The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English Part 33

_Muscular motion_, under the direction of the will, is also absolutely necessary for the maintenance of good health.

Animal heat and muscular and nervous power are dependent upon motions of the minutest particles composing the body. The body is composed of fluid and semi-fluid matter, permitting great freedom of motion. Health requires that there shall be _a constant change of place_, an active transmission of material to and from vital organs and parts, through the medium of blood-vessels, as well as outside such vessels; that is, motion of interst.i.tial fluids.

NATURE'S MODE OF SUSTAINING HEALTH. The act of transforming latent, non-vital force which exists pent-up in food, as heat is in coal, into vital energy, requires the simultaneous elimination from the system of a like amount of worn-out matter. a.s.similation of nutritive materials is impossible, unless a like amount of matter be eliminated from the system. Muscular and nervous energy are dependent upon activities which cause waste. Not only is this true in a general way, but it is also true that the energy produced by the operations of the vital system has a strict relation to the wasting products--that _full_ energy is only attained by _perfected_ waste. Use, waste, and power, then, sustain definite and dependent or corresponding relations, since waste is as essential to health as is supply.

Without waste, disturbance is at once produced in the system similar to that resulting from the introduction of foreign matter. These disturbances const.i.tute disease. The more obvious effects of lack of waste and elimination are mechanical. The circulation is loaded with effete and useless matter, the vessels being thereby weakened and distended, and the circulation r.e.t.a.r.ded. The capillaries become clogged and vital action is diminished. Local congestions, inflammations, effusions, morbid growths, and other pathological results follow.

Deranged or suppressed action characterizes, and, indeed, const.i.tutes all departures from health which we call disease. Suffering indicates action, but action which is perverted into wrong channels, or action in one part at the expense of motion in other parts, const.i.tuting a disturbance in the equilibrium of forces, from which the system suffers.

VALUE OR MECHANICAL MOVEMENTS AND MANIPULATIONS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES. To correct and restore deranged movements, thereby producing normal, functional activity of every organ and part of the system, must therefore be the chief object of the physician. All remedies, of whatever school or nature, imply motion, and depend for their efficacy upon their ability to excite motion in some one or more elements, organs, or parts of the system.

While we do not wish to detract from the real merits of medicine as a curative agent, yet we must admit that the remedial power of motion, transmitted either manually or mechanically, is founded upon rational and physiological principles. All systems of medicine, however much they may differ superficially, propose, as the chief end to be attained by the administration of medicine, or by other treatment, that _motions_ identical with physiological activity should be incited or promoted. How best to accomplish this result, and with least cost to vitality, is an important consideration. Bearing in mind the conservation of forces, that energy or power is as indestructible as matter, that it may be changed into other forms but never lost, it is plain that mechanical force may be applied to the living system and transformed into vital energy; that chemical action, animal heat, and magnetism may represent in the system the mechanical force transmitted to the body. Keeping in view the transformable nature of force, and the need that our systems have of auxiliary power in different departments, when normal activity is impaired by disease, we can readily understand how undoubted, curative effects result from either the manual or the mechanical administration of motion.

RUBBING is a process universally employed by physicians of every school for the relief of a great diversity of distressing symptoms, is instinctively resorted to by sympathizers and attendants upon the sick, and const.i.tutes one of the chief duties of the nurse. Uncivilized people resort to this process as their princ.i.p.al remedy in all forms of disease.

The difficulty in administering motion as a remedial agent by manual effort, such as rubbing, kneading, oscillating, flexing, and extending the limbs, lies in the impossibility of supplying the _amount, intensity_, and _variety_ of movement required to make it most effective. The power of the arm and the strength of the operator are exhausted before the desired effect is produced. Inventive genius has at last overcome the obstacles to the successful and perfect administration of motion as a curative agent. We have now a series of machines propelled by mechanical power, by the use of which we rub, knead, manipulate, and apply in succession a great variety of movements to all parts of the body. These machines transmit motion to the body from inexhaustible sources, never tire, but are ever ready for new, remedial conquests. The movements administered by their use, _while entirely under the control of the patient_, are never disagreeable, and are far more rapid and intense than can possibly be given by the hands. By the application of short, quick movements of from _twelve to fifteen hundred vibrations a minute_, deep-seated organs and parts are reached, to which motion is transmitted and in which vital energy is thereby generated.

