Digestive Organs
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Abdominal Massage. (Kneading, Rubbing, etc.)
This is an essential feature in the treatment. It was practiced by Hippocrates hundreds of years ago. Place the patient in the recumbent position upon a table which can be so manipulated that the head may be raised or lowered, the body rolled from side... ABSCESS OF THE LIVER. Hepatic Abscess: Suppurative Hepatitis
This is a circumscribed collection of pus in the liver tissue. If there is only one abscess it is in the larger lobe in seventy per cent of the cases. The amount of fluid contained in such an abscess may be two or three quarts and its color varies from... ACUTE DYSPEPSIA
(Acute Indigestion, Acute Gastritis). "Gaster" is the Greek for stomach; "itis" means inflammation,--thus acute inflammation of the stomach. It may be acute or chronic. When acute it may be called acute gastritis, acute gastric catarrh, acute dyspepsia ... ACUTE GENERAL PERITONITIS. (Inflammation of the Peritoneum)
Causes. Primary; Occurs without any known preceding disease, and is rare. Secondary; Occurs from injuries, extension from inflamed nearby organs, such as appendicitis or infection from bacteria, without any apparent lesion (disease of the bowel). Perf... ACUTE YELLOW ATROPHY. (Malignant Jaundice)
This is fortunately a rare disease. There is rapid progress, and it is fatal in nearly all cases. The liver is very small and flabby. The symptoms are many and are hard to differentiate. You must depend upon your physician. The only thing for him to do... APPENDICITIS
Inflammation of the vermiform appendix is the most important of acute bowel troubles. Sometimes the appendix may contain a mould of feces, which can be squeezed out readily. Sometimes foreign bodies like pins are found there; in about seven per cent of ... APPENDICITIS, Mothers' Remedies
Home Treatment Found Good for. "To allay the pain and stop the formation of pus in appendicitis it is recommended that a flannel cloth be saturated with hot water, wrung out, drop ten to fifteen drops of turpentine on it and apply to the affected parts... Ascites caused by an Ovarian Tumor
The tumor must be removed. I am not in favor of indiscriminate operating, but operations often save lives. I remember one case in which I very strongly urged the lady to have an operation performed. It was a case of ascites, caused, as I was sure, by a ... ASCITES. (Hydroperitoneum. Abdominal Dropsy)
This is an accumulation of serous fluid in the peritoneal cavity. It is but a symptom of disease. Local Causes. Chronic peritonitis, obstruction of the portal (vein) circulation as in cirrhosis of the liver, cancer or other liver disease, from heart ... BILIOUSNESS
This condition presents different symptoms in different cases, but it always includes languor, headache or dizziness, perhaps some yellow color of the skin and conjunctiva, and a general sense of want of tone, depression of spirits and discomfort. Ca... BLEEDING FROM THE STOMACH
(Haematemesis). Causes. Cancer and ulcer of the stomach are main causes of excessive bleeding; poisons also cause it; injuries also. Symptoms. The vomited blood may be fluid or clotted; it is usually of dark color. The longer it remains in the stom... CANCER OF THE GALL BLADDER, AND BILE DUCTS. Causes
It usually occurs between forty and seventy years of age. The cases that originate here show no percentage in either sex; but those that appear here as secondary cancers are three times as frequent in women as in men. Chronic irritation by gall stones ... CANCER OF THE STOMACH
Usually occurs after the age of forty. Symptoms. Indigestion for a few months; lack of blood and loss of weight. Well marked case shows the following symptoms:--Distaste for food, nausea, irregular vomiting, especially in cases where it is located nea... CANKER SORE MOUTH. (Aphthous Stomatitis)
This is a variety of inflammation of the mouth where there are one or more vesicles (cankers) upon the edges of the tongue, the cheek or the lips. Causes. They are most common in children between two and six years of age; but are not rare in adults. ... CATARRHAL JAUNDICE. (Acute catarrhal angiocholitis)
Jaundice caused by obstruction of the terminal portion of the common duct, by swelling of the mucous membrane. Causes. This occurs mostly in young people. It follows inflammation of the stomach or bowels, also from emotion, exposure, chronic heart di... CHOLERA INFANTUM, Symptoms
