The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English Part 149

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 1.

False Membrane in Croup. From a specimen in Dr. Gross' cabinet.]

Every family should be made acquainted with the symptoms and treatment of this disease. Especially is this true in the case of those living remote from a physician. From the lack of this knowledge on the part of parents, many a little one has perished before medical a.s.sistance could be obtained. In some of its forms its progress is very rapid, and, unless relief is obtained in a few moments, or hours at the most, death ensues.

There are several quite distinct pathological conditions of the vocal and respiratory organs which have, in popular parlance, been designated as croup. But two of these are worthy of consideration here. These are _true_ or _membranous_ croup, in which a false, semi-organized membrane is formed, and _spasmodic croup_. Both may result fatally, but the former is much the more dangerous.

MEMBRANOUS CROUP is supposed to originate in the trachea, from which, as it progresses, it often extends upward to the larynx, and downward to the bronchial tubes. It is the result of severe inflammation of the mucous membrane, and is characterized by the formation of a false membrane, which covers or lines the inner surface of the true structure (see Fig. 1). It is formed of a coagulable, semi-fluid exudation from the mucous membrane. On being brought to the surface and into contact with the inspired air, this substance grows thick and tough, or leathery, as we find it. It is the obstruction in the respiratory ca.n.a.l which this foreign matter causes that gives rise to the labored breathing, and the ringing, bra.s.sy cough, together with the crowing or whistling inspiration characteristic of croup. Before recovery can take place this membrane must be detached and expelled. The cough is nature's effort to accomplish this work.

The formation of this advent.i.tious membrane in the larynx is attended with more danger than when it is confined to the trachea. In most cases in which the disease has had a very speedily fatal termination, an examination has shown that the larynx was its chief seat.

SYMPTOMS. True croup is generally preceded by what is known as "a cold."

The child coughs, sneezes, and is hoa.r.s.e. It is the hoa.r.s.eness and the peculiar _character_ of the cough which indicate the tendency to croup.

This has been already described. In addition, the child is restless, fretful and feverish. The disease makes rapid strides. Finally the cough ceases to be loud and barking, and is very much suppressed; the voice is almost gone; the face is very pale; the head thrown back; the nostrils dilated and in perpetual motion, the pulse at the wrist very feeble, great exhaustion, more or less delirium, and, finally, death comes to the relief of the little sufferer. Convulsions sometimes occur in the last stages, and soon terminate fatally.

TREATMENT. No time should be lost in commencing treatment. Hot fomentations should be applied to the throat and upper portions of the chest. The free inhalation of steam should be employed early. The following treatment has been found very effectual in membranous croup, and is recommended by the highest authorities: Yellow subsulphate of mercury, or turpeth mineral, three to five grains, depending upon the age of the child, for one dose. If it does not cause vomiting in fifteen minutes, give a second dose. This, however, is seldom necessary. If the turpeth mineral cannot be obtained, sulphate of copper or sulphate of zinc may be given instead, as directed under the head of Emetics, in Part III, Chapter II. If there be a quick pulse, hot skin, a hurried breathing, and an occasional ringing cough, the child should be kept in bed, comfortably covered, but not overloaded with clothes, and the tincture or fluid extract of veratrum viride administered as follows: Take fluid extract of veratrum, five drops; sweet spirits of nitre, one teaspoonful; pure water, twenty teaspoonfuls; mix, sweeten with white sugar, and give a teaspoonful of the mixture every half-hour to two hours, according to the age of the child and the severity of the case.

If there be great prostration, with cold extremities, the carbonate of ammonia should be administered, in doses of from one to two grains, every second hour, in gum arabic mucilage. Quinine is a valuable remedy, and is tolerated in large doses. The patient's body should be frequently sponged with warm water in which a sufficient quant.i.ty of saleratus or ordinary baking-soda has been dissolved to render it quite strongly alkaline. If the bowels be constipated they should be moved by an injection of starch-water. Beef tea and other concentrated, supporting diet should be administrated. In those cases in which there is a tendency to croup, the Golden Medical Discovery, together with iron and the bitter tonics, should be given to build up the system and counteract such tendency. The treatment which we have advised has been put to the severest tests in the most severe forms of the disease, and has resulted most successfully. If, however, in any case it does not give prompt relief, our advice is to lose no time in summoning a physician who is known to be skilled in the treatment of diseases of children.

SPASMODIC CROUP. In this affection no false membrane is formed. It seems to have a nervous origin. Most frequently the child is awakened in the night by a sense of suffocation. He may cry out that he is choking. The countenance is livid, the breathing is hurried and each respiration is attended by a crowing sound. The child has fits of coughing or crying, and makes vehement struggles to recover his breath. This complaint, unlike croup, is unattended by fever, it being of a purely spasmodic character with no inflammation.

