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

XXX
.
THE CHARLOTTE MEDICAL JOURNAL.
coholic beverages in liberal quantities. The most striking feature concerning the
The physical and mental overstrain con- circulation is the acceleration of the pulse,
nected with the nursing of a sick relative or which is out of all proportion to the
friend through a long illness should be height of the fever, and is particularlyavoided
by those who are thought to have marked in children in whom it is apt to
any predisposition to diabetes. persist long after the fever and other sympin
the case of married couples, if one toms have subsided. It is probably due to
should suffer from diabetes, it is probable some disturbance of the nervous niechan-
tliat the liability to diabetes in the other is ism of the heart by the toxins of the disvery
slightly increased, whatever may be ease.
the explanation. In diphtheria the changes produced in
In cases in which a temporary or slight the heart consist mainly of granular and
glycosuria has been detected, in addition to fatty degeneration of the muscle fil)ers and
the precautions already mentioned, the of the muscular coats of the blood vessels.
starchy articles of food should also be re- But these changes do not satisfactorilv exstricted,
because it is most important to pre- plain the attacks of cardiac syncope which
vent, or postpone, the development of true at times occur in diphtheria. Degenerative
severe diabetes in such cases: and it is im- changes in the pneumogastric nerve probaportant
to remember that, if the develop- bly account for the tendencv to cardiac
ment of true diabetes can be postponed syncope, which is all the more apt to take
until the individual is past middle life, the place because of the degeneration in the
disease will probably be of a less severe heart muscle. As to treatment, prolonged
form
md absolute rest in bed is essential when
When a considerable amount of grape there are disturbances of the rhvthm, rapid
sugar has been present m the urine during heart action or shortening and weakening
pregnancy, and especially if there have of the first sound. The Bnul dc Galop\s 2.
been thirst and diuresis, it is most desirable grave danger signal. Small, easilv digesthat
pregnancy should not occur in the tible meals with the use of strychnin hypofuture,
dermically are recommended.
Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Children.—
Williams ( British Medical Journal ) says
'^«"« Vulgaris and its Treatment by
that phthisis is one of the most common Vaccincs.-Meming, m the Edinburgh
diseases of childhood, and, among I^Iedical
those
Journal, describes the acne bacilwho
die of it at the ages when it causes the '"^' ^^ seen 111 smears of comedones and
highest mortalitv, the majority have con-
Pustules, as a small Gram staining bacillus
tracted and suffered from the disease in
varying in length from under 1 in. to.Mn:
childhood. This view o'"'"is
supported by death
+ and about ]2 in. wide. Theyounger
and morbidity statistics.
^o'^'^s stain evenly and darkly, but com-
In the immense majority of cases monly the
tuberolder
forms show one or more
culosis is not contracted bv inhalation, but
deeply stained dots in their interior. These
bv the ingestion of bacilli or bacilliferous ^°^^ ^"^y ^^ situated at the poles or they
products by way of the intestinal mucosa ^y ^^ present along the whole length, re-
The tendency of the disease in these cases
sembling a chain of small cocci. The
is to cure. tenacity with which these bacilli retain
Important earlv svmptoms are