Don Quijote de la Mancha y la descripción del sueño bifásico en la literatura española / Don Quixote de la Mancha and the description of biphasic sleep in Spanish literature

Introducción: El sueño bifásico o segmentado es el hábito de dormir un primer y un segundo sueño separados por una vigilia. El historiador Ekirch describe que así se dormía en los tiempos preindustriales antes de la potente iluminación artificial. Se basó en textos en diferentes idiomas, desde la Antigüedad hasta el siglo xx, pero llama la atención la ausencia de fuentes en español. Objetivo: Se revisó la literatura española en busca de referencias al sueño bifásico usando como palabras clave ‘primer sueño’ y ‘a los primeros gallos’. Desarrollo: En la segunda parte de Don Quijote de la Mancha (capítulo 68), Cervantes describe el sueño bifásico con notable acierto, correlacionando los biotipos de Quijote y Sancho con sus temperamentos y hábitos de sueño y alimentarios. Curiosamente, Ekirch cita el capítulo, pero no el sueño bifásico. En esta revisión reproduzco 11 textos en español (siglos xiii a xix), mayormente obras clásicas, que lo refieren, disponiendo sus fases en coincidencia con las horas en que se dividía la noche en la era preindustrial: 20:00-21:00 a 00:00, primer sueño; 00:00 a 03:00, vigilia; 03:00 a 06:00, segundo sueño. La Celestina aporta datos significativos. Estudios recientes probaron que este hábito es fisiológico y se adapta al estilo de vida que lo requiere. Conclusiones: Se identifican y citan por primera vez referencias al sueño bifásico en la literatura española, confirmando la hipótesis de Ekirch. El Quijote lo describe con mayor amplitud y agudeza.(AU)

Introduction: Biphasic or segmented sleep is the habit of sleeping a first and a second sleep separated by a watching. The historian A Ekirch found that this was how people slept in pre-industrial times before the powerful artificial lighting. He is based on texts in different languages, from Antiquity to the 20th century, but the absence of sources in Spanish is striking. Aim: Review the Spanish literature searching references of the biphasic sleep using the keywords ‘first sleep’ and ‘at the first cockcrow’. Development: In the Second Part of Don Quixote de la Mancha (Chapter 68), Cervantes describes biphasic sleep with remarkable success, correlating the biotypes of Quixote and Sancho with their temperaments and sleeping and eating habits. Strangely, Ekirch cites the chapter, but not biphasic sleep. In this review I reproduce eleven texts in Spanish (13th to 19th centuries), mostly classical works, which refer to it by arranging its phases in a way that coincides with the hours in which the night was divided in the pre-industrial era: 20:00-21:00 to 00:00, first sleep, 00:00 to 03:00, wakefulness; 03:00 to 06:00, second sleep. La Celestina provides significant data too. Recent studies proved that this habit is physiological, and it adapts to the lifestyle that requires it. Conclusions: References to biphasic sleep in Spanish literature are identified and cited for the first time, confirming Ekirch’s hypothesis. In Don Quixote, Cervantes describes it with great breadth and sharpness.

[Don Quixote de la Mancha and the description of biphasic sleep in Spanish literature]. / Don Quijote de la Mancha y la descripción del sueño bifásico en la literatura española.

