The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 171 of 653of confusion and languor, after which they play again as if nothihad happened. Only in the case of feeble or very small childrenthe paroxysms are succeeded by real attacks of eclampsia, or elseby a state of sopor or even complete catalepsy. In the abovetioned case of the little infant only four weeks old, the catalepcondition was so perfect and lasting that the patient lay for twominutes without pulse or breathing. Under such circumstances theintermissions are not free from morbid symptoms, whereas vigorouschildren seem perfectly sound between the paroxysms.These paroxysms sometimes set in quite frequently and at othertimes at more protracted intervals. Generally their frequencyincreases up to a certain point where the affection remains statiary for some time, after which it gradually decreases in violenceIn the space of twenty-four hours the children may have upwardsof thirty paroxysms of cough ; they occur more frequently in the196 Diseases of the Lungs.night, and at this time likewise last longer and are more intenseA paroxysm lasts seldom longer than three minutes ; if the parentassert that the paroxysms last longer, they are deceived by theanxiety which the mother particularly experiences, to whom aminute may possibly seem a quarter of an hour. The paroxysm isexcited by talking, eating, screaming, or by violent exercise, liwise by a violent fit of passion; the cough may likewise occurwithout any apparent cause, for instance, during sleep.The constitutional state of the little patients is variously aflfby the cough, even if there are no complications. Strong childrenbear this cough for months, without losing flesh, or without theigeneral well-being being interfered with. It may, however, beaccepted as a rule that, if whooping-cough lasts longer than fourweeks, children begin to lose their strength and flesh, and thatloss goes on increasingly in proportion as the cough lasts longerSickly and very small children are speedily and threateninglyaffected by the cough, even if none of the foregoing complicationare present. The children grow pale and languid, they lose theirappetite, but are not often attacked with diarrhoea.The course of the disease is generally for several months ; butwhen we come to speak of the treatment, we shall show that thisperiod is considerably abbreviated in homoeopathic hands.Of particular importance are the complications and sequelwhooping-cough, which alone constitute the dangerous features ofthis disease.The most frequent of these complications are inflammatory affections of the lungs. The catarrh of the respiratory passages, whicwas inconsiderable at first, invades the more delicate ramificatiof the air-passages more and more until a more or less intensebronchitis sets in, which easily assumes the capillary form andbecomes readily associated with pneumonia. This pneumoniaalmost always assumes the lobular form and can scarcely ever bedetermined by auscultation and percussion. The presence of sucha pneumonia is suspected if the bronchitis steadily increases inintensity and the intervals between the paroxysms are no longerhttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt