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In the second half of the nineteenth century venereal diseases attained more attention and explosiveness in public discourse than ever before. Collective fear of the so-called French disease culminated in the emergence of melancholic syphilophobia a previously unknown form of hypochondriac suffering. This paper addresses the question of how this development occurred and focuses more specifically on the epistemological implications of the pathological fear of syphilis and highlights the systematic significance of etiological interpretation and nosological conceptualization of venereal disease.

The tactile inspection of the bladder had a long tradition in urology. Examination results and their interpretation depended heavily on the individual tactile skills of the urologist. Because this examination method (if correctly applied) proved the artistic skills and experience of a doctor, urologists did not see any need to replace tactile examinations with a competing method.Nevertheless, urology as well as many other medical disciplines was receptive to techniques aiming at the visualization of pathology. Visualizations served the purposes of science-oriented medicine to be objective and to document examination results. However, it needed the development of specific technologies to create objective images. One major problem in urology was the question of how to light body cavities. After extracorporeal light sources had proven to be ineffective, attempts were made at bringing light sources into the interior of the body. It needed heated tungsten filaments and later mignon bulbs at the tip of endoscopes to illuminate the bladder to such an extent that images from the interior of the bladder could be produced. The paper examines the status of these images as self-evident and objective. It is argued that the images produced were not self-evident. It is shown how combinations of texts and images were needed to develop an endoscopic viewing technique in order to read endoscopic images properly and to recognize those aspects of endoscopic documentations which were necessary for correct interpretations of the images.

Background: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the publication rate of abstracts presented during the German Anesthesia Congress (Deutscher Anästhesiecongress, DAC) and the meeting of the European Society of Anesthesiologists (ESA) in the years 2000 and 2005 in Medline listed journals (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed). In addition, the respective impact factors of the journals in which the articles were published were evaluated (http://www.isiknowledge.com)., Methods: All abstracts of free papers and posters presented at the DAC and ESA from the years 2000 and 2005 were included into the study. The presence of authors and the topics of abstracts in the literature were analyzed by a Medline based inquiry over a time period of 5 years. The search was based on the last name and initials of authors and when these could not be identified in Medline the search was extended by keywords of relevant topics of the abstract. Umlauts "ä/ö/ü" were replaced by "ae/oe/ue" and "ß" was replaced by "ss". Only original papers were included in this analysis. Once an original paper was found the impact factor of the journal in that year was identified., Results: A total of 465 abstracts from the DAC 2000, 378 abstracts from the DAC 2005, 644 abstracts from the ESA 2000 and 720 abstracts from the ESA 2005 were included. Of the abstracts from the DAC 2000, 183 (39%) were published in Medline listed journals, 179 (47%) from DAC 2005, 218 (34%) from ESA 2000 and 233 (32%) from ESA 2005. The ESA abstracts were published in English more often than the DAC abstracts (ESA 2000: 95%; ESA 2005: 95%; DAC 2000: 78%; DAC 2005: 86%). While the publication rate after the ESA remained nearly unchanged between 2000 and 2005, the publication rate after the DAC increased by about 7%. The average impact factors of the publications were 1.777 (DAC 2000), 2.836 (DAC 2005), 1.825 (ESA 2000) and 2.36 (ESA 2005). Independent of the congress (DAC or ESA) where the abstract was presented, most articles were published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia., Conclusion: In the year 2005 more abstracts of the DAC were published in Medline listed papers than in 2000. When comparing the number of abstracts published in Medline listed journals, more abstracts of the DAC were published compared to abstracts of the ESA. The increase in papers written in English after abstract presentation on the DAC is mostly due to the wider readership which can be reached with manuscripts in the English language. Besides a larger readership, English journals often also have a higher ranked impact factor. This analysis does not claim to be a complete registration of all published abstracts due to the limitation on Medline listed journals and publications in other journals were not rated. Medline was selected because of the widespread and international use of this database.

Osteoporosis is one of the 10 most important and widespread global diseases. In Germany alone the cost of osteoporosis runs into many billions of Euros. However, it should be noted that in the past 15 years great progress has been made both in diagnosis and in the development of new medications, and this has changed the general perception of and attitude to osteoporosis. It is now taken very seriously and recognised as a national and global disorder which is both preventable and treatable. In spite of this progress, in Europe and especially in Germany, osteoporosis remains an underdiagnosed and undertreated disease. In Germany, only about 10%-15% of patients with manifest osteoporosis are properly treated. However, in addition to national guidelines, there is now a new edition of the "European Position Paper for the Diagnosis and Management of Osteoporosis". This provides physicians treating osteoporosis patients with additional information and therefore more confidence.

Osteoporosis is one of the ten most important and widespread global diseases. In Germany alone the costs of osteoporosis run into billions of Euros. However, during the past 15 years great progress has been made both in diagnosis and in the development of new medications. Osteoporosis is now taken very seriously and recognized as a national and global disorder which is now both preventable and treatable. Nevertheless, at a practical level, both in Europe and especially in Germany, osteoporosis remains an underdiagnosed and undertreated disease. In Germany, only about 10-15% of patients with manifest osteoporosis are properly treated. The consequences of such inadequate care are high additional costs-not to mention the unnecessary suffering of the patients involved. However, in support of national guidelines, a new edition of the "European Position Paper for the Diagnosis and Management of Osteoporosis" provides the doctors who treat patients with osteoporosis with additional information and therefore more confidence. In this paper several aspects are emphasized: improvements in diagnostic evaluation, assessment of the efficacy of fracture-oriented medications, and cost-effectiveness of the treatment of patients with osteoporosis.

Background: To evaluate the publication rate of abstracts presented during the German Anaesthesia Congress (DAK) in MEDLINE-listed journals in comparison to the publication rate of abstracts presented during the meeting of the European Society of Anaesthesiologists (ESA)., Methods: All abstracts of free papers (FP, orals) and posters of the 1994 DAK and the 1994 ESA meeting were included. Over a period of approximately 7 years (1993 to May 1999) the appearance of authors and abstracts topics in the literature were searched with the help of MEDLINE. Only original papers were included in the analysis., Results: All 322 abstracts (268 FPs and 54 posters) of the DAK and all 244 abstracts (81 FP and 163 posters) of the ESA were analyzed. A total 122 of the DAK abstracts (37.9% of all abstracts) and 111 of the ESA abstracts (45.5% of all abstracts) were published in MEDLINE-listed journals. Posters presented at the DAK were as published often (37%) as were oral presentations (38%). Of the 122 abstracts of the DAK that were published 71 (58.2%) were published in English (in 38 different journals) and 51 (41.8%) were published in German (in 8 different journals), whereas 102 (92%) of the ESA abstracts were published in english (in 42 different journals)., Conclusion: The overall portion of abstracts of the DAK published in MEDLINE indexed journals within 7 years was disappointing. The reasons for this may include deliberate avoidance of a publication (e.g. due to lack of interest to publish, no time) or low quality of the abstract that hinders publication in a MEDLINE indexed journal.

The harmonization of medical education, specialist training and continuing medical education (CME) in Europe progresses at different levels. University exchange programmes like ERASMUS and SOKRATES try to realize the European idea on the student and academic level. Specialist training is complicated by differences in responsibilities. The UEMS, based on various agreements, coordinates the harmonization process. Surgical training is represented by the European Board of Surgery (EBS). Its basic care and subspecialties have been described and European qualifications are being prepared. The content of education as well as log books, trainee qualification and training centers are regulated by position papers. Continued medical education is described in the Charter of Continued Medical Education of Specialists in which the content of training and requirements are defined.