Usually begins with a diarrhea, which is often so mild as to attract but little attention, but should be a warning. If a weakly baby has a diarrhea which persists, or is foul smelling and especially if there is a marked loss of flesh and dullness of min... CHOLERA MORBUS (Acute Inflammation of Stomach and Upper Bowel)
This is most common in young people in late summer, after indiscretion in eating. Symptoms. Sometimes the patient feels tired, then nausea, etc. The attack though is usually sudden, with nausea, vomiting, and cramp-like pains in the abdomen. The cont... CHRONIC CONGESTION OR NUTMEG LIVER
This is due to an obstruction of the blood circulation in the liver by chronic valvular heart disease with failure of heart action. Lung obstruction in the trouble called Emphysema, Chronic Pneumonia, etc., may cause it. The cut section of a liver shows... CHRONIC DYSPEPSIA (Chronic Indigestion)
A chronic digestive disorder characterized by increased secretion of mucus, changes in the gastric juice, weakening of the stomach muscles and diseased changes in the mucous membrane. Causes. The use of unsuitable and improperly prepared food, too muc... CIRCULATORY DISTURBANCES OF THE LIVER. (Acute Hyperemia)
This occurs normally after meals, and in acute infections, diseases, etc. ... CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER. (Sclerosis of the Liver)
This occurs most often in men from forty to sixty years old. It is not uncommon in children. Cause. It is usually due to drinking of alcohol to excess, especially whisky, brandy, rum or gin. The liver is small and thin; hard, granular, white bands ru... Constipation Corrections of Errors in Diet
This is one of the necessary features in the treatment. All kinds of foods known to disagree should be discarded. The foods should be easily digested. In children the diet should be rich in fats, albuminoids and sugar, but poor in starches. A reasonabl... CONSTIPATION. Causes
1. Mechanical obstruction. 2. Defective motion of the bowels. 3. Deficient bowel secretions. 4. Other causes. Mechanical obstruction. Anything that will hinder the free and easy passage of the feces (bowel contents). Too tight external sphincter... Copious Warm Water Injections
This is good at the beginning of the treatment when the feces become packed. They soften the mass and aid its discharge. The water must go above the rectum into the colon. To do this a colon tube from eighteen to twenty-four inches long, a good syringe ... Defective Worm-like Bowel Movement
Irregular habits of living head the list causing this defective action. Everyone should promptly attend to Nature's call. Some people wait until the desire for stool has all gone, and in that way the "habit" of the bowels is gradually lost. Everyone sh... Deficiency of the Secretions
Many of the causes that hinder worm-like motion are also likely to lessen the normal secretions of the bowel. Some kinds of liver diseases tend to lessen the secretions of the bowel, because the amount of bile emptied into the bowel is lessened. Sometim... DIARRHEA
Causes. (a) Improper or excessive food, including green or over-ripe fruit. (b) Poison substances; such as decomposed milk or meat either fresh or canned: or caused by arsenic, mercury or colchicum. (d) Exposure to cold, wet or draughts. (c) S... DIET IN DIARRHEA
From the Head Nurse of a Large Hospital. May Take-- Soups. Milk soup well boiled, clam juice, beef tea. Meats. Scraped fresh beef or mutton well broiled, sweetbread, beef juice from freshly broiled steak (all sparingly). Eggs. Lightly boiled o... DISEASES OF THE RECTUM AND ANUS
The lower part of the alimentary canal is called the rectum, originally meaning straight. It is not straight in the human animal. It is six to eight inches long. The anus is the lower opening of the rectum. In health it is closed by the external Sphinct... GALL STONES. (Biliary Calculi, Cholelithiasis)
Cases of gall stones are rare under the age of twenty-five years. They are very common after forty-five, and three-fourths of the cases occur in women. Many people never know they have them. Sedentary habits of life, excessive eating and constipation t... GANGRENOUS STOMATITIS
