Vol. 60, 1909 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

XLiV
THE CHARLOTTE MEDICAL JOURNAL
that he cannot leave it without assistance, ences. After a review of the symptoms
There is great depression in these cases, which occur as the different organs are
The constant nausea, with occasional vom- most affected, he considers the electrical
itiuo- and tenesmus causes great prostra- therapy. The author states that we must
'
ji^^j,']'
admit that the means hitherto at our dis-
Uuring the winter of of 1901-1902 an epi- posal have been of little use in the treatdemic
started in Michigan City, Indiana, ment of this disease. Nor is the method he
At that time the writer was physician of the advocates applicable to advanced cases,
Indiana State Prison. Hundreds of cases where the treatment can only be palliative,
developed; the inmates of the prison were His treatment rests on the use of the highinfected
as well as some of the officers of frequency current. Its beneficial effect dethe
institution. The general suffering was pends on its great tension, its great intensgreat
indeed. In these cases all of the ity, its great penetration, its periodicity,
symptoms were those of a case of poison- and its great inductive power. He argues
ing. The skin is hot and dry, the tongue that the body cells must be greatly affected
is heavily coated, the face soon wears an by such a current. It has a double action,
anxious expression, the abdomen becomes Firstly, directly on the cells; secondly, on
distended; there are constant discharges of the vaso-constrictor and vaso-dilator nerves,
mucus, blood and pus, some cases would The writer compares these electrical waves
go to stool as high as two hundred times in to certain forms of sound and light waves
twenty- four hours. In the worst cases the which affect us, but are not apparent to our
patient would sit or lie upon the bed most senses.
of the day not caring apparently whether The author mentions the physiological
he lived or not. The first discharges, as a experiments showing greater chemical acrule,
in these cases were like the white of tivity of the blood under the influence of
an egg; later on they would be tinged with the current. The amount of COj is more
blood. The general symptoms were alarm- than doubled, and animals under the infiuing.
At times a person would be tempted ence lose weight rapidly. The urine shows
to call the case cholera. In some cases a better oxidation of its contents, together
there would be fever and in others there with an increase of the latter,
would be none. To give some idea of the Clinically, the author says, one cannot
cases I will cite one: deny the great general improvement pro-
John S., age 32, white was taken sick duced by the current—as evidenced by imwith
a discharge of mucus from the bowels, provement in the appetite and digestion and
He had tenesmus, griping pains, went to by the improvement in rheumatic condisiool
one hundred and twenty times the tions. The writer states that it has now
first twenty-four hours. He was given the long been recognized how easily articular
ordinary treatment without any relief what- nodules, arthralgias, rheumatoid arthritis
ever. After the first forty-eight hours his and gouty deposits can be fa\orably influbowels
were washed out wi h a solution of enced by this current properly applied,
hot water and Glyco-Thymoline two ounces The writer mentions several cases cured
to each pint of water. He was given a few by the treatment. A case of chronic eczema I
doses of Dover's powder and a half a tablespoonful
of Glyco-Thymoline in a little
with asthma, treated otherwise without suc-
cess for years, was promptly cured. A like
water every two hours. In forty-eight hours result has been obtained in chronic rhinitis
from the beginning of this treatment he was and catarrh of the Eustachian tube, hibothe
up and around. The constant vomiting he says that the current has a special effect on
had disappeared after the third dose of the vaso-motor nerves. The fact is incon-
Glyco-Thymoline. testable that it combats vaso-constriction,
Electrical Therapy in Arteriosclerosis,
— Libothe (Journal de Neurologic) says by
and so diminishes the arterial tension,
cept where renal sclerosis is marked.
ex-
He
the term arteriosclerosis he understands a is sure that even in advanced cases the
fibrous transformation of the arteries, with lessening of the contraction
the other vessels at times affected. It may vasorum has a good effect.
of the vasa
be local or general. The thickening of the
vascular coats may be patchy or diffuse. The Lo«ver Segment of the Uterus.
In the large arteries Xh.^ three coats are af- Cyrille Jeannin distinguishes the inferior
fected, but especially the middle coat. In segment of the uterus as the isthmus, or
the visceral arterioles it is especially the lower third of the fundus. It is of great
intima which undergoes change. The importance pathologically and normall>' in
causes are microbic, tcxic and mechanical,
Libothe believesthat continued hypertension
pregnancy. Its walls are much thinner
than those of other portions of the uterus,
determines the arteriosclerosis, such hyper- In front it is thinner than behind. Its lower
tension being due mostly to toxic influ- limit is the internal os. Its thinness pre-