Volume 1

A manual of surgery / by Charles Stonham.

  • Charles Stonham
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of surgery / by Charles Stonham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/372
    The Degenerations, Atrophy, and Hypertrophy The Degenerations A tissue is said to be degenerated when, owing to some change in its structure and composition, its physiological importance is deteriorated, and hence its usefulness in the economy is proportion- ately diminished. A degeneration properly so-called is a true metamorphosis, the normal tissue undergoing some chemical change, whereby it is converted into something else, e.g. muscle into fat. A tissue may, however, be infiltrated or replaced by some new chemical substance, and itself merely undergo atrophy or some genuine degenerative change; this process is known as an infiltration. Metamorphosis and infiltration are usually associated conditions, and in either case the ultimate physiological degradation of the affected tissue is much the same; but in infiltration the repair may be complete, provided that the infiltrating material becomes absorbed. The degenerations may not only affect tissues normal to the organism, but also new growths and inflammatory effusion. Causes.—Some of the degenerations occur in various tissues as perfectly normal processes in their life-history; thus fatty degenera- tion occurs in the epithelium cells of the breast during lactation. The actual change therefore cannot be regarded as any new process, and can only be considered as pathological when it occurs at a time, or in a tissue when, on physiological grounds, we should not expect it. Physiological degeneration is then a normal process in the life-history of the cell. The ultimate fate of all living cells is death ; the individual tissues, like the body of which they form a part, have a definite life-history; they reach a VOL. I u
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3