Apply hot fomentations to the throat, and give frequent small doses of tincture or fluid extract or syrup of lobelia, to produce slight nausea; or, better still, an acetic syrup of blood-root, made by adding one teaspoonful of the crushed or powdered root to one gill of vinegar and four teaspoonfuls of white sugar. Heat this mixture to the boiling point, strain, and administer from one-fourth to one teaspoonful every half-hour or hour. Slight nausea should be kept up, but it is unnecessary to produce vomiting. This is usually all the treatment that is required.

WHOOPING-COUGH. (PERTUSSIS.)

This is primarily a disease of the nervous system, involving the respiratory organs through the medium of the pneumogastric nerve. It is considered a disease of childhood, though we have met with it in _old age_. It is eminently a contagious affection, and occurs generally but once during life.

SYMPTOMS. It is at first manifested by a catarrhal cough, gradually developed. After a while it becomes paroxysmal, generally worse at night. The cough is severe, and long-continued; when a prolonged inspiration occurs, it is accompanied by a peculiar shrill sound, the characteristic _whoop_, which, when once heard, is never forgotten. The cough is attended by a copious secretion of glairy mucus, which is brought up at the latter part of the paroxysm. During, or at the end of the paroxysm, vomiting frequently occurs, and sometimes nosebleed. The cough is so severe at times, that the patient turns purple, gasps for breath, and presents all the symptoms of suffocation. Bronchitis sometimes is a troublesome complication. Immediately preceding a paroxysm of coughing a sense of impending danger appears to seize the child, and it runs to its mother, or grasps some support, as if for protection. Until the paroxysmal character and peculiar _whoop_ is developed, the disease is diagnosed with difficulty.

TREATMENT. We have found the Golden Medical Discovery to modify the disease and cut it short. The philosophy of its action can be readily understood by its effect on the pneumogastric nerve, as explained under consumption and bronchitis. Jaborandi, described under the head of diaph.o.r.etics, often speedily arrests this disease. The employment of an infusion of red clover blossoms, in small doses, is of undoubted value in modifying the irritation of the air-pa.s.sages, and may be used to good advantage with, or in alternation with the Golden Medical Discovery.

Exposure to cold and wet should be avoided.

NOSEBLEED.

Hemorrhage from the nose is commonly the result either of a catarrhal or an inflammatory condition of the nasal mucous membrane. Individuals are susceptible to it who are oppressed by fever or const.i.tutional diseases that reduce the strength. There is also a condition of the nervous system in which there is congestion of the nerve centres which favors manifestations of this somewhat troublesome difficulty.

CAUSES. In some instances an examination of the nose will reveal the presence of a small point of congested vessels, usually about the size of a split pea. Upon this portion of the mucous membrane small scabs form, and at any time when they may be dislodged, by accident or otherwise, a hemorrhage will ensue.

The const.i.tutional conditions that produce the tendency to hemorrhage are most important. In individuals of a debilitated condition, it results from the lack of a proper amount of fibrin in the blood. Where the blood becomes thin, or loses a large share of its red corpuscles, the individual is pale, and hemorrhages are frequent from the mucous surfaces of any portion of the body, the nasal mucous surface being especially liable to such attacks.

TREATMENT. This is local and const.i.tutional. Where there is const.i.tutional imperfection, it should be remedied. Usually in young women there is some difficulty with the ovarian or uterine circulation, and the attack of hemorrhage from the nose is reflex in its character, appearing just before or at the time of the menstrual flow, accompanied with troublesome headache. The correction of this form is by the use of the "Favorite Prescription" and "Golden Medical Discovery," using of each a teaspoonful three times a day, taking the "Prescription" before meals and the "Discovery" after meals. If the bowels are constipated, the "Pellets" should be employed, in order to overcome any congestion of the liver which favors the manifestation of nosebleed. In children there is usually a debilitated state of the system, which is best remedied by the use of a half teaspoonful dose of the "Discovery," taken three times a day, after meals, with sweetened water. This treatment should be continued for a month or six weeks. By this means the blood-making organs rapidly improve in their activity and functions, the blood becomes rich in corpuscles and fibrin, thus strengthening the walls of the blood-vessels and tending to prevent a hemorrhage following undue excitement or injury. With men the use of laxatives is of great importance. One or more of the "Pellets," taken on retiring at night, are most beneficial. Where the blood is not up to the standard of purity, even though the individual be fleshy, the "Discovery" should be used, a teaspoonful or two, three times a day, after meals, in conjunction with plenty of outdoor exercise and the best of food. Where the hemorrhages occur in those having too much blood, the diet must be corrected by the use of vegetables and fruit, diminishing the amount of meat and pastries to a minimum. The amount of fibrin should also be increased by the use of the "Golden Medical Discovery."

