The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopath...Page 493 of 653by any other reliable sign, although the presence of a very hurrisuperficial respiration, a frequent and painful cough, fanof the alae nasi during respiration, circumscribed redness of oneboth cheeks ought to excite suspicion, and awaken our attention tthe disease. The course of the disease is not retarded by this foof typhus, but the critical days are very commonly missed. The586 Epidemic and Endemic Infectious Diseases.danger is very great. Very often pneumo-typhus is followed by thedevelopment of florid phthisis, probably owing to the circumstancthat the typhoid process in the lungs causes existing tubercles tsuppurate.The number of complications that may break out during thecourse of typhus is very great ; for this reason we only mentionfollowing which are most common and most important: Hemorrhages from the bowels and nose ; the latter occur more frequentlat the beginning than during the subsequent course of the diseasethey are of very little importance, provided the loss of blood isexcessive; as a rule, the patients feel relieved after the bleediIntestinal hemorrhage, on the contrary, occurs during the laterperiod of the disease, and becomes very dangerous either on accouof its copiousness, or on account of its exceedingly debilitatinginfluence. If the blood is not discharged from the anus, the hemorhage may superinduce a sudden and complete collapse. Petechiseand extensive ecchymoses are ominous symptoms which indicate abad composition of the blood. The frequently-occurring and excessive cerebral exaltation is of importance in so far as it inducesnecessity of constantly watching the patient ; it manifests itselmore frequently in the first and second week than in the subsequecourse of the disease, and, since it may break out at any time,typhus-patients should never be left alone for one instant. A sudcollapse, with paralysis of the heart, is not generally met withafter the second week, very often while the fever seems to pursuean apparently mild course; one attack of this kind seldom terminates fatally ; but a repetition of the attack, which generally tplace in the evening or during the night, is very apt to end in dParotitis has already been spoken of before ; it is neither a goonor an absolutely bad symptom. Ulcers in the larynx may lead toulceration of the cartilages, and by this means endanger life ; iinconsiderable, they may likewise endanger life by superinducingcedema glottidis. The worst changes are those occasioned by ulcerin the intestines, namely consecutive peritonitis, and perforatiothe intestines with peritoneal inflammation. Both these changesare exceedingly dangerous to life ; peritonitis is more apt to seprevious to the intestinal ulceration, the latter may take placeany time alter the second week, even after convalescence is alreavery far advanced. If no adhesion had previously taken placebetween the intestines and the peritoneum, the inflammation of thmembrane soon becomes diftuse and ends fatally in a few hoars.Typhus, 687Meteorism is a common symptom in typhus ; when excessive, andwhen it threatens paralysis, the meteorism becomes a very dangerohttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt