On the action of purgative medicines / by T. Lauder Brunton.
- Brunton, Thomas Lauder, Sir, 1844-1916.
- Date:
- [1874]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the action of purgative medicines / by T. Lauder Brunton. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![am inclined to think, however, that although this may have much to do' with it, yet the headache very often depends to a great extent ou some alteration in the cerebral circulation caused reflexly by the condition of the abdominal organs; for I hav« myself had a headache, though not a frontal one, which alter- nated with nausea. The nausea would last for a few minutes, (luring which the headache would entirely disappear; then the nausea would leave me, and the headache instantly took its place. After evacuation of the stomach, both the headache and nausea disappeared, showing that in this instance at least they were due to irritation in the stomach. But in many instances no doubt, not only headache but much more serious symptoms may be due to the decomposition of food in the intestinal canal and the absorption of its products. Thus Senator i relates a case where a simple gastric catarrh without fever was brought on by eating something which disagreed with the patient. This was followed on the second day by great belching of gas, smelling like sulphuretted hydrogen or rotten eggs. The urine also con- tained sulphuretted hydrogen. As soon as this occurred the patient collapsed suddenly, and became pale and giddy, with a small, frequent, and compressible pulse. The patient remained conscious, and in a minute and a half or two minutes the collapse passed away. A similar attack came on again during the same day, but after the bowels which had been constipated were opened, the patient rapidly recovered. Senator considers that the collapse was due to poisoning by the sulphuretted hydrogen absorbed from the intestine, and it certainly seems probable that this was one cause of the attack, even if it were not the only one. Other poisons besides sulphuretted hydrogen may be formed in the alimentary canal and absorbed into the blood, where they exert their deleterious action. Among these may be mentioned butyric acid, which has frequently been found in the stomach in considerable quantities.* According to 0. Weber® it is very poisonous, exerting its action chiefly on the nerve centres. The nervous symptoms which frequently accompany gastric derange- * Senator, “ Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift,” 1868, No. ‘24, p. 254. ’ Kiihne, “ Physiologi.sohe C’hcniie,” ]i. .58. ’ 0. Weber, “Deutsche Klinik,” 1864, p. 488.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22429384_0013.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