LOCAL TREATMENT. Of those applied directly to the membrane, Dr. Sage's Catarrh Remedy, used according to the directions which wrap the bottle, is excellent in bringing about a normal condition of the mucous surfaces. Following this, a small amount of Subnitrate of Bis.m.u.th may be snuffed into each nostril. Usually the amount required to cover a three-cent silver piece is sufficient. The powder dries the surface and favors the speedy formation of a coagulum, or clotted covering, which effectually checks any further hemorrhage. The application of a firm compress to the upper lip will also diminish the flow of blood through the arteries that run to the anterior portion of the mucous surface.

Good effects often follow the use of a small piece of ice applied to the nape of the neck. This, with a reclining posture, will cause contraction of the blood-vessels. If the Subnitrate of Bis.m.u.th is not to be readily obtained, the use of any other powder such as starch, finely divided and baked so as to be free from a tendency to form starch paste when applied to a mucous surface, is equally good. Well-browned flour is also serviceable. The use of the contents of a puff-ball, which contains many millions of fine spores, has been employed from time immemorial. The use of such drying powders tends to favor the speedy formation of clots.

Where the small points of engorged vessels are to be readily reached, use a solution of the Tincture of Chloride of Iron, one part in four of water, applying with a small pledget of soft cotton wrapped about, or fastened to, the end of a pencil or stick. In this way the solution may be applied in very small amount to the spot where the hemorrhage appears, and will give immunity from future attacks. Any of the styptics (see pages 320-325) can be called into service. Those who have the advantage of the city drug store may use a solution of basic ferric sulphate (Monsell's solution), or the spray of a three or four percent.

solution of cocaine. The latter is one of the most pleasant and effective remedies in these emergencies. Before its administration the nasal cavity should be cleansed by snuffing up the nostrils salt and warm water. When washed, immediately apply the spray. If the const.i.tutional condition which led to the hemorrhage continues, the general remedies--of which the "Golden Medical Discovery" is the most efficacious--should be administered. This agent increases the number of red blood corpuscles, and enriches the blood in fibrin, so that the relief obtained is absolutely permanent.

INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. (GASTRITIS.)

Gastritis is generally defined as an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach. However, the cellular, muscular, and serous tissues are all liable to be more or less affected. Gastritis may be either _acute_ or _chronic_. Either form is a distinct modification of disease, manifesting peculiar symptoms and requiring special remedies.

_Acute Gastritis_ generally occurs as a result or complication of other diseases. It is an occasional feature In scarlatina, serious cases of bilious fever, and in cutaneous affections of every description. The mucous membrane of the stomach is placed in intimate communication with all the vital organs, by means of the nerves of the solar-plexus, hence the sympathy between the stomach and skin, and the morbid condition of the stomach occasioned by disease of other organs.

THE EARLY SYMPTOMS of acute gastritis are a burning sensation in the stomach, accompanied by nausea and frequent vomiting. The respiratory movements are rapid and shallow, the pulse is hard and short, and as the disease progresses, becomes small, frequent, and thready. The tongue usually retains its natural appearance, but it is sometimes dry and tinged with a vivid scarlet at the tip and edges. Intense thirst and hiccough are occasional symptoms. The facial expression is haggard, and indicative of the most intense suffering. The stomach will not retain the mildest liquids. In the early stages of the disease, the ejections consist of chyme and mucus, streaked with blood. As it progresses, the vomiting becomes a sort of regurgitation, the contents of the stomach being ejected without any apparent nausea or effort. The ejections then consist of a dark-colored granular matter, resembling what is known in yellow fever as _black-vomit_.

CAUSES. Formerly it was supposed that this was a very common disorder, and the term _acute gastritis_ was applied to every development of symptomatic fever. But late clinical and pathological investigations clearly indicate that acute gastritis is of rare occurrence. It may be caused by the excessive and habitual use of alcoholic drinks, especially if taken without food, by copious draughts of cold water, or by intense emotions. But its _general_ cause is the ingestion of irritating and corrosive poisons.

Where the former causes are known not to exist, the presence of poison should always be suspected. As the cause sometimes becomes a matter of legal investigation, it is very important that the pract.i.tioner should be able to determine the _real_ origin. If caused by poison, the disease is very suddenly developed, the patient complaining of a very intense burning sensation in the throat and the lining membrane of the mouth, which will generally show the action of the poison. A diarrhea is also more apt to accompany the disease. If inorganic or vegetable poisons are known or suspected irritants, the appropriate antidotes should be promptly administered. For a list of the princ.i.p.al poisons and their antidotes, with practical suggestions for treatment, the reader is referred to the article in this volume, on Accidents and Emergencies.

