The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 293 of 653special allusion to it desirable.Hydrothorax is either originated by all the various circumstancesthat cause an engorgement of the veins in the lungs, or else it isymptom of general dropsy and depends upon an altered composition of the blood. In no case is hydrothorax a primary affeciion,but is occasioned by heart-disease, defects of the lungs, more paticularly ar high degree of emphysema, in which case the dropsicaeffusion is sometimes an isolated condition without any cooedema in other parts ; or hydrothorax is caused by affections ofthe spleen, kidneys, liver, etc., in which case it most generallystitutes the final development of general dropsy.If hydrothorax arises from a sanguineous stasis m the lungs, itssymptoms, independently of the results of a physical exploration,are scarcely ever of a nature that will enable the phycician to iIPneumothorax, 843the presence of this process with reliable certainty ; for this sguineous stasis is of itself accompanied by great oppression ofbreathing which is only more or less increased by the dropsicaleffusion. In a case of general dropsy, a gradually occurring dyspnoea indeed justifies the conclusion that water has accumulatedthe pleural cavities. The following objective phenomena renderthe diagnosis perfectly certain: Complete dulness of the percussisound, from below upwards, as far as a line which, when the patieis in an erect posture, is exactly horizontal ; when in a recumbeposture, is only felt posteriorly, or much lower down anteriorly;corresponding with this dulness the respiratory murmur is eitherentirely absent or very feeble ; if the lungs are very much compressed, there is bronchial respiration posteriorly ; the vibratifrom the voice are missing ; the thorax is expanded, but the intecostal spaces are not effaced.If hydrothorax is a symptom of general dropsy, the treatment isthe same as that of the latter disease ; if it occurs as a more i«pathic disease, the treatment is chiefly determined by the natureof the existing cause. As a rule, it is beyond our power to effeccure or even an improvement, although we succeed in a few casesto arrest, and even to diminish, the extent of the disorder. We mtry to accomplish this result by means of Arsenicurn^ LycojpodiumAururriy Carbo vegetabilis [also by Digitalis and Apocj/num cannabinum. H.] For a description of the operation of Paracentesis thoacts for the removal of pus or water from the cavity of the pleurthe reader is referred to Surgical Works or to special treatisesdiseases of the Thoracic Organs.3. Pneumothorax.This disorder is likewise in all cases a consequence of otherhttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt