Herod the Great, Idumean by birth, was king of the Jews from 40 to 4 BC. An able statesman, builder and warrior, he ruthlessly stamped out all perceived opposition to his rule. His last decade was characterised by vicious strife within his family and progressive ill health. We review the nature of his illnesses and suggest that he had meningoencephalitis in 59 BC, and that he died primarily of ...

BACKGROUND A joint NHS-Local Authority initiative in England designed to provide a dedicated nursing and physiotherapy in-reach team (IRT) to four residential care homes has been evaluated. The IRT supported 131 residents and maintained 15 'virtual' beds for specialist nursing in these care homes. METHODS Data captured prospectively (July 2005 to June 2007) included: numbers of referrals; rea...

BACKGROUND Governments require high-quality scientific evidence to prioritize resource allocation and the cost-of-illness (COI) methodology is one technique used to estimate the economic burden of a disease. However, variable cost inventories make it difficult to interpret and compare costs across multiple studies. METHODS A scoping review was conducted to identify the component costs and the...

background: chronic illnesses are by definition long lasting and without a definitive cure. in iran, like in many other developing countries, chronic diseases are not merely diseases of the elderly. they also affect a much higher proportion of people during their prime working years and more so than in the developed countries. therefore, it is essential to understand the factors influencing the...