The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 361 of 653its acme; until then the muscles retain their sensibility, reflexaction continues and the sensitiveness to the electric current ispreserved more or less.The affection may remain confined for years to the startingwithout making headway, but this is a rare circumstance. It morefrequently happens that the muscular affection gradually spreadsProgressive Muscular Paralysis. 425from one muscle to the other, successive portions of the body become involved in the paralysis, and, after having suiiered for yethe patient finally perishes if the muscles of deglutition and reation become paralyzed.This disease can be distinguished from ordinary nervous paralysis by the circumstance that in progressive muscular atrophy thesusceptibility to the electric current remains intact for a longWith scarcely an exception, the prognosis is unfavorable, especiaif the disease rapidly progresses from the start.As for the treatment of this disease, we are as yet unacquaintedwith reliable specific remedies. It is characteristic of this disnever to invade the muscular fibres of the heart, so that fattydegeneration of the heart and muscular atrophy seem to be verydistinct diseases. In the therapeutic range we can only recommendPlumbum and Cuprum^ both of which have paralysis with emaciation ; but it is not certain whether the emaciation is not altogethe consequence of the palsy. At all events Plumbum is moreappropriate than Cuprum. Arsenicum may likewise give rise toexpectations of success. Bepide these three remedies we still recmend Sulphur J Causticum and LacJiesis. Gymnastic exercises, witha careful avoidance, however, of all active exertions and a striclimitation of the exercise to passive motions, and likewise a resto electricity by induction, or faradisation, are said to have ocsionally yielded favorable results, and to have effected an arresthe palsy and even an increase of muscular volume. [This diseaseis also described by English pathologists as wasting palsy. DoctoWilliam Roberts, of Manchester, published the first systematictreatise on this subject, in 1858. In France, the disease has beedescribed by the name of *'*' atrophic musculaire progressive,'^^^paralysie gradudle du rmuvement par atrophic musculaire.'* Therare several other forms of progressive paralysis, one of which isdescribed as progressive locomotor ataxia or the ataxic locomotriprogressive of Duehenne. We transcribe the following descriptionof the disease from Aitken.'s Science and Practice of Medicine:" Pains like rheumatism first attract attention, rather than failpower. Paralysis of the sixth or third pair of nerve^ giving riseto temporary diplopia, with unequal contraction of the pupils, arearly symptoms ; and another distressing harbinger of the diseaseis incontinence of urine, associated with spermatorrhcea during tnight, with a great proclivity to sexual con2;ress, which is no mimpotent desire but results in effective sexual intercourse. In t426 Diseases of the Bones, Muscles, and Articulations.http://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt