On the inhalation of cold medicated vapors in phthisis pulmonalis, and the use of showering syringes in laryngeal and catarrhal diseases / by Guilford D. Sanborn.

  • Sanborn, Guilford D.
Date:
1855
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the inhalation of cold medicated vapors in phthisis pulmonalis, and the use of showering syringes in laryngeal and catarrhal diseases / by Guilford D. Sanborn. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    cannot conceive of this inhaling treatment having any other than a palliative effect. It will be remembered that no judgment expressed by these authors can apply to the remedies employed in my practice, since they have had, as a matter of course, no opportunity to learn their merits or demerits. Dr. C. J. B. Williams, in his Diseases of the Respiratory Organs, p. 396, says, The vapor of iodine has been much extolled as a means of promoting the re- moval of tubercles and the cicatrization of cavities ; but there is not yet sufficient evidence in its favor to warrant us in recommending it. And Dr. Clymer, in 1844, adds, Our impression is not favorable to it [iodine]. Dr. Swett, in his excellent work on Diseases of the Chest, published in 1852, passes over the subject of.inhalation of iodine in silence. The fact that an agent once so strongly recommended, is now almost wholly unused, renders fur- ther testimony on this point unnecessary. THEORY OF TUBERCULAR PHTHISIS. The general opinion of the medical profession has long been that phthisis is from the first a constitutional disease, and that the deposit of tubercle is the result of a previous morbid condition of the blood. There is no doubt that the blood is changed materially in some of its elements ; as in phthisis the amount of albumen, and generally of fibrin, is found to be increased, while the red globules are greatly diminished. But this change, I claim, is merely secondary. It is the result of the filling-up of the air-cells of the lungs, or their closure in some way, so that the oxygen of the air cannot enter the blood in due quantity. The consequences are, that the vitality of the whole system is impaired, while, at the same time, the carbon of the blood is not properly thrown off. Phthisis, then, is primarily a local disease. But the blood becoming secondarily affected, and charged with superfluous car- bon, this escapes in a semi-fluid state from the vessels, into and around the air-cells, and, there solidifying, forms tubercle, which afterward undergoes the well-known changes. But what must occur after the deposit of tubercles has gone on to a great extent, or, ulceration has commenced ? It is well understood that vital power acts to preserve the living solids against the chemical and destructive agency of oxygen. But when extensive tubercular deposit, or the commencement of ulceration has occurred, the vital power is greatly reduced, and oxygen not being duly resisted, seizes on the blood and tissues. A rapid breaking down takes place, the breathing becomes quick, the blood florid, and the patient wastes away. This is believed to be the actual course of the facts, as wit- nessed in cases of phthisis. It follows that, so surely as we can introduce a sufficiency of combustible material in a volatile form into the stomach, for which oxygen shall have a greater affinity than for the fatty and other tissues of the body itself, so surely we can stay the destructive progress of this disease. And this, I shall hope to show, can be done. In harmony with the views now presented, the three main features of my treatment are—first, that the remedies employed are applied directly to the seat of the disease; secondly, that no drugs are prescribed or allowed to be taken into the stomach; thirdly, that in the latter stages of phthisis, a free supply of carbon is constantly introduced into the system. The leading principle in the treatment of this disease should be, Support, not Reduc- tion.