XLVIII. Chronic Vomiting.
SYMPTOMS. Chronic vomiting generally comes on slowly, and without fever. At first the child vomits curdled milk of a strong-sour smell, showing by its yellow or green tinge the presence of bile. After a time, the matters vomited look like clear water mixed with food. The belly is full, hard, and tender; sour of foetid eructations occur; the bowels are obstinately constipated, and the spaces between the bones of the skull sink considerably. Occasionally Diarrhoea sets in, then leaves the bowels as obstinate as ever; the motions consisting of light- coloured, hard, round lumps, covered with tongue mucus. The tongue is now coated with dirty-yellow fur, and dry; the breath smells sour, the lips are red and lack moisture; the mouth is clammy, and the lips appear to project.
In the next stage, Vomiting occurs much more frequently, and is occasioned by the slightest movement; wasting progresses rapidly, the skin becomes harsh, dry, and loose.
The temperature sinks very low, the child lies with the eyes half-closed in a half-stupor; Thrush appears, and the worn-out sufferer sinks to rest.
CAUSES. Too early weaning; the too early use of starchy food; and other conditions stated under “Chronic Diarrhoea.”
TREATMENT. Arsenicum. Dryness of the Mouth, with disagreeable odour; Thrush; ulcerated, coated, or cracked tongue; Vomiting after food of watery fluid; great tenderness and Colic; prostration and wasting; watery Diarrhoea.
Kreasotum. Obstinate Vomiting, with general ill-health.
Calcarea Carb. Chronic Vomiting, with swelling and hardness of the bowels, and constipated or offensive motions.
Veratrum Alb. Excessive Vomiting; nightly Diarrhoea; faintness; coldness of the face, tongue, and extremities.
Pulsatilla. Tongue covered with whitish mucus; Vomiting of mucus or bile; mucous Diarrhoea.
Nux Vomica. This is an excellent remedy in some forms of Chronic Vomiting.
ACCESSORY TREATMENT. The child should be sponged twice a day with tepid water, and afterwards rubbed with olive-oil. The greatest cleanliness should be observed, and all vomited matters or soiled clothes removed immediately. ( See also preceding Section.) A change of diet, as recommended in the former Section, is generally the first point of be attended to.
XLIX. Acute Infantile Diarrhoea.
The frequency of Diarrhoea in early childhood, especially during teething, its hurtful effected on the constitution if unchecked, and its large contribution to infantile mortality, especially in summer and autumn, render the subject one of great importance.
VARIETIES. Diarrhoea has been described under numerous headings simple, catarrhal, non-inflammatory, choleraic, inflammatory, and dysenteric. Simple Diarrhoea, when sudden, profuse, and frequent, becomes choleraic. When mucus from the large intestine accompanied the bowel-discharge, it becomes inflammatory; and if straining be superadded, it is termed dysenteric.
CAUSES. Improper food, especially farinaceous, which is often unwisely given almost as soon as the child is able to swallow. Sour milk is a frequent cause, so is an inferior quality of mother’s milk, as in women in whom the monthly period has returned, or whose milk is otherwise deprived, of its nourishment. Sugar is also hurtful, particularly when given too freely. The late Dr. Lade writes: “I find the milk of the cow, without the addition of sugar, far preferable to the two together.” Giving castor-oil, or butter-and-sugar; also contaminated water, the emanations from drains or decaying refuse, are causes. Further, atmospheric conditions, especially in summer and autumn, tend to develop or increase Diarrhoea.
SYMPTOMS. These vary extremely, even in recent and acute attacks, from a slight, painless increase in the quantity, frequency, and altered form of the evacuations, to violent, painful and frequent purging; watery evacuations. perhaps several times every hour, being ejected with spasmodic force. In the more severe stage they are sometimes streaked with blood, and mixed with mucus. There is also generally sickness, thirst, and an interruption in the nourishing processes. The eyes are sunken, the features pinched and darkish; the pulse rapid, feeble, and nearly imperceptible; and the legs and hands cold and shrunken.
TREATMENT. Slight attacks may be left to themselves; the relaxation may be beneficial, and cease of itself in a day or two. As soon, however, as it begins to act injuriously, corrective measures should be begun.
Iris. Bilious evacuations, with sickness.
