EPITOME OF TREATMENT.
Sub acute Gout. Colchicum, Sulphur
For the gastric symptoms. Ant. C., Pulsatilla, Rob., Mercurius, Nux V., Sulphur
LEADING INDICATIONS.
Colchicum. This drug exerts a powerful influence in diminishing the sub acute inflammation in old standing cases.
Pulsatilla. Wandering pains, especially when those dyspeptic symptoms exist for which this remedy is suited.
Antimonium Crud. Gastric derangements, white coated tongue, nausea; pains increase after eating; gouty nodes.
Nux Vomica. Sub acute attacks brought on or aggravated by indulgence in wine, heavy suppers, or late dinners. Constipation, Piles, Spasms, etc., are additional indications.
TREATMENT OF GOUTY DEPOSITS. The following simple method Sir William Broadbent has found effectual Wrap the hands in linen or flannel dripping with water, warm or cold, and enclose them in a water proof bag all night. This very speedily removes inflammatory stiffness, and little by little the concretions of urate of soda soften, frequently disappearing entirely. Sir W. Broadbent has, in other cases, applied alkaline solutions, and water acidulated with Nitric Acid to one hand, while water alone has been applied to the other, and has come to the conclusion that water is the agent in the process of removal.
58. Osteo Arthritis (Arthritis Deformans).
DEFINITION. A chronic disease of the joints, characterized by changes in the synovial membranes and ligaments, and often by atrophic or hypertrophic changes in the bones. This disease was long called Rheumatic Gout, but is distinct from both Rheumatism and Gout. It affects women more than men, and is generally a disease of middle life. It appears often at least, if not always, to be due to poisoning from some chronic suppuration. The effect of gonorrhoea in causing joint troubles us well known, and diseases like pyorrhoea alveolaris ( a disease of the gums and teeth, with constant suppuration), or chronic pelvic inflammation, leucorrhoeas, etc., are responsible for some manifestations of osteo arthritis. Exposure to damp and cold. worry and care, overwork and under feeding are all predisposing cause.
SYMPTOMS. The disease may come on acutely with fever and implication of several joints. Even cardiac complications are observed, and in children enlargement of lymph glands and sleep (Still’s disease). This form is difficult to distinguish from Rheumatic fever. The immediate treatment should be the same as for that disease, and the later condition of the joints makes the diagnosis clear.
In the more usual chronic form, the joints are generally attacked symmetrically. Pain on movement and slight selling appear. The joints of the hands are frequently first attacked and later other joints. Progress is very variable with intermissions, but gradually the shape of the joint is altered, the ligaments thicken and the muscles retract; bony growths form round the joint and lock it, and in time the joints become fixed nd useless. If the vertebral joints are attacked the patient becomes an absolute. The finger joints acquire a spindle form, which is very characteristic.
TREATMENT. The disease is obstinate and very difficult to cure. If actual tissue changes have taken place arrest of symptoms is all that can be looked for. Vigorous local measures, massage, hot air baths, should be used in the chronic forms, and other remedial measures mentioned under Rheumatism. A search should be made for any source of pus, and the trouble dealt with. Vaccine treatment is helpful sometimes and good possibilities lie in phylacogen treatment, where the remedies are made from the products of bacterial growth without the actual germs. See Chronic Intestinal Infections.’
The drug treatment of both the acute and chronic forms depends on the symptoms. In the acute form, Aconite, Bryonia, Pulsatilla, etc., will probably find a place; when the disease is chronic, however, although Rhus., Rhodo., Mercurius, etc., are often valuable for relief of local symptoms and especially Caulophyllum in women, the best prescription are those founded on the general and constitutional symptoms rather than on the local ones. Sulphur is particularly valuable often, and Silicea. Drugs chosen on general grounds are best given in infrequent doses of high potencies.
59. Tumours.
DEFINITION. A tumour as generally understood is a localized new formation of tissue which originates without known cause and serves no useful purpose in the economy.
Every swelling is not a tumour, and further, a tumour does not necessarily cause a swelling. For instance, a breast, the seat of a cancerous growth, is often smaller than the opposite healthy gland.
We are ignorant of the true nature of the pathological conditions which result in the growth of tumours and are therefore compelled to describe them merely on the grounds of their microscopic structure and mode of growth. The mode of growth of tumours serves only as a basis of classification in so far as it is the most important feature upon which the division is made into the two classes (1) non malignant, simple or benign, (2) malignant.
A benign or simple tumour, although it may attain enormous proportions, does not invade the structures which surround it, but its growth, it may as a result of compression, bring about absorption of the surrounding tissues. Moreover, a common but not constant feature of a simple tumour is the presence of a capsule which surrounds the tumour and forms a clear line of demarcation between it an the parts around. A simple tumour only endangers life mechanically, as the result of its size and position. They are often multiple. The extirpation of a simple growth requires only the complete removal of the tumour as such, whilst the thorough extirpation of a malignant growth, necessitates an operation the magnitude of which may seem to be out of all proportion to the extent of the disease as apparent to the naked eye.
A malignant tumour, on other hand, progressively invades and destroyed the tissues of the part in which it grows, and eventually, unless removed, causes the death of the individual. Malignancy is evidenced in two ways, (1) locally, by infiltration and the destructive effect of the tumour on the surrounding tissues, and (2) generally, by thee occurrence of secondary deposits or metastasis in other parts of the body. This metastasis is presumed to result from the growth invading the wall of a vessel; portions then get broken off, and are swept away in the stream until caught in a small vessel, possibly of a part remote from the primary tumour, where it lodges and sets up a new growth.
Tumours exhibiting malignant characters, are represented by two great classes (1) the sarcomas or malignant connective tissue tumours and (2) the carcinomas or malignant epithelial tumours. Some degree of confusion still exists in the nomenclature of malignant growths on account of the popular use of the name cancer for all tumours of this nature a relic of the times when sarcoma and carcinoma were imperfectly recognized as distinctive forms of growth. In view of the great diversity presented by the curse of malignant growths, dependent chiefly upon their nature and position, it is impossible to give any general description which is applicable to the different varieties. Beyond the fact that unless successfully removed whilst in a localized condition, they will eventually destroy life, it is hardly possible to mention a single feature which is common to all.
Certain popular fallacies with regard to a malignant tumour cannot be too often or too energetically exposed. These fallacies are (1) That a malignant growth is necessarily painful. A cancer may reach a most advanced stage, without causing even slight pain, or in fact any symptom to indicate that serious disease exists. (2) That it makes rapid progress. Many forms of carcinoma progress very slowly, and even after many years may attain very small proportions. (3) That it is attended with loss of flesh and general deterioration of the health ( cancerous cachexia). This must not be regarded as a special feature of the disease, but rather as an evidence of its advanced stage, and is particularly striking when widely spread metastases are present especially in the viscera. All evidences of malignancy may be conspicuous by their absence. Thus, to give a striking example, a very common hard form of cancer in the female breast, may present itself as an altogether insignificant small hard lump unattended with pain or even discomfort, scarcely varying in size in many months or even several years, and unassociated with any recognizable effect in the nutrition or general health of the patient.
In speaking of thee natural course of a malignant growth, it has been stated that it tends continuously to extend and finally to prove fatal. Such a result is, however, not absolutely constant, and there are n record authentic cases in which a malignant growth has undergone spontaneous involution and apparent cure. Such cases prove that a malignant growth shares, with almost all other diseases processes, a certain, although exceedingly slight, tendency to spontaneous cure.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.
Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."