INTRODUCTION: Biphasic or segmented sleep is the habit of sleeping a first and a second sleep separated by a watching. The historian A Ekirch found that this was how people slept in pre-industrial times before the powerful artificial lighting. He is based on texts in different languages, from Antiquity to the 20th century, but the absence of sources in Spanish is striking. AIM: Review the Spanish literature searching references of the biphasic sleep using the keywords 'first sleep' and 'at the first cockcrow'. DEVELOPMENT: In the Second Part of Don Quixote de la Mancha (Chapter 68), Cervantes describes biphasic sleep with remarkable success, correlating the biotypes of Quixote and Sancho with their temperaments and sleeping and eating habits. Strangely, Ekirch cites the chapter, but not biphasic sleep. In this review I reproduce eleven texts in Spanish (13th to 19th centuries), mostly classical works, which refer to it by arranging its phases in a way that coincides with the hours in which the night was divided in the pre-industrial era: 20:00-21:00 to 00:00, first sleep, 00:00 to 03:00, wakefulness; 03:00 to 06:00, second sleep. La Celestina provides significant data too. Recent studies proved that this habit is physiological, and it adapts to the lifestyle that requires it. CONCLUSIONS: References to biphasic sleep in Spanish literature are identified and cited for the first time, confirming Ekirch's hypothesis. In Don Quixote, Cervantes describes it with great breadth and sharpness.

TITLE: Don Quijote de la Mancha y la descripción del sueño bifásico en la literatura española.Introducción. El sueño bifásico o segmentado es el hábito de dormir un primer y un segundo sueño separados por una vigilia. El historiador Ekirch describe que así se dormía en los tiempos preindustriales antes de la potente iluminación artificial. Se basó en textos en diferentes idiomas, desde la Antigüedad hasta el siglo xx, pero llama la atención la ausencia de fuentes en español. Objetivo. Se revisó la literatura española en busca de referencias al sueño bifásico usando como palabras clave 'primer sueño' y 'a los primeros gallos'. Desarrollo. En la segunda parte de Don Quijote de la Mancha (capítulo 68), Cervantes describe el sueño bifásico con notable acierto, correlacionando los biotipos de Quijote y Sancho con sus temperamentos y hábitos de sueño y alimentarios. Curiosamente, Ekirch cita el capítulo, pero no el sueño bifásico. En esta revisión reproduzco 11 textos en español (siglos xiii a xix), mayormente obras clásicas, que lo refieren, disponiendo sus fases en coincidencia con las horas en que se dividía la noche en la era preindustrial: 20:00-21:00 a 00:00, primer sueño; 00:00 a 03:00, vigilia; 03:00 a 06:00, segundo sueño. La Celestina aporta datos significativos. Estudios recientes probaron que este hábito es fisiológico y se adapta al estilo de vida que lo requiere. Conclusiones. Se identifican y citan por primera vez referencias al sueño bifásico en la literatura española, confirmando la hipótesis de Ekirch. El Quijote lo describe con mayor amplitud y agudeza.

[Multifocal brain haemorrhage associated with migraine and medication abuse]. / Hemorragia cerebral multifocal asociada a migraña y abuso de fármacos.

INTRODUCTION: Although ischemic stroke is a well known complication of migraine, cerebral hemorrhage has been uncommonly reported. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 56-year-old woman with a long history of headache and abuse of ergotamine and antiinflamatory drugs who was admitted for generalized seizures, right hemiparesis and coma. An early brain CT scan showed multiple cortico-subcortical hemorrhages localized amongst others on right frontal, left parietal, and posterior left temporo parietal regions. In the previous two years she had increased the doses on medications containing 1 mg of ergotamine and 500 mg of dipirone consuming two to six tablets a day, and 500 to 1,500 mg of aspirin a day too. Although she exceeded the maximum ergot cumulative doses allowed of 10 mg per week, it cannot be considered a typical nor a pure manifestation of ergotism. When other possible causes of stroke were excluded, the association of migraine with the protracted vasoconstriction of ergotamine, able per se to damage the capillary endothelium, and an altered local hemostasis induced by aspirin remained as the most probable mechanism of brain bleeding. After discharge she had no motor sequelae and she could return to her usual work. A neuropsychological assessment done four months later showed subclinical cognitive deficits depending on an abnormal frontal functioning. CONCLUSION: This life-threatening and potentially disabling complication must stress to physicians about the risks of ergotamine plus aspirin abuse, drawing their efforts to prevent, to recognize and to control the propensity to self medication of some patients with daily headaches.