The hands have not the power, by kneading, manipulating, or rubbing to impress the system except in a very mild degree, and deep-seated organs and parts are scarcely influenced by the comparatively slow movements thus administered. Among the most important, mechanical inventions devised for administering motion as a remedial agent, is one which has received the name of the _manipulator_.

THE MANIPULATOR. With this machine motion can be applied to any organ or part of the system, and intensity of the application regulated to a nicety. The rapidity of motion necessary to produce active exhilaration of any part of the body is easily secured by the use of the manipulator, but is far beyond the power of the hands. The degree of circulation given to the fluids, both inside and outside of the vessels, and of energy imparted to the organs and parts operated upon by the manipulator, is also unapproachable by the application of manual power.

EFFECTS UPON THE CIRCULATION AND NUTRITION. The influence of motion on these functions is as follows: The contents of the blood-vessels are moved onward by the pressure and motion transmitted by the manipulator, all backward movement of the blood being prevented by the valves of the veins and by the propelling power of the heart and arteries. Fluids outside these vessels pa.s.s through their walls, to take the place of the stagnant blood that has been moved onward. Other blood flows into the part, and thus active and healthy circulation is induced, and nutritive material, capable of affording vital support is also brought to refresh the local part.

We have found mechanical movements especially effectual in paralysis, neuralgia, sleeplessness, and other nervous affections; in derangements of the liver, constipation, and dyspepsia; in displacements of the uterus, and congestion, and inflammation of the pelvic organs.

For a complete description of the mechanical movements and the machinery employed in the treatment of diseases at the Invalids' Hotel and Surgical Inst.i.tute, the reader is referred to the appendix to this work.

CHAPTER IV.

HYGIENIC TREATMENT OF THE SICK.

There are two essentials requisite to the successful treatment of the sick: (1.) Medical skill; (2.) Good nursing. The former is necessary in order that the condition of the patient be fully understood, and the proper means be employed to effect his recovery. The latter is essential, in order that all influences favoring the production and development of disease may be removed, the tendencies to restoration be promoted by every possible means, and the directions of the physician be properly observed.

Success in the treatment of the sick requires good nursing. Without it, the most skillful physicians fail to effect a cure; with it, the most unqualified may succeed. If certain hygienic agencies are essential to the maintenance of health, how much more necessary it is that they be employed in sickness! If certain conditions cause disease, how great the necessity is that such conditions be obviated and hygienic ones subst.i.tuted!

Notwithstanding the importance of good nursing, in the rural districts it is frequently difficult to find a professional nurse, or, if one can be obtained, it is often impossible for the invalid to procure such services, on account of the expense which must necessarily be incurred.

Hence, this office usually devolves upon some relative who is considered to be the best qualified for the position; or, as is often the case, necessity demands that the patient be left to a change of nurses. A woman is generally selected for this important position. Her soft hand and soothing voice, her kindly, sympathetic, and provident nature, together with her scrupulous cleanliness, render her man's equal, if not his superior, in the capacity of nurse. There are circ.u.mstances, however, in which the services of a man are indispensable; hence the necessity that all should be qualified to care for the sick.

A nurse should be attentive to the requirements of physician and patient, for she sustains an intimate relation to both. She should observe the directions of the physician, and faithfully perform them.

She should note all the symptoms of the patient, and do everything in her power to promote comfort and recovery. She should antic.i.p.ate the wishes, and not cause the patient to ask for everything which is desired. So far as practicable, let the wishes be gratified. The senses of the sick often become morbidly acute, and those things which in health would pa.s.s unnoticed, in sickness are so magnified as to occasion annoyance and vexation. Sick persons are not all alike, and the peculiarities of each must be studied separately. The nurse must be _kind_, but _firm_, and not yield to such whims of the patient as may be detrimental to recovery; neither must she arouse dislike or anger by opposition, but endeavor to _win_ the patient from all delusions. The feelings of the patient should never be trifled with, for idealities become realities.

