The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English Part 68

In _flatulent_ colic, the treatment should depend upon the cause. If it be occasioned by cold, a teaspoonful or two of the Extract of Smart-weed, in warm water or catnip tea, repeated a few times, will be sufficient. If it result from overloading the stomach, a dose of the Pleasant Pellets will answer the purpose. If the pain in the abdomen is severe, apply hot fomentations. a.s.sist the action of physic, by giving an injection of senna and catnip tea, or if the stomach is very sour, take internally some mild alkali, such as common saleratus.

In _painters'_ colic, the following cathartic mixture is an effectual remedy: sulphate of magnesia (epsom salts), twelve ounces; nitrate of pota.s.sa (saltpeter), half an ounce; sulphuric acid, one drachm; boiling water, one quart. Of this remedy give a teaspoonful every thirty minutes or every hour, until the bowels move. An injection of some diaph.o.r.etic tea, or of alum water, is a good remedy. Castor oil and mola.s.ses, containing a teaspoonful of spirits of turpentine, will add to the efficiency of an injection. If the colic be not promptly relieved, a physician should be employed. To eliminate the lead from the system, and thus prevent a return of the colic, or other injurious effects, two drachms of iodide of pota.s.sium should be added to a bottle of the Golden Medical Discovery, and a teaspoonful of this taken four times a day.

JAUNDICE. (ICTERUS.)

This affection is generally regarded as a symptom of disordered liver, since it frequently occurs during the progress of diseases of that organ. When the disease imparts a greenish tinge to the skin, it is termed _green jaundice,_ and, when it imparts a blackish color, it is known as _black jaundice._ Jaundice is undoubtedly due to the presence of biliary elements in the blood.

CAUSES. In consequence of the varied conditions from which it arises, Professor Da Costa has aptly remarked: "With the _recognition_ of jaundice, the difficulty in diagnosis may be said to begin." He considers the causes of jaundice to be (1) diseases of the liver; (2) disease or the bile ducts; (3) diseases remote from the liver, or general disease leading to a disorder of that viscus; (4) certain causes acting upon the blood.

SYMPTOMS. It is characterized by a yellowish color of the skin and of the white of the eyes. The skin is usually dry and harsh; if it be moist, the linen will be tinged yellow from the perspiration. The tongue is coated yellow, the mouth is dry, and the appet.i.te impaired; there is headache, nausea, and sometimes vomiting; there is pain in the abdomen after eating, and in the region of the liver, and it is also felt in the right shoulder, and between the shoulder-blades. In severe cases, there is fever, accompanied with chills, despondency and loss of flesh. The stools are generally of a light clay color, and very offensive; the urine is thick and yellow. When the disease terminates fatally, there is delirium followed by stupor.

TREATMENT. The first step should be to eliminate from the system, as speedily as possible, all noxious materials. For this purpose, the spirit-vapor bath should be used. If the urine is scanty or voided with difficulty, take acetate of potash or queen of the meadow. These may be taken in connection with the Golden Medical Discovery and Purgative Pellets, the efficacy of which has already been described in the treatment of chronic inflammation of the liver. They are indeed valuable agents in this disease, since they increase the action of all the excretory glands, and rapidly remove those matters, which, if retained, would poison the system.

In some cases, acids are of great value; good hard cider or hydrochloric acid and the acid bath are frequently valuable agents.

In other cases the employment, both internally and externally, of alkalies in addition to the Golden Medical Discovery answers the purpose much better.

Again, there are persons who, in addition to alteratives and baths, require tonics. In the treatment or this affection, whatever may be the nature of the case, the use of _alteratives_ must not be forgotten, for _without_ them, the auxiliary treatment with acids, alkalies, and tonics, will not produce the desired effect.

The employment of drastic remedies is sometimes resorted to; but, although they may give temporary relief, the patient soon relapses into his former condition, while if the treatment above given be adopted, the recovery will be permanent.

GALL-STONES. (BILIARY CALCULI.)

These are concretions found in the gall-bladder or bile duct, and vary from the size of a pea to that of a hen's egg. There may be no indication of their existence in the gall-bladder until they begin to pa.s.s through the duct.

CAUSES. The formation of gall-stones is undoubtedly due to an unhealthy condition of the bile. Corpulent persons, and those indulging in over-stimulating diet, or in the habitual use of fermented drinks, are most liable to be troubled by them.

SYMPTOMS. The patient is suddenly seized with excruciating pain in the right side. After a time it subsides, but is again renewed with as great severity as before. There is nausea, with vomiting, which is often excessive and severe. The pulse is sometimes slower than is natural, the extremities are cold, there is great exhaustion, together with perspiration and spasmodic contraction of the abdominal muscles. As soon as one stone has pa.s.sed through the duct into the intestine, immediate relief is experienced until another commences to pa.s.s, and the larger the concretion, the greater is the pain. If the stools be washed, the gall-stones may be seen floating on top of the water.

