HEALTH NOTES.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 117, 15 May 1909, Page 2

HEALTH NOTES.

(By Dr Andrew Wilson.) ABOUT LUNG TROUBLES-

PNEUMONIA

"Pneumonia" is the medical term for inflammation of the lungs, a disease which'has always to be viewed with great concern, for the plain reason that even in a mild form it is liable to leave ill-effects behind it, while when it is of severe type ,it invariably gives rise to much, anxiety both to the patieriVs friends and. to his doctor. Let us be clear on the point that no', case of lung-inflamma-tion can be treated properly save by a medical man. As I have said, it is an ailment which keeps the'doctor, with all his knowledge arid training, always on the alert. He has to watch his patient carefully \so as even to anticipate, if possible, any change for the. worse which may occur. For lunginflammation is a many-sided trouble, in the sense that it may take different courses and develop complications when it is least expected to do so.. Good, nursing and home care count for much in "the treatment of pneumonia, but over and above all there must be the watchful eye of the doctor, leading him see how best he can fight the disease and combat whatever complexities may arise. : - The early recognition of lung-in-flammation is important because, as in typhoid fever, the sooner we get the sufferer off to bed the better are his chances of recovery. I believe a large number of cases turn out badly simply because* people are unaware of the presence of the disease, and, thinking they have acquired some simple cough or cold, work on; exposing themselves* to all kinds of weather, and at last succumb.from sheer inability to resist the disease, such inability being due to their loss of strength, incurred by the attempt to "brave things out." To, know the signs of this trouble, or, at leasts to be in a position to suspect the existence of the disease, and to send the patient off to bed and to procure medical care for him, is more than half the battle. Note that the first onset is usually seek in the shape of a "rigor," or shivering fit. The sufferer feels cold and miserable. Children, when firslt attacked, very often have a convulsion. ■'«■• Then vomiting is common at the start. Now comes in the use of that invaluable instrument, the clinical thermometer; ior, if we take the patient's temperature, we shall find it to run up rapidly. This, is, in fact, a fever of a kind, and, so, a rise of the bodily heat is to be expected. The natural temperature of the body is 98.4 degrees; in pneumonia we soon get it mounting up to 102 or 104 degree's, or even higher in severe cases. The lips are bluish and the breathing much quickened in its movements, while a certain difficulty'in breathing is experienced. The pulse is full, hard, and beats far too quickly. Pain in the side is often complained of. The cough is characteristic. It comes on early. At first it is dry and hard, and is of what people call the "hacking" description. The matter coughed up is at first scanty and colourless, but later on, there appears a most distinctive sign of lung-inflammation— namely, the rusty brown colour of the expectoration. This colour is due to the presence of blood, which has escaped or strained through the fine bloodvessels of the inflamed lung. In favourable cases the fever and the other symptoms may abate in from six to eight days, but.the patient has usually a long convalescence and a slow return to health. The danger in pneumonia is always greater when both lungs are affected, and it is a notable fact that people who have used alcohol to excess form very bad subjects indeed in an attack of this trouble. A drunkard with double pneumonia stands in great peril of his life, for alcohol seems to exert a very lowering effect, such as is specially unfavourable in pneumonia, because, I believe, it greatly lessens the power of disease-resistance.

The cause of pneumonia has now been definitely ascertained to be a special microbe or germ, so that when I remarked that the trouble was really a fever I had this fact in view. Knowing that the germ is coughed up from the lungs, we have to keep in_ mind that pneumonia is infectious in its

nature, and we can thus account for the spread of the disease in a, household," and also for its occurrence in epidemic form; for occasionally numbers of cases occur in a given district or area. _ That which renders the body a soil for attack are insanitary conditions at large, and a- low state oi: the general health. Damp surroundings, drainage, overcrowding, cold, and chill, acting on weakly bodies, all predispose or contribute to rendering the body a fit soil in which the germs of the ailment may multiply. We may breathe in the germs when we are well, as undoubtedly we breathe in or swallow many other germs, but our good health enables the body to resist attack, and so we escape. Curiously enough, there is another kind of pneumonia, which appears to follow on certain cases of food-poisoning, and inflammation of the lungs may be' set up by bloodpoisoning occurring in other p^arts of the body.

I have said this disease is one emphatically for the doctor's care. It would be criminal folly for anyone not versed in medicines to attempt to treat pneumonia, beyond doing simple and proper things at the proper time.. Thus, hurrying the pauent off to bed —and even if he turns out not to have developed pneumonia^ but some less serious trouble, he will take .no harm, but gain much, by resting in bed— is the first sensible thing "to be done, and his room must be • kept at an even, but not too hot, temperature. Then he will want poulticing continually with linseed meal poultices, and no poultice must be allowed to get cold, for it then becomes a danger, and undoes.all the good effect of the heat it is intended to maintain by poulticing constantly. The doctor may give aconite at the start to lower the temperature, ana, later on, medicines will be administered to ease the cough and promote free' expectoration. The diet will consist of milk, invalid bovril, soups, and the nurse will be careful to keep the patient quiet, not allowing him to sit up or move suddenly, for fear of consequences accruing to the weakened heart.