The nurse should possess an inexhaustible store of patience. Disease affects the mind of the patient and fills it with strange delusions. The sick are often querulous, fretful, and unreasonable, and should be treated with kindness, forbearance, and sympathy. The nurse should always be cheerful, look on the bright side of every circ.u.mstance, animate them with encouragement, and inspire them with hope. Hope is one of the best of tonics. It stimulates the flagging, vital energies, and imparts new life to the weak and exhausted forces. Gloom, sadness, and despondency depress the vital forces and lead to death. We have seen patients rapidly sinking, who had given up all hope, and were quietly awaiting the coming of death, s.n.a.t.c.hed, as it were, from its grasp, and restored to health, by words of cheer and encouragement.

The nurse should possess _moral principles_, which alone can win the confidence of the patient. She should have judgment, circ.u.mspection, intelligence, forethought, alacrity, carefulness, and neatness. In a word she should exercise _common sense_.

We deem it but justice to say a word in behalf of the nurse. She, too, is a human being, subject to disease, and, unless hygienic conditions be observed, will soon be stricken low by its presence. She must be relieved occasionally and get rest, or she cannot long withstand the combined influence of fatigue and disease. Her office is an arduous one at best, and the long, weary hours of night-watching should be compensated by exercise in the open air, as well as by sleep during the day. Unless this be done, the system will become exhausted, and sleep will intrude itself upon her at the time when the greatest diligence is required for the welfare of the patient, when the vital powers are at their lowest ebb. She should be supplied with plenty of suitable food during the night, to sustain her and to serve as a safeguard against the invasion of disease. She should be treated with kindness and respect, else her disposition may become morose and reflect itself upon the patient, causing peevishness and despondency.

THE SICK-ROOM should be as comfortable, cheerful, and pleasant, as circ.u.mstances will allow. Let the room be large and airy, and furnished with a stove, or better still, a fireplace. All articles of clothing and furniture, not necessary to the comfort of the patient, should be removed from the room, and in _malignant_ or _contagious_ diseases the carpets, even, should not be permitted to remain. The surroundings beget happiness or gloom, in proportion as they are pleasant or disagreeable.

A tidy attendant, a few flowers and books, wonderfully enhance the cheerfulness of the room. Permit no unnecessary acc.u.mulation of bottles, or any thing that can in any way render the room unpleasant. Medicines, drink, or nourishment should never be left uncovered in the sick-room, since they quickly absorb the gaseous emanations from the patient, and become unfit for the purpose which they were intended to serve. Their presence gives the room an untidy appearance, suggestive of filth and slovenliness, and imparts to the patient a feeling of loathing and disgust for articles of diet.

THE BED should not be of feathers, on account of their undue warmth, which causes a sensation of languor throughout the system. A husk or sea-gra.s.s mattress, or even a straw bed, covered with a cotton quilt, is far preferable. The bedding should be changed frequently. It is better that the bed should be away from the wall, so as to admit of greater freedom of movement about it.

PURE AIR. The air in the sick-room should be kept as pure as possible.

That which is so necessary in health, is indispensable in sickness. The importance, therefore, of a perfect and free ventilation of the sick-room cannot be too thoroughly impressed; and yet to properly secure this end, may call forth a considerable amount of ingenuity on the part of the nurse. A window should be open, but the current of air must not be allowed to blow directly upon the patient. One window may be raised from the bottom and another lowered from the top. This will permit the entrance of pure air from without, and the exit of the vitiated air from within. The patient, if sufficiently covered in bed, is not liable to take cold from a proper ventilation of the room. Especially is this true, when the bodily temperature is raised by febrile or inflammatory affections. The _temperature_ of a room is no indication of the _purity_ of the air. It is a prevalent, but mistaken notion, that when a room is cold, the air must be pure. Cold air is as readily contaminated with impurities as warm air, therefore, it is not sufficient that the room be kept cool, but the air should be frequently changed. During convalescence, great care is necessary to protect the patient from taking cold. Air which is admitted into the sick-room should not be contaminated by pa.s.sing over foul drains, privies, or other sources of infection, since, instead of invigorating, it depresses the physical forces and generates disease.