TREATMENT. This consists chiefly in relieving the patient of pain and vomiting during the pa.s.sage of the gall-stones. Hot fomentations made with stramonium leaves and lobelia, and applied over the painful parts, are beneficial. Small doses of lobelia may be taken, but not in sufficient quant.i.ties to produce vomiting. Doses of opium should also be taken; this anodyne must, however, be used with care. Gelseminum is often useful. Chloroform, ether, or the spirit vapor-bath generally allays the pain. Carbonate of soda, dissolved in water, often relieves the vomiting.

These distressing symptoms are apt to recur until the removal of all the gall-stones is effected. To aid in removing them, take the Golden Medical Discovery rather freely for a day or two, and continue its use with lobelia, in doses sufficiently large to produce nausea, but not vomiting. From four to eight ounces of sweet oil may be given, and, if the bowels do not respond within three hours, repeat the dose, and the gall-stones will generally be evacuated. To prevent the formation of these concretions take the Golden Medical Discovery, together with alkaline drinks made with carbonate of soda. Tone and energy will thereby be imparted to the liver, the free flow of bile will be insured and the subsequent formation of gall-stones prevented.

INTESTINAL WORMS.

We have not the s.p.a.ce to discuss the numerous theories which have been offered to account for the presence of these parasites in the human body. We shall enumerate the princ.i.p.al species, describe the symptoms indicating their presence, and indicate the proper remedies.

There are five species of intestinal worms, sufficiently common to merit a description.

(1.) The round worm, termed by naturalists, _ascaris lumbricoides_, varies from six inches to a foot in length, and resembles the common earth-worm. It infests the small intestines, and seldom migrates into the stomach or large bowel. Instances are recorded, however, in which it has crept upward in the esophagus, larynx, nostrils, and eustachian tube; but their presence in these parts is of comparatively rare occurrence, and is generally caused by some local irritation which compels their migration. The fact that they have been found in the peritoneal sac, gave rise to the opinion that they perforate the intestine; but careful observations have proved that they can only escape through openings made by ulcers.

This species has been found in adults, but is more common in children from three to twelve years of age. The number of this species existing in a human body is variable. Sometimes only two or three are found. At other times a hundred, and even twice that number, are voided in a few days.

(2.) The _ascaris vermicularis_, thread, pin, or seat-worm, is round, very slender, and about half an inch in length. The habitation of this species is the r.e.c.t.u.m, and they are often found matted together in the excrement. They are very active, even after ejection, and have been known to cause great local irritation by entering the v.a.g.i.n.a and urethra. Their presence is an occasional cause of masturbation. It is impossible to estimate the number of these parasites that may exist in the human r.e.c.t.u.m. Great numbers, sometimes, are voided at a single evacuation.

(3.) The _tricocephalus dispar_ is a third variety of the round worm, and is said to infest the bodies of almost every species of mammalia. As its name indicates, the upper portion of its body is slender, hair-like, and terminates at the lower extremity in a thick, spiral portion. It is from one to two inches in length, and is found attached by its head to the mucous membrane of the caec.u.m, and, in rare instances, in the colon and small intestine. They are rarely numerous.

_Taeceniae_ or _tape-worms,_ are hermaphrodites, of a flat, ribbon-like form, and are composed of numerous segments, each of which is provided with a complete set of generative organs, and contains ova for the production of thousands of individuals. Some authors have supposed that each segment, or joint, is a distinct individual, but the existence of one head for the whole precludes this theory. There are two species of _taeniae_ developed in the human intestine; the _taenia solium_ and the _taenia lata_.

(4.) The _taenia solium_ is the species commonly found in America and all the countries of Europe, except France, Russia, and Switzerland. In France, both species are found, but the taenia lata seems to be indigenous to Russia and Switzerland.

The _taenia solium_ varies in length from four or five to thirty, thirty-five, or even forty feet. The head is hemispherical and armed with a double row of twenty or thirty hooklets. The genital organs are alternate and placed upon the outer edges of each segment. It inhabits the small intestine, and is usually solitary.

(5.) The _taenia lata_, or broad tape-worm, is distinguished by the greater breadth of its segments, and the location of the genital organs, which are found in the centre of each segment. Its small elongated head is unarmed, and has a longitudinal fissure on each side. It usually attains a greater length than the _taenia solium_.

