The doctor at home and nurse's guidebook / edited by George Black.

Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The doctor at home and nurse's guidebook / edited by George Black. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    emptying of the bladder with a catheter affords marked relief, while the washing out of the organ with an antiseptic soothing solution promotes cure. BLADDER, IRRITABILITY OF The bladder affections from which the pregnant female is liable to suffer are those of irritability, in- continence, and retention. The distressing condition of irritability is of frequent occurrence during pregnancy. In the early months it appears to be of sympathetic origin, while later it is the result of the mechanical pressure exerted by the enlarged womb upon the bladder. If allowed to go unrelieved, it may seriously impair the general health by the continual disturbance of rest to which it gives rise. Much relief will be afforded to those who suffer from this affection by the free use of barley-water as a drink, and by taking, at bed-time, a pill com- posed of three grains of the extract of henbane and two grains of extract of gentian. Other means may be employed, but should these fail medical advice had better be sought. Mild laxatives must be administered from time to time, so as to keep the bowels acting freely. BLEEDERS In certain families there exists an hereditary constitutional fault, characterized by a tendency to almost uncontrollable bleeding from very slight wounds, or, in some cases, apparently spontaneously. In nearly all cases the condition is hereditary, and Osier, mentions a case of a family in which there have been cases in each generation for nearly two centuries. Generally the tendency first manifests itself be- fore the second year, and until excessive bleeding has actually occurred from some trivial cause no symptoms are displayed which would lead to a suspicion of the unlucky taint. The bleeding which follows the slightest operation or the merest scratch is often of the most serious nature : many cases of fatal bleeding having occurred after the extraction of a tooth. In many cases of haemophilia—as this tendency to excessive bleeding is termed—the patients are liable to be seized with acute inflammation of the joints, much after the manner of rheumatism. The nature of this remarkable disease is not yet understood, and it is not clear whether it is the walls of the blood- vessels or the blood itself which is at fault. No treatment is of much avail. When bleeding is actually occurring the usual steps taken for the suppression of haemorrhage must be followed. Members of a family in which the tendency to bleeding is known to exist should take exceptional precaution to avoid injury, and all operations not absolutely necessary should be avoided. The daughters of the family should not marry, as it is through them that the tendency is transmitted, even though they themselves may not be bleeders. BLEEDING This is a procedure not often adopted now, except in cases of heart or lung disease, when there is great obstruction to the circula- tion. Formerly, nearly every one was bled, as a matter of course, every spring and autumn. The operation was performed thus :— The patient, sitting in a chair, bares his arm, and the surgeon fastens a piece of tape, for bandage, tightly about two inches above the elbow ; in this way the return of the venous blood to the heart is prevented, so
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