LIGHT is as necessary to health as is pure air. Banish either for any continuous period of time, and serious results follow. The strong, robust man, when deprived of light, soon degenerates into a feeble, sickly being, and finally dies.

According to the investigations of the Ma.s.sachusetts Medical Society, it was found that absence of sunlight, together with moisture, not only favor the development of tubercular consumption, but act as an exciting cause. It is well known that persons living in shaded dwellings often suffer from forms of disease which resist all treatment until proper admission of light is secured.

The physician to the Emperor of Russia found upon examination that patients confined in well lighted wards, were four times as liable to recover as were those in poorly lighted rooms. Children reared away from the sunlight are apt to be deformed and idiotic, while those partially deformed have been restored by being admitted to the light.

Patients sometimes wish to have their rooms darkened, because the light is painful to their weak and sensitive eyes. It is far better to shade the eyes and admit the sunlight into the room, since its rays cause chemical changes to take place, which favor the return of health. Many invalids can ascribe their recovery to the influence of a sun bath.

There are, however, conditions in which the patients should be screened from the light. In such cases a little arrangement of the curtains or shutters will accomplish all that is to be desired.

Patients convalescing from acute, or suffering from chronic diseases, should receive the influence of light in the open air, and be in it several hours every day. Light and pure air stimulate a healthful development, induce cheerfulness, hope, and recovery, while darkness begets gloom, sadness, despondency, disease, and ultimately death.

WARMTH is essential to the well-being of the patient, and it is necessary that a proper temperature be maintained in the room. Except in very warm weather, a little fire should be kept in the room, and at the same time fresh air should be admitted from without, and a uniform temperature thus preserved. This arrangement is especially necessary in localities where great variations in temperature are experienced during the day and night.

The normal temperature of the body ranges from 98 to 99 Fahr. The minimum occurs from 2 to 6 A.M.; the maximum, from 1 to 6 P.M. The deviation of a few degrees from this standard indicates disease, and the greater the deviation, the greater is its severity. During the early stages of acute diseases, the animal heat is generally increased, and should be allayed by bathing, and cooling or acidulated drinks. In the latter stages, the temperature becomes diminished and the condition of the system is favorable to congestions, which are most likely to occur between the hours of 2 and 6 A.M., when the vital powers are lowest. The patient then becomes feeble, his extremities grow cold, and he has what is termed a "sinking spell," and perhaps dies. It is during these hours that additional covering, the application of hot bricks to the feet, and bottles of hot water to the limbs and body, friction upon the surface, stimulating drinks, and increased vigilance on the part of the nurse will often save the patient's life. But, unfortunately, at these hours the nurse is apt to get sleepy and inattentive, the demands of the patient go unheeded, and a sacrifice of life is the result.

Persons suffering from chronic diseases, or those in feeble health, should preserve their vital energies by dressing warmly, by wearing flannels next to the skin, and by carefully protecting the feet from cold and moisture.

CLEANLINESS cannot be too thoroughly impressed upon the minds of those who have the care of the sick. Filthiness is productive of disease and favorable to its development. Bathing at least once a day, with pure, soft water and toilet-soap, is strongly urged, and as this is designed for cleanliness, the temperature of the bath should be made agreeable to the patient.

THE CLOTHING AND BEDDING OF THE PATIENT in acute diseases, should be changed frequently and thoroughly aired, if not washed. As soon as removed, these articles should be taken from the room, replaced by others _well aired and warmed._ The hands and face of the patient should be bathed frequently, the hair combed, the teeth brushed, the nails cleaned, the lips moistened, and everything about him kept clean and tidy. These observances, although in themselves trifling, promote comfort and cheerfulness, and contribute largely to the recovery of the sick. All excretions from the patient should be buried, and not committed to privies to communicate disease to those who frequent them.

THE DIET contains a very important relation to health. During the process of acute disease, the appet.i.te is generally much impaired, if not entirely absent. It should then be the study of the nurse to devise such articles of nourishment as will be acceptable to the patient and suitable to the condition. The food should be light, nutritious, and easy of digestion.

