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"Seafarer" means person employed with any job on board a ship offshore, whether publicly or privately, excluding ships of war. Day by day a seafarer is forced to confront a reality in constant motion and live in environments that require awkward movements, and restricting the normal mobility of the person. In order to verify the frequency of herniated discs in this particular category of workers, given the recent introduction of INAIL tabulated diseases, a study was conducted on a sample of seafarers. Data analysis showed that 48.3% of the seafarers of the sample has herniated lumbar disc, and 34.5% of these duties in the deck, and 65.5% of the machine. The study of sample, varied as to age and task being performed, supports the assertion that the individual risk factors, especially age and obesity, are not strongly implicated in the genesis of disk herniation suffered by seafarers while the work factors (vibrations) play a more significant role in the onset of this disease. This consideration is part of a context, that of legal medical evaluation and in particular the causal relationship, which currently seems rather lacking in terms of literature and scientific production.

The clinical course of a young woman following the ingestion of the herbicide Paraquat in a suicide attempts is reported. Clinical signs of intoxication consisted at first in alterations of hepatic and renal functions, and later in progressive pulmonary failure. The patient died in severe respiratory distress on the 8th day due to cardiac arrest, probably anoxic. Treatment was initially on standard lines, with cathartics with the aim to prevent the absorption of Paraquat in the plasma and its accumulation in the lungs. In addition, high doses of steroids, immunosuppressive agents, prophylactic antibiotics and cardiotonics were given. Peritoneal dialysis and haemodialysis were concomitantly assured. The Authors suggest that in Paraquat poisoning an adequate therapeutic treatment could consist in specific sorbents such as Fuller's earth and bentonite, haemoperfusion over a coated charcoal system or cation exchange resins. Administration of drugs such as corticosteroids, immunosuppressants (bleomycine) and the enzyme superoxide dismutase may be also indicated. On the contrary, oxygen therapy should be carefully monitored: in fact hyperoxic atmospheres, by increasing the rate of generation of superoxide radicals, enhance cellular toxicity of Paraquat.