TREATMENT. The inflammation should be allayed, and a tea made of peach-tree leaves is very serviceable. Small pieces of ice, swallowed, will generally allay the thirst and vomiting, and a mucilage of slippery-elm is very soothing to the inflamed mucous membrane. This is an important disease, and its management should be entrusted to a skillful physician.

CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH.

_Chronic Gastritis_ is sometimes mistaken for dyspepsia or gastralgia.

It is very necessary to discriminate between these diseases, as the appropriate remedies of the latter will often only aggravate and augment the former.

A chronic inflammation of the stomach is a very common affection and has many phases, but the term chronic gastritis is applied only to that species of inflammation occasioned and accompanied by irritation. It is seldom a result of the _acute_ form.

THE SYMPTOMS of chronic gastritis are various and sometimes vague. Among those which are prominent we may mention an irregular appet.i.te. At times it is voracious and the patient will consume every available article of diet, while at others he will experience nausea and disgust at the sight of food. Even when very hungry, one mouthful of food will sometimes produce satiety and cause vomiting. The appearance of the tongue is variable, sometimes natural, at others thickly coated. The desire for drink is capricious, varying from intense thirst to indifference.

Another prominent symptom is a sense of heaviness and heat in the epigastric region, after partaking of food. Often a small quant.i.ty, as a teaspoonful of milk, will produce a sensation of weight, as a heavy ball lying at the pit of the stomach. This symptom is frequently accompanied by a frontal headache, and a small and wiry pulse. Dull or shooting pains are experienced in the stomach and between the shoulders, and the patient becomes weary, melancholy, and emaciated.

CAUSES. The general cause of chronic gastritis is excess in eating or drinking, and the use of alcoholic liquors. We have known it to be produced by drinking _hard_ cider. Great mental excitement predisposes the system to this affection. Occasionally it is a result of febrile diseases, as scarlatina, typhoid fever, etc. In some families there is a const.i.tutional tendency to its development.

TREATMENT. All medicines which tend to irritate the stomach, should be studiously avoided. The bowels should be kept regular, and the skin clean by frequent bathing. Stimulants of all kinds must be avoided. As a principle article of diet, we would recommend milk and farinaceous articles. If these precautions be observed, nature will sometimes effect a cure. Lime water and the subnitrate of bis.m.u.th, in twenty-grain doses three or four times a day, are useful to allay irritation. Other suggestions applicable to its domestic management, maybe found under the hygienic and medicinal treatment of dyspepsia, to which we refer the reader.

NEURALGIA OF THE STOMACH. (GASTRALGIA.)

Gastralgia is a neuralgic affection of the stomach, unaccompanied by inflammation. It is sometimes mistaken for chronic gastritis, although there is a marked difference in the symptoms.

A PROMINENT SYMPTOM OF GASTRALGIA is a _paroxysmal_ pain radiating from the epigastric region, to all parts of the thoracic cavity. The pain is sometimes lessened by walking, lying on left side, or by gentle pressure, and usually abates after eating, but is renewed in a few hours. The patient occasionally experiences a sense of heaviness at the pit of the stomach, nausea, and frequent salty eructations. The tongue is white, the appet.i.te variable, and there is no desire for liquids. The sleep is usually refreshing, and when not suffering from acute pain, the patient is apparently well.

The _distinguishing_ symptom of this disease is a feeling of intense despondency, and, sometimes, a morbid fear of death.

An effectual method of distinguishing between gastralgia and chronic gastritis is by the administration of an alcoholic stimulant. If gastritis be the affection the pain will be augmented; whereas, if it be gastralgia, it will be relieved.

CAUSE. The cause of gastralgia is a local or sympathetic irritation of the nerves distributed to the stomach.

TREATMENT. The pain of gastralgia is sometimes allayed by using half a teaspoonful of subcarbonate of bis.m.u.th, and repeating the dose, if the attack is not relieved. The following is a very effectual remedy: take twenty grains of quinine, combined with one drachm of prussiate of iron, and divide it into ten powders, and administer a powder every three hours until the pain is completely arrested. Temporary relief may be given by administering one-quarter of a grain of morphine, or ten to twenty drops of chloroform in a teaspoonful of glycerine, slightly diluted, taken in one dose. One of the most effective remedies for preventing a return of the attacks is that invigorating tonic and alterative, the "Golden Medical Discovery." The patient should be careful in diet, and not eat too much food, which should not only be of a nutritious kind, but easy of digestion. Cleanliness, suitable clothing, bodily warmth, exercise, and rest must not be neglected.

Sometimes it is lingering and requires long persistence in hygienic and medicinal treatment. Everything tending to promote the tone of the digestive organs, and improve the functions of the system generally may be considered advantageous in this neuralgic affection.