The Science of Therapeutics - Classical Homeopathy Online

Full text of "The Science of Therapeutics: According to the Principles of Homeopathy"Page 94 of 653anything out of the way until a tolerably large tumor is perceivein the breast. It is at first round, smooth, movable, grows withmore or less rapidity, and loses its mobility in proportion as it102 Diseases of the Female Sexual Organs.creases iu size, and its surface becomes more uneven. At first itmost commonly deep-seated and gradually grows towards the surface, is sometimes entirely painless or becomes painful only at ttime of the menses and when receiving some mechanical injury.If the cancer reaches the skin, it coalesces with it, after whichpains are almost constantly felt. At the same time the disorganizing process extends to the deeper tissues, and at an early stageaxillary and other neighboring glands become involved. The patients now conmience to feel constantly or at intervals, and partularly at night, lancinating, boring pains in the affected part wvery soon become unbearable. The assimilative functions begin tosuffer; the patients have a pale yellowish-gray appearance, thespirits are very much depressed. A characteristic sign is the graual effacement and finally the complete retraction of the nipplewhich discharges either spontaneously or on pressure a turbid,serous fluid. At the place where the cancerous growth first becaminterwoven with the skin, the latter by slow degrees loses itshealthy color, and finally breaks. An irregularly-shaped ulcerforms showing a disposition to penetrate to the subjacent tissuesthe edges of the ulcer are infiltrated, have a sickly color and auneven base, and secrete at first a thin, serous and afterwards aichorus, purulent, sanguinolent and most commonly very fetid fluiIf the disease runs a slow course, the incipient ulcer often heala time, but again breaks open at a later period ; if the diseasea rapid course, spongy and readily-bleeding excrescences are aptshoot up from the bottom of the sore. If larger vessels becomenecrosed, hemorrhages take place which are sometimes very profuseat other times trifling. The further course of the disease which,having arrived at this stage, always terminates fatally, dependsupon the extension of the cancer, upon the invasion, by the carcinomatous process, of internal organs, upon the importance of thehemorrhage and upon the loss of fluids in consequence of theichorous discharge. Medullary fungus generally terminates fatallymore speedily th^in schirrus ; the latter may even continue for ybefore the skin ^breaks, whereas . medullary fungus terminates inichorous dissolution in a comparatively short period of time.The duration of the whole disease varies considerably, rangingfrom two to twelve and even more years. The younger the patient,the sooner she will succorab to the disease, and the more suddeuthe cancerous growth, the sooner it will destroy life. The prognois very bud with scarcely an exception.Carcinoma Mammae. 108In many respects the diagnosis is liable to difBculties, becausevarions kinds of benign tumors may occur in the breast. An incipient cancer cannot always be recognized as such, though it maygrow rapidly and be painful ; these two conditions never occur inthe case of benign tumors. At a later period the diagnosis is dehttp://www.archive.org/stream/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog/sciencetherapeu00kafkgoog_djvu.txt