Chamomilla. Diarrhoea during teething, or from cold, with fretfulness of restlessness; colicky pains; greenish, watery, frothy, and offensive evacuations; yellowness of the whites-of- the-eyes, and sallow skin.
Ipecacuanha. Simple diarrhoea, or blood-streaked, with sickness, the latter symptoms being more marked than the Diarrhoea.
Rheum. Sour swelling, copious motions.
Mercurius Dulcis. Stools green, whitish, clay-coloured, watery, or mixed with mucus; straining, nausea, and thirst.
Mercurius Cor. Evacuations containing blood, and passed with excessive straining.
Veratrum Album. Frequent copious, watery discharges, occurring in gushes, and accompanied by excessive Vomiting and prostration; cold sweat on the forehead, and coldness of the abdomen.
Arsenicum. Neglected or advanced cases, in which there is aggravation at night, and unquenchable thirst; when other measures seem useless, and the pale, sunken face gives evidence that the disease is making serious inroads.
Podophyllin. Profuse, sudden, foetid, exhausting discharges,. worse in the morning and forenoon; drowsiness; rolling and perspiration of the head; moaning and restlessness.
ACCESSORY MEANS. In the first place, an attempt should be made to correct Diarrhoea by the removal of its cause. (See “Acute Vomiting.”) Cold milk and lime-water will often suffice to arrest an attack. When sickness is superadded to the Diarrhoea, and is troublesome, all preparations of milk may have to be suspended for a few hours, and water, or barley-water, substituted; and this, again, followed by beef-tea, or other animal broths.
In grave cases, with tendency to failure of the pulse and sudden extreme prostration, small dose of brandy are necessary. Ten to twenty drops with milk, or milk-and-lime-water, may be given every thirty to sixty minutes. The feet and abdomen should be kept warm. Cleanliness and fresh air aid recovery.
L. Chronic Infantile Diarrhoea.
Chronic Infantile Diarrhoea is generally much milder than the acute, but none the less grave on that account. It is often overlooked till the loss of flesh and strength are so far advanced as to force a conviction that some secret disease has been eating away the system. Fever is absent from the first; the motions may be three of four daily, about the colour and firmness of putty, consisting partly of undigested food, and accompanied with pain and straining. The motions often smell sour and offensive, while the child looks dull and pale, but otherwise well. This form may continue for weeks, or even months; the additional symptoms being loss of flesh, colour, and activity. At length the stools become watery, slimy, clay-coloured, or grass- green, and have an increasingly offensive odour. At this stage, variations are almost constant, often varying with atmospheric changes. The emaciation advances; the food, eagerly taken, seems to pass immediately in an undigested state; the child lies listless and helpless, or cries plaintively, and draws up his legs from the accumulation of gas in the abdomen.
The skin is now dry and harsh, the features old and pinched, the bones projecting and the child appears a mere skeleton, loosely covered with wrinkled skin. The appetite becomes whimsical, or is altogether absent; the stools become excessively frequent fifteen or twenty in the twenty-four hours; Thrush, and soreness of the buttocks follow, and death may shortly take place.
Should the stools, however, become more solid, and covered with bile; should the patient also put on a more active, fretful, and tearful temperament, hopes of recovery may be entertained. Diminished foetor of the stools, Constipation, and increase of flesh and strength, are additional grounds for hoping for a favourable end.
CAUSES. Chronic Diarrhoea is generally traceable to three sets of causes, viz. unhealthy conditions, atmospheric influences, and acute disease.
The younger the child, the more easily is it affected by neglect of cleanliness, want of proper food, fresh air and sunlight. The bad habit of giving newly-born infants castor-oil and boluses of sugar-and-butter by old-fashioned nurses, is also a frequent cause. Diarrhoea, often follows Measles, Small-pox, Scarlatina, Inflammation of the lungs, Enteric Fever, Croup, Bronchitis, and Pleurisy.
If the disease date from a few days of the child’s birth, or if its commencement coincide with weaning, or the use of unsuitable food, it is probably a simple bowel catarrh.
If the motions become thicker and more uniform, a favourable result may be anticipated. Amongst the favourable signs may be included continuance of the progress of teething, the appearance of tears, and the occurrence of any eruption (unconnected, of course, with any of the eruptive fevers.).
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."