This is a rapidly spreading gangrenous affection of the cheeks and forms a rare occurrence and ending fatally in most cases. The trouble may extend to the jaws and lips. Causes. It is more common in girls and boys and usually appears between the ages... INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. Mothers' Remedies
1. Inflammation of the Bowels, Excellent Remedy for. "First bathe the abdomen with warm salt water, then lay over the navel a piece of lard the size of black walnut. Hold the hand over this until it softens; then rub well into the bowels. This often re... INTERNAL PILES. Symptoms
The two prominent symptoms are bleeding and pain. The bleeding is usually dark. It may be slight and appear as streaks upon the feces or toilet paper; it may be moderate and ooze from the anus for some time after a stool, or it may be so profuse as to c... INTESTINAL COLIC. (Enteralgia)
Causes. Predisposing; poor general condition, worry, over-work, nervous disposition. Exciting causes; exposure, gas in the bowels, mass of feces, undigested or irritating food, cold drinks, green fruit, ice cream when a person is very warm. Symptoms.... INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTION
Causes. This may be caused by strangulation, telescope (intussusception) of the bowels, twists and knots, strictures and tumors, abnormal contents. 1. Strangulation is the most frequent cause; this is caused by adhesions and bands from former periton... Irreducible Rupture
This is when the rupture cannot be returned into the abdominal cavity, and it is without any symptoms of strangulation. They are of long standing and of a large size. This condition is often due to carelessness of a patient in not keeping in a reducible... ITCHING OF THE ANUS. (Itching Piles) (Pruritus ani).Causes
An inherited or an acquired nervous constitution. Disease of the colon, rectum or anus. Improper diet. Skin affections in that region. Operations about the rectum and anus with resulting discharge sometimes. Diseases in the neighboring organs. Disease ... JAUNDICE (Icterus)
A symptom consisting in discoloration by bile pigment of the skin, whites of the eyes, other mucous membranes and secretions. Causes. Obstruction of the gall ducts, from gall stones, inflammation, tumor, strictures, from pressure by tumors, and other ... LOCAL PERITONITIS
This may come from local injury, but it is usually secondary to empyema, tuberculosis, or cancer, abscess, perforation of the stomach or bowel, ulcer, etc. Symptoms. Onset is usually sudden. There is sudden local pain, increased by any movements; ten... MOTHERS' REMEDIES FOR PILES. Sulphur and Glycerin for
"Equal parts of sulphur and pure glycerin. Grease parts." This preparation is very healing, and will often give relief even in severe cases. 2. Piles, Strongly Recommended Remedy for. Extract Belladonna 15 grains Acetate lead ... MOTHERS' REMEDIES for Toothache, Dry Salt and Alum for
1. "Equal parts. Take common salt and alum. Mix and pulverize these together, wet a small piece of cotton and cause the mixture to adhere to it and place in the hollow tooth. At first a sensation of coldness will be produced, which will gradually disap... MOTHERS' REMEDIES. Constipation
1. Constipation, a Good Substitute for Pills and Drugs"Two ounces each of figs, dates, raisins, and prunes (without pits) one-half ounce senna leaves. Grind through meat chopper, and mix thoroughly by kneading. Break off pieces (about a level teaspoonf... MOTHERS' TOOTH POWDERS
1. "The ashes of burnt branches of the common grape vine make a very superior tooth powder. It will clean the blackest of teeth, if continued for a few mornings, to that of pure white." 2. Tooth Powder. "Precipitated chalk four ounces, powdered orris ... NERVOUS DYSPEPSIA
This is acquired from over work, worry, excitement, hurried or irregular meals, or inherited. It shows itself in all sorts of symptoms and they must be met as they come. Diet the same as for general dyspepsia, never eat when you are tired, rest after ea... Neuralgia of the Rectum
This may sometimes result from the pressure of the fecal mass upon the nearby nerves causing pain in the sacrum coccyx (bones). ... NEURALGIA OF THE STOMACH (Cardialgia, Gastralgia, Gastrodynia)
