Could valerian have been the first anticonvulsant?

To assess the available evidence for the belief that valerian, highly recommended in the past for treating epilepsy, possessed real anticonvulsant effectiveness.Review of available literature.In 1592, Fabio Colonna, in his botanical classic Phytobasanos, reported that taking powdered valerian root cured his own epilepsy. Subsequent reports of valerian's anticonvulsant effectiveness appeared. By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was often regarded as the best available treatment for the disorder. Valerian preparations yield isovaleric acid, a substance analogous to valproic acid and likely to possess anticonvulsant properties, as isovaleramide does. In favorable circumstances, high valerian doses can be calculated to have sometimes provided potentially effective amounts of anticonvulsant substance for epilepsy patients.Valerian probably did possess the potential for an anticonvulsant effect, but the uncertain chemical composition and content of valerian preparations, and their odor and taste, made it unlikely that they could ever prove satisfactory in widespread use

Discovering Epilepsy and Epileptics in Victorian London

This chapter focuses on the sociological analysis of the medical files of John Hughlings Jackson’s epileptic patients, who were hospitalized at the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, during the period 1870–1895. More particularly, following their chronological presentation in the previous chapter, this chapter examines and evaluates qualitatively epileptic patients’ gender, age, marital status, occupation and address of residence. It attempts to inscribe them within the general historical context of nineteenth-century English society, as well as within the dominant nineteenth-century medical/neurological discourse. From this perspective, it also proceeds to a comparative juxtaposition with the medical files of two private asylums, the Manor House Asylum and the Holloway Sanatorium, in order to indicate the significant differentiations between public and private institutions, as well as between a neurological hospital and a (mental) asylum. Additionally, it attempts to explore epileptic patients’ thoughts and intimate feelings, and to delineate doctors’ and nurses’ attitude towards them, so as to enable the construction of a history of epilepsy “from below”. © 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland

Relationship of organizational culture, teamwork and job satisfaction in interprofessional teams

BACKGROUND: Team effectiveness is often explained on the basis of input-process-output (IPO) models. According to these models a relationship between organizational culture (input = I), interprofessional teamwork (process = P) and job satisfaction (output = O) is postulated. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between these three aspects using structural analysis. METHODS: A multi-center cross-sectional study with a survey of 272 employees was conducted in fifteen rehabilitation clinics with different indication fields in Germany. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out using AMOS software version 20.0 (maximum-likelihood method). RESULTS: Of 661 questionnaires sent out to members of the health care teams in the medical rehabilitation clinics, 275 were returned (41.6 %). Three questionnaires were excluded (missing data greater than 30 %), yielding a total of 272 employees that could be analyzed. The confirmatory models were supported by the data. The results showed that 35 % of job satisfaction is predicted by a structural equation model that includes both organizational culture and teamwork. The comparison of this predictive IPO model (organizational culture (I), interprofessional teamwork (P), job satisfaction (O)) and the predictive IO model (organizational culture (I), job satisfaction (O)) showed that the effect of organizational culture is completely mediated by interprofessional teamwork. The global fit indices are a little better for the IO model (TLI: .967, CFI: .972, RMSEA .052) than for the IPO model (TLI: .934, CFI: .943, RMSEA: .61), but the prediction of job satisfaction is better in the IPO model (R(2) = 35 %) than in the IO model (R(2) = 24 %). CONCLUSIONS: Our study results underpin the importance of interprofessional teamwork in health care organizations. To enhance interprofessional teamwork, team interventions can be recommended and should be supported. Further studies investigating the organizational culture and its impact on interprofessional teamwork and team effectiveness in health care are important. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0888-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users