The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 206 of 653evidently inherit a disposition to the disease. Thin individualscontract the disease more easily thani fleshy and robust persons.The symptoms of pulmonary emphysema very naturally resultfrom the anatomical changes it occasions. Some of the airexcessively distended; hence, owing to their inability to contracsufliciently or at all, they no longer participate in the respiraprocess, and consequently give rise to phenomena of dyspncea.These are increased by the circumstance that the distended cellscompress other neighboring cells and withdraw them from theprocess of respiration. The impeded respiration occasions passivehypersemia of the lungs which again causes chronic catarrh, adeficiency of the heart's action, sanguineous engorgement of theabdominal viscera, the vessels of the head, and finally, in consequence of an abnormal composition of the blood, exudation of serufrom the vessels and consequent dropsy.These changes do not develop themselves all at once, nor do theyall occur in the same sick individual ; hence emphysema presentsvarious groups of symptoms which we deem it unnecessary todelineate in this place. We prefer giving a more detailed description of the more prominent characteristic features of the diseasePulmonary emphysema runs an exceedingly chronic course, andthe changes it occasions occur almost imperceptibly under the guiof a light chronic catarrh, but after some time progress with dourapidity since the existing emphysema necessarily originates additional emphysematous disorganizations. Patients may feel tolerablwell for years, when suddenly the dyspnoea begins to increasesteadily and imprints the true picture of emphysema upon the'patient.A physical exploration does not reveal at all times distinct phenomena. If on percussion, the pulmonary murmurs are heardbeyond the liver and heart, we may safely conclude that emphysema238 Diseases of the Lungs.is present ; tbis circnmstanee, however, occurs only in high gradof the disease. Auscultation usually reveals only the symptoms ofchronic catarrh which is in reality never absent, and moreover avery feeble, scarcely audible vesicular respiration which, owingthe extreme respiratory efforts of the patient, is indeed quite cacteristic. If the emphysema has reached a high degree of development, the thorax assumes the shape of a tub. The ribs owingto the excessive action of the inspiratory muscles, retain the powhich they assume during the act of inspiration, and thus it isthat the upper portion of the thorax is dilated whereas the lowerportion retains its normal width. Owing to the excessive inspiratefforts the cervical muscles become very prominent, and the drawiup of the thorax gives to the patients their characteristic shortnecks. The influence upon the heart results more especially inabnormal changes of the right heart. Owing to the obstruction ofthe circulation in the lungs, the right heart is engorged with bland finally permanently distended. It is only in the higher gradeof emphysema that the heart is pushed out of its place. The effecupon the left heart is not constant. The change in the right hearexplains various other phenomena of the circulation, the throbbinhttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt