Lectures on medicine : a handbook for nurses / by Chalmers Watson.

  • Watson, Chalmers.
Date:
1917
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on medicine : a handbook for nurses / by Chalmers Watson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    20/316 page 8
    ageravated constipation, and may indeed be almost symptomatic of the condition. A distinct sluggish- ness of action is often present in women for a day or two prior to menstruation, and is still more pronounced as a rule in pregnancy. General Treatment. Before the treatment of any given case can be laid down, it is essential that an accurate diagnosis be made as to the part of the bowel chiefly affected, and as to whether there are any local contributory causes, such as adhesions, which might possibly prejudice the suc- cess of purely medical measures. The use of charcoal to colour the stools is a simple means of testing the rate of intestinal movement; if it remains in the stools beyond forty hours a corresponding degree of stasis is present. It is by no means uncommon to find sub- jects of constipation who have the greatest reluctance to taking any drugs, for fear of permanent harm to the bowel being induced. This idea is ill-founded, and much greater harm to the system results from the neglect of the bowel, than from attention to its function by the judicious use of aperients. At the same time we must remember that purgative remedies are palli- ative and not curative in their action, and it is always advisable to attempt the cure of the condition. This is readily effected even in obstinate cases if time and trouble are taken, and massage and physical exercises are applied under skilled direction. At the outset it is frequently necessary to have recourse to soap and water enemas, often combined with the judicious use of olive oil. The introduction of 8 to 10 ozs. of olive oil, followed in half-an-hour by an enema of soapy water
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