MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 7 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

r.|i/. ._ •♦■ r.X,^"^ABOUT DROPSY. .: £, subject, of dropsy » one which fre- ■■■-*««» crop up in connection with the ' 5 ♦«-nt of disease. One hears frequent SSon on the part of the public which SEes the common belief that dropsy %i disease in itself. This, however, is an iirelv erroneous idea, for we must begin ; SSSniideration of this subject by bearing IfSd that, dropsy is a symptom and sign llSly trouble, and docs'not in itself i State a special kind of illness. In this MwoSv liken dropsy to diarrhoea tto Profuse sweating, both of these conLi representing symptoms of some IS state which "requires to be distinffihed a"d remedied by way of abolwhing ff£: symptom, The term '.dropsy, as iff readers know, is applied to that 6 condition of body in which fluid is End to collect in one region or another. sin.es dropsy is limited in its d.stribu. Sand confined to a xpectal region of the 'whilst al other tim*. it may be very i Si over the whole frame, and in the Eler case may be regarded as representing prions stale of mutters. ; ( Vt'sK-i. The causes to which the dropsical condi♦inn may-be attributed vary in their na,L In the first place dropsy may arise ",m distension and over fulness of the 3u which return the blood to the heart. If this return blood does not freely flow in the veins, and pressure of one kind or Mother is exerted to prevent its return, the oozing of the blood thud from the veins will necessarily lie favoured. Again there are certain conditions of the blood itself which favour the escape of it* thud from the vessels, and amongst, these conditions what may be called in undue watery condition of'the hjood is to be noted, such a. condition arising in many diseases in which alow state of the system is found. For example; in anaemia, or bloodlessness. as well M in certain kidney troubles where the nualitv of the blood is altered, dropsy is apt to* appear, These two causes constitute the explanation of dropsy, and it is not, therefore, surprising to find them appearing in diseases in which there is either some obstruction to the free return of blood in the veins, or where the quality of the blood j< alined from its normal and natural state. sometimes, of course, both causes may operate, Medical men are accustomed to regard drops? "no" a threefold head, according to the particnlat organ of the body which, bring affected, gives rise to this symptom. In the first instance the heart may be at fault. Heart weakness, either of simple or severe character, is frequently associated with it dropsical condition, < wing to some obstruction interfering with the free return of the blood. Heart dropsy begins in the feet arid hands as the most dependent parts of the body, and tends to pass upwards, whilst in severe and long standing cases it may become more generally diffused. The second organ involved in dropsy is the liver. Here the dropsy is at first confined to the cavity of the belly, and the feet and hands are not at first effected. hater on, however, when the obstruction comes to affect seriously the return of blood from the liver, dropsy arising from this source may become of a more or less general character. Finally Ave arrive at the third kind of dropsy Mine to kidney trouble. Here the first signs of the trouble are seen in. the face. Hie lower eyelids, for example, tend to become puffy and swollen, whilst in the earlier stages of kidney dropsy the back of the hands may be affected and also the feet. ■:. TRJvATMKST. It will be .understood from what has been said at the commencement of this article that it is hopeless to treat dropsy as of itself constituting a disease. The only common sense plan of dealing with this condition to ascertain the particular source whence it arises, and by remedying the principal disease to dispose of the dropsy -as a sign and symptom thereof. Naturally the. treatment of this condition is one which must'be left in the doctor's hands. .What we can do is, on the first appearance of symptoms of dropsy, to realise, that some bodily function or other has become affected, and demands medical aid. The treatment is either that in very serious cases of removing the fluid by lapping the body, in itself a simple operation, whilst the doctor also employs medicines acting upon the skin, the Sidneys and bowels, „as by encouraging the functions of these organs the quantity of dropsical fluid can be diminished. Rest is also an important part of the treatment, the patient reposing in, the lying down position, and the part, in which the dropsy appears should, if possible, be elevated.