This is a severe pain in paroxysms in the region of the stomach. Causes. The patients are of a nervous type. They may have anemia, exhaustion from sickness and bleedings, the menstruation be at fault. Grief, worry and anxiety. Symptoms. The attac... PERIPROCTITIS. Abscess Around the Anus and Rectum)
This is an inflammation of the tissues around the rectum which usually terminates in the above named abscess. It occurs mostly in middle-aged people. Men are affected more often than women. Causes. Sitting in cold, damp hard seats; horseback riding,... PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Cholera Infantum
1. Washing out of the bowel frequently by injection controls the diarrhea. Use water of a temperature of 107. Elevate the tube about two feet above the bed, use one-half pint at one time. As the half pint flows in disconnect the funnel attached to the ... PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Vomiting
The only way to treat it is to treat the disease that causes it. Here I may mention a very simple remedy; a tea made from wood soot is frequently helpful. It is the creosote in the wood soot that gives it its medical virtue. 2. For nervous vomiting; ... PILES. (Hemorrhoids)
Hemorrhoid is derived from two Greek words, meaning blood and flowing with blood. "Pile" is from a Greek word meaning a ball or globe. Hemorrhoids, or piles, are varicose tumors involving the veins, capillaries of the mucous membranes and tissue directl... Proctitis and Peri-Proctitis
Inflammation of the rectum and surrounding tissue that may or may not terminate in an abscess and fistula, sometimes follows injury to the very sensitive mucous membrane by the hardened feces. ... Prolapse (Falling of the Bowel)
This falling of the rectum may be partial or complete, and may be caused by straining or by the downward pressure exerted by the fecal mass during the emptying movement of the bowel. It may also be the result of a partial paralysis of the bowel caused ... RUPTURE (Hernia)
Hernia means a protrusion of an organ from its natural cavity, through normal or artificial openings in the surrounding structures. But by the term hernia, used alone, we mean the protrusion of a portion of the abdominal contents through the walls, and ... Skin Piles. (Cutaneous)
These are enlarged tags of the skin. They frequently follow the absorption of the clot in the venous piles where the skin is bruised and stretched. There may be one or many and usually have the skin color. These cause less suffering than the venous vari... Sundry Causes
Diabetes, melancholy, insanity, old age, paralysis, lead poisoning and some troubles of local origin, like fissure of the rectum, ulceration, stricture and polypus. Symptoms. Headache, inattention to business, loss of memory, melancholy, sallow c... THE ABSCESS
May break into the pleural cavity, bronchial tubes, lungs and stomach, bowels, peritoneum or through the abdominal wall. Recovery. The result is unfavorable as it generally goes on to a rapid termination. The abscess should be opened and evacuated whe... THE LIVER
The liver is the largest gland in the body, and is situated in the upper and right part of the abdominal cavity. The lower border of the liver corresponds to the lower border of the ribs in front and to the right side. It weighs fifty to sixty ounces in... TREATMENT OF THE ACUTE PERITONITIS
There must be absolute rest, morphine by hypodermic method, one-fourth to one-half grain to relieve the pain. Ice cold and hot fomentations with some herb remedy like hops, smartweed, etc.; or cloths wrung out of hot water with five to ten drops of tur... TUBERCULAR PERITONITIS
This may occur as a primary trouble or secondary to tuberculosis of the bowels, lungs, and Fallopian tube. It is most frequent in males between twenty and forty. Symptoms. These are variable. It may occur like acute peritonitis with sudden onset ... ULCER OF THE STOMACH AND DUODENUM (Upper part of bowel)
Round or perforating ulcer. The stomach ulcer is most common in women of twenty or thirty; servant girls, shoemakers, and tailors are frequently attacked. Ulcer of the duodenum is usually in males and may follow large superficial burns. The ulcer in th... Vomiting
This is simply a symptom; many diseases cause it, as scarlet fever, tuberculosis, meningitis, acute dyspepsia, biliousness, chronic dyspepsia, indigestion, neuralgia of the bowels, appendicitis, ulcer and cancer of the stomach, pregnancy, etc. Many pers...