[Hungarian professional periodicals started quite late in European context. Their publish­ing, editing and editorial philosophy were equally influenced by specific historical and political situations. Certain breaking points of history resulted in termina­tion of professional journals (War of In­de­pendence 1848-1849, First and Se­cond World Wars), however there were pe­riods, which instigated the progress of sciences and founding of new scientific journals. Both trends were apparent in years after the fall of former Hungarian regime in 1990. The structure of book and journal publishing has changed substantially, some publishers fell “victim” others started successfully as well. The latters include the then-established publishing house Literatura Medica and its own scientific journal, Lege Artis Me­di­cinae (according to its subtitle: New Hun­garian Medical Herald) issued first in 1990. Its appearance enhanced significantly the medical press market. Its scientific publications compete with articles of the well-established domestic medical journals however its philosophy set brand-new trends on the market. Concerning the medical community, it takes on its problems and provides a forum for them. These problems are emerging questions in health care, economy and prevention, in close interrelation with system of public health institutions, infrastructure and situation of those providing individual health services. In all of them, Lege Artis Medicinae follows consequently the ideas of traditional social medicine.]

[Energy drinks have been gaining unbroken popularity, especially among youngsters and children since they were introduced to the market. Manufacturers promise to improve performance and stamina with consuming the products, classified as non-alcoholic soft drinks. In addition to the vitamins and plant extracts, they contain a significant amount of caffeine and other stimulants (taurine, guarana). Among the active ingredients, caffeine has an outstanding effect and thereby a danger, since its overconsumption – in addition to milder he­mo­dynamic changes – can cause severe cardio­vascular consequences, cardiac arrhythmias, ion channel diseases, increased blood coagulation, myocardial infarction or reduced cerebral blood flow in susceptible consumers. Many case studies have also reported serious cardiovascular attacks among young chronic energy drink consumers. Health impairments of excessive and long-term consumption of energy drinks have been studied increasingly, however there is limited and contradictory evidence on the safety of consumption and the effectiveness of performance enhancement. ]

[Over the last decades, drug therapy for epilepsy has changed substantially, which generated new expectations. The first-line therapy of epilepsies is pharmacological treatment, which is effective in 60 to 70% of patients. Despite this favourable result, even today's drug therapy cannot yet be considered optimal. Prior to 1990, only six major antiepileptics were available for the clinicians, while since then more than ten new drugs have been introduced into the market. The older drugs have the advantage of long-term experience, known efficacy, and lower cost. These first generation drugs, while effective in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy, share some unfavourable properties. They do not control many patients adequately, while with their long-term use chronic side effects develop. The purpose of this paper is to summarize recent data on the efficacy, safety, and administration of the older and new antiepileptic drugs. The main factors to consider when choosing a drug for treatment include syndromatological classification of the disease, efficacy and tolerability of the drug, and individual patient considerations. Of the first generation antiepileptics, carbamapezine, valproate, ethosuximide, and to some extent the clobazam and clonazepam are still widely used (benzodiazepines only as adjunctive therapy). The use of phenobarbitals, primidone, phenytoin, and sulthiam has diminished because of their side effects and inadequate efficacy. New antiepileptics are more efficient primarily in the therapy of West syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and in idiopathic generalized epilepsies. The pharmacokinetic properties of gabapentin, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, and oxcarbazepine are favourable, and their clinical use is safe. The use of felbamate, vigabatrin, and topiramate requires close attention because of their side effects.]

[The history of humankind is full of stories related to performance enhancement drug abuse. For the purpose of improving explosive power and long-term physical performance central nervous system stimulating drugs and supplements, such as: amphetamine and cocaine have been used. Androgenic anabolic steroids are used for increasing skeletal muscle mass. The abuse of performance enhancer drugs is seriously deteriorating the human health, and have several negative side effects. Number of food-supplements - available in the market, often contain traces of steroids. So called designer steroids are extremely dangerous. In the near future it will be possible to enhance physical performance through genetic interventions.]

[The author demonstrates the relationship between the innovative and generic antiepileptic drugs regarding the clinical aspects. Among the requirements for the registration of generics one can find small differences in the prescribed and the practical levels of bioequivalence. An important but not widely known fact is that these differences can lead to clinically important alterations if the effects of different generics or the effects on high risk patients are compared. While the increasing market of generics is due to economical factors (and rarely due to medical decisions), the safety of the drugs becomes extremely important. From this aspect, special patient populations eg. children, elderly people or patients with multiple illnesses under multidrug treatment are necessarily of greater medical importance. The characteristics of the antiepileptic drugs on the elderly patients, their increased sensitivity to particular adverse events and the possible somatic side effects are discussed in details. The type of epilepsy also has its special characteristics and is important in the choice of the most successful medicine. The development of the antiepileptic drugs shows a positive direction for their efficacy. In the discussion the author points out three main ways for using generic drugs: prescription of generic drug in monotherapy or as an additive in newly diagnosed patients, the exchange of the innovative agent to a generic and the exchange of one generic to another. The author also mentions the legal points and criticizies the regulations available in some countries allowing a free exchange of the bioequivalent drugs without the agreement of the physician or the patient. The final part of the paper reviews the results of the comparative studies on the effects of the generic antiepileptic drugs and the experiences of the physicians of their application based on surveys performed with questionnaires. The data of the literature is compared to the Hungarian methods of application and to his own experience. Recommendations for the application of generic antiepileptic drugs are summarized in „twelve points“.]