubMed2004

[The past and present history of the term "quality" in medicine].

In the medieval hospital the terms "care" and "cure" constituted a kind of hendiadys; in the XVIII century the quality of services was precisely identified for the first time, and, between the XVIII and the XIX centuries, medicine also began to assess the quality of professional competence, recognizing the need for a fair allocation of resources, and directing the health services only towards those who really needed them. In the XIX century the "Regolamenti" of hospital institutions are made compulsory in Italy, as foreseen by the Public Health Law of 1888. However, only during the XX century, and particularly in the second half of the century, quality standards are defined, together with the structuring of a health service and with the ever more widely felt need for a new relationship between the physician and the patient, and between the patient and the institution. In even more recent times, during the 1990s, Evidence Based Medicine has given a further stimulus to every currently interpreted quality systems.

History, 18th Century↗

PubMed2004

[Does coffee consumption represent a coronary risk factor?].

Aim of this paper is to critically review the evidence available regarding the relationship between coffee consumption and coronary risk. Large prospective studies do not support the hypothesis that moderate (< 5 cups of coffee a day) caffeine consumption significantly increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Data on higher coffee consumption are scanty and do not allow the acquisition of established conclusions, even if they suggest a statistically significant trend in coronary risk with increasing dose.

Caffeine↗

PubMed2002

Enrico Pieragnoli and the prevention of tuberculosis: Florence 1906.

Tuberculosis (TBC) is today a health priority in Asia, Africa, and South America and a re-emerging social disease in the Western World. While the pharmacological therapy of TBC is nowadays well established, preventive measures are still under-powered and under-estimated. Current failures in the prevention of tuberculosis are even more surprising considering that, already a century ago a comprehensive preventive of defence against TBC had been designed by clinicians and ante-litteram 'health care managers' such as Enrico Pieragnoli. Pieragnoli was an Italian physician who lived in Florence between the XIX and XX century, and who, after many years of accurate planning, succeeded in 1906 in opening the first Italian tuberculosis preventive centre. Pieragnoli considered it his mission to 'fight' against TBC, a public enemy that was to be defeated using the weapons of global prevention; Pieragnoli had crystal clear concepts of prevention, of the predisposing factors to the disease, and of the need for aggressive treatment. He established his preventive institute with two main aims: the modification of the individual substratum in which the germs grew and the removal of contagion. The prophylactic and diagnostic accuracy of his preventive institute are shown in a number of clinical documents containing objective body measurements (height, weight, thoracic circumference), quantitative clinical comparisons (intra-and inter-subjects) and field epidemiology. We may therefore conclude that the cornerstone of 'evidence-based' prevention of tuberculosis was present in Italy almost a century ago.

Academies and Institutes↗