Epilepsy in Hildegard of Bingen's writings: A comprehensive overview.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179AD) is one of the most relevant figures of the Middle Ages. She wrote two medical books, Physica (Natural history) and Causae et curae (Causes and remedies). Our aim was to provide a comprehensive account of Hildegard of Bingen's conception of epilepsy, of the remedies proposed to treat it, and of the medical and physiological theories behind their use.

Minimally supervised home rehabilitation improves exercise capacity and health status in patients with COPD.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects on exercise tolerance and quality of life of an outpatient rehabilitation program implemented at home without a physiotherapist's direct supervision in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease.

Design: Patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were studied. The rehabilitation program included lower limb exercise on a stationary bicycle and upper limb exercise and stretching, together with education, and it lasted for 12 wks.