SYMPTOMS. The symptoms which the long worms occasion, are frequently somewhat obscure. Thirst, irregular appet.i.te, colicky pains, excessive flow of saliva, enlargement of the abdomen, itching of the nose, pallor of the face, offensive breath, disturbed sleep, and grinding of the teeth, all are common symptoms. Occasionally, convulsions and other nervous affections are produced by the presence of the _ascaris lumbricoides,_ but generally they produce less const.i.tutional disturbance than the other varieties. The pa.s.sage of this species of worms from the bowels, or their ejection from the stomach, is the only positive evidence of their presence. The _ascaris vermicularis_, thread, pin, or seat-worm, gives rise to most of the symptoms produced by the long worms, but in addition produces intense itching at the a.n.u.s, and, not unfrequently, an eruption upon that part. The itching is particularly distressing at night. When the little sufferer is well covered, the warmth occasioned by the bed-clothes causes these little parasites to crawl out upon the a.n.u.s, and produces such paroxysms of itching and pain as to cause the child to kick the covering oft and lie naked. The persistent manifestations of a disposition to lie naked, should excite the parents' suspicions of seat-worms, and lead them to investigate all the symptoms. By examining the child's stools the worms may he found adhering to the feces, and they may also be seen on the a.n.u.s. Thousands of children suffer untold agony from these little seat-worms, which are left unmolested to torment them, because the parents are unfamiliar with the meaning of the symptoms manifested, and therefore pay no heed to them. We have been thus particular in describing the symptoms indicating the presence of these pestiferous parasites, in order that they may be readily detected.

_The Symptoms_ produced by the tape-worm are dizziness, ringing in the ears, increased secretion of saliva, indigestion, ravenous appet.i.te, sharp abdominal pains, and emaciation. The only positive sign of the presence of these parasites, is the pa.s.sage of pieces of them in the feces. The nervous and other symptoms produced by the ordinary long worms are also caused by the tape-worm.

CAUSES. Careful observations have proved that there are certain causes which favor the generation or development of intestinal worms. Among others, we may mention fatty or farinaceous articles of food, gormandizing, constant exposure to a moist atmosphere, and sedentary habits.

It is now generally conceded that the development of tape-worms is due to the swallowing of an egg or germ-cell, which is contained in many kinds of animal food, and which the process of cooking has failed to destroy. People living near low marshes, lakes, or the seacoast, are liable to _taeniae_.

TREATMENT. The expulsion of the _ascaris lumbricoides_ may be very easily and pleasantly effected. Santonin is an effectual remedy for this variety of worms. For a child three years old, take santonin, six grains; podophyllin, one grain; white sugar, thirty grains; mix, triturate, and divide into twelve powders, and give one every three or four hours, until they act upon the bowels; or take santonin, ten grains; white sugar, twenty grains; mix, triturate, and divide into ten powders, and give one every night at bed-time, and after giving two or three in this way, administer a mild cathartic. As santonin is almost entirely tasteless, if not combined with other medicines which are unpalatable, no difficulty will be experienced in administering it to children. By reference to the article on anthelmintics in this volume, other valuable vermifuges may be selected, and directions found for their employment.

In the removal of thread or pin-worms, anthelmintic medicines taken into the stomach are of little or no value. An injection of a strong solution of salt, is a very efficient remedy. A teaspoonful of turpentine in half a pint of milk makes a good injection. Strong coffee has been recommended as an injection. The a.n.u.s should be well anointed with vaseline, lard, oil, or fresh b.u.t.ter, after each movement of the bowels.

Whatever injection or remedy is used, it should be followed by the application of some ointment to the a.n.u.s, otherwise they will continue to deposit their eggs about that orifice and multiply there.

Various remedies have been used to destroy tape-worms. Among others we may mention the old and time-honored remedy, which consists of two or three ounces of the oil of turpentine, taken in castor oil or some aromatic tincture.

A decoction made by boiling two or three ounces of freshly powdered pomegranate bark in a pint of water was used by the ancients, and is now highly recommended as a remedy.

Some American physicians have used an emulsion of pumpkin seeds with marked success.

Twenty or thirty grains of the extract of male fern, followed by a cathartic is highly recommended for the destruction and removal of taeniae.

TRICHINA SPIRALIS.

In 1835, Owen discovered a peculiar parasite, which sometimes infests the human body, and is termed the _trichina spiralis_. The presence of these parasites has given rise to morbid conditions of the system, followed by the most serious results. They are developed in the alimentary ca.n.a.l, and then perforate its tissues and enter the muscles.

Twelve trichinae have been found in a section of human muscle only one-twelfth of an inch square and one-fifth of an inch in thickness.

The early symptoms of trichinae are very uncertain, being the same as those of some other disease. The patient complains of severe pain in the abdomen and is troubled with diarrhea. When the trichinae pa.s.s into the muscles, they occasion great suffering. There are sharp pains in the muscles, the perspiration is profuse, and the patient becomes exhausted.

CAUSE. Nearly every case of trichinae, which has been brought to the notice of the profession, has been attributed to the eating of raw or improperly cooked pork. The parasites can only be detected with a microscope.

TREATMENT. The impossibility of removing the trichinae after they have pa.s.sed into the muscles is apparent; and, as yet, no special remedy has been recommended to remove them from the alimentary ca.n.a.l. The only safety lies in prevention. Hence raw or imperfectly cooked pork should never be eaten.