Each individual disease requires a diet adapted to its peculiarities.

Those of an inflammatory character require an unstimulating diet, as gruel, barley-water, toast, etc. An exhausted or enfeebled condition of the brain, unattended by irritability, demands a stimulating diet, as beef, eggs, fish, Graham bread, oysters, etc. In wasting diseases, in which the temperature of the system is low, beef, fatty substances, rich milk, sweet cream, and other carbonaceous articles of diet are recommended. In the various forms of chronic ailments, the diet must be varied according to the nature of the disease and the peculiarities of the patient. Deranged digestion is generally an accompaniment of chronic disease. A return to normal digestion should be encouraged by selecting appropriate articles of food, paying due regard to its quant.i.ty and quality, as well as to the manner and time of eating. The appearance of food, and the manner in which it is offered, have much to do with its acceptance, or rejection by the patient. Let the nourishment be presented in a nice, clean dish, of a size and shape appropriate to the quant.i.ty. More food than can be eaten by the patient should not be placed before him at one time, since a great quant.i.ty excites disgust and loathing. In taking nourishment, drink, or medicine, the patient, if feeble, should not be obliged to change his position.

MILK is one of the most important foods in fevers and acute diseases attended with great prostration, and in which the digestive powers are enfeebled. It contains within itself all the elements of nutrition.

BEEF TEA furnishes an excellent nourishment for the sick, but there are few, even among professional nurses who know how to properly prepare it.

We give three good recipes. One method is to chip up lean beef, put it in a porcelain or tin saucepan, cover it with _cold_ water, and bring it up to just below the boiling point, at which temperature _retain it_ for ten minutes, then season and serve. Another method is similar to the foregoing, with this difference, that the juices of the meat are squeezed through a piece of muslin or crash, making the tea richer.

Another way, which we consider preferable to either of the above, is to take lean beef, cut it into fine bits, put them in a tightly covered vessel, which is placed in a kettle of water kept boiling. Thus the whole strength of the juice will be obtained from the meat without losing any of its properties. It can be seasoned to the taste, and reduced with water to suit the needs of the patient.

SLEEP is "Nature's grand restorer, a balm to all mankind; the best comforter of that sad heart whom fortune's spite a.s.sails." It is necessary in health, and doubly so in sickness. During sleep, the vital energies recuperate, the forces are less rapidly expended, and the strength increases. It is the great source of rest and refreshment.

Often a day's rest in bed, free from the cares and anxieties of an active life, is sufficient to ward off the approach of disease. If quiet and rest are essential to recuperation in health, their necessity in disease must be apparent. Life frequently depends on tranquility and repose, and the least noise or confusion disturbs the sufferer and diminishes the chances of recovery. Nothing annoys sick or nervous persons more than whispering and the rustling of newspapers. If conversation be necessary, let the tones be modified, but never whisper.

In sickness, when the vital forces are low, the more natural rest and sleep the patient obtains, the greater is the prospect for recovery. As a rule, _a patient should never be awakened when sleeping quietly_, not even to take _medicine_, unless in _extreme cases_. If the patient does not sleep, the cause should be ascertained and the appropriate remedies employed; if it arise from rush of blood to the head, cooling lotions should be applied, and warmth to the feet; if, from restlessness or general irritability, a sponge bath, followed by friction should be administered; if the wakefulness is due to noise or confusion, quiet is the remedy. When these means fail, anodynes, or nervines, should be employed. Lying on the side instead of on the back should be practiced.

Patients afflicted with chronic diseases, on rising, should take a cold bath, dry the surface quickly with a coa.r.s.e towel, followed by friction with the hand. Great benefit may be derived by following these suggestions when the nature of the disease is not such as to forbid it.

EXERCISE and rest necessarily alternate with each other. Exercise, so necessary to health, in many forms of disease greatly contributes to recovery. It sends the sluggish blood coursing through the veins and arteries with increased force and rapidity, so that it reaches every part of the system, supplying it with nourishment. It increases the waste of old material and creates a demand for new.