The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 207 of 653in the pit of the stomach, the venous hypersemia of the thoracicviscera, the engorgement of the veins of the neck and head. Fromthe deficiency of respiratory action and of the functional activiof the heart results a change in the composition of the blood whifluid finally assumes an intensely venous character. Usually thepulse is uncommonly small and feeble, frequently irregular or intmittent.What torments the patients most, is the dyspnoea. If the catarrhis moderate, the dyspnoea is bearable, but it increases by everycumstance that interferes with the breathing, even by moderatelyfilling the stomach, flatulence, but most permanently and mostthreateningly by an acute bronchial catarrh. It seems almostimpossible that the patients should be able to bear this torturelonger than a few days, and yet but few die of an attack of thiskind. The most common cause of death is dropsy resulting fromthe above-described anomalies of the circulation. It most generaldevelops itself gradually, very seldom to a high degree, becauseascites and oedema of the extremities are most commonly associatewith oedema of the lungs.The whole duration of the disease may be thirty, forty and moreyears. Emphysematous individuals, if pursuing a regular modeEmphysema Pulmonum. 289of life, may live to a high age in spite of all apparent danger.stantly occurring variations in their state of health are not occby an increase or decrease of the emphysema, but by an increase odecrease of the accompanying chronic catarrh. On this account summer and a dry and cold winter-air are most favorable to the patiewhereas the transition-periods from one season to another cause tfrequently or almost regularly a violent distress ; they commonlyhalf a day in advance every approaching atmospheric change.K we expect to effect a complete restoration of the patient, theprognosis is very bad ; as far as longevity is concerned, it maysaid to be very favorable. If emphysema has developed itself sofar as to enable us to diagnose it, a retrograde metamorphosis cascarcely ever be thought of; all we can expect is to diminish theextent of the disease. The chances of a long life are mostly detemined by the condition of the heart ; as long as the heart preserits normal state, we have nothing to fear. The renal functionslikewise deserve our attention, since their condition generally fenables us to prognosticate the termination in dropsy.If we mean to indicate a treatment of emphysema, we shall firsthave to inquire how far this disease can at all be treated. Theelasticity of the air-cells is gone, they have become distended tsuch an extent that they cannot possibly recover their normal sizin many instances the walls of adjoining cells have disappeared,and cavities have formed in their places. Is it, under such circustances, possible to restore the elasticity of the air-cells ? Frour stand-point this question, which a fanatical homoeopath fromstand-point of his dogmatic faith, not from that of practical obsvation, may rashly answer in the affirmative, has to meet with adecidedly negative answer. Even if we admit that slight degreesof emphysema can be compelled to retrograde, by what method ofhttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt