Volume 1

The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick.

  • M'Gregor-Robertson, J. (Joseph), 1858-1925
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    576/602 (page 504)
    CANCER OF THE WOMB. [Sect. XVII. womb itself. Usually it is a prominent symptom, and, as has been said, the loss of blood may not be limited to the period of the monthly illness, but may go on almost without ceasing. The loss of blood may be so excessive as to become the grave feature of the case. Treatment.—It is to be remembered that the tumour is a simple one, in no way to be re- garded with apprehension such as a cancerous tumour would excite. It may be a constant worry and cause of suffering from pain, &c., but it need not prove fatal. The loss of blood occasioned by its presence is the serious part of it, since this may threaten life, either directly or by exhaustion, or by laying the patient open to other disease from the general bad health arising from it. The object of treatment is to relieve the symptoms as much as possible till the child-bearing period is past, when a gradual cessation of the patient’s trouble is likely to ensue. The tendency to lose blood may be restrained by avoiding everything that would increase the blood supply to the womb. As much rest as possible during the monthly illness is, therefore, desirable, and if the patient be married re- straint as much as possible from the exercise of sexual functions. Pregnancy might be a serious complication, though occasionally a fibroid tu- mour has almost or entirely disappeared after pregnancy and a successful confinement. Un- married women should remain so if they are aware of the existence of such a tumour. Just before the monthly illness opening medicine in the form of mineral water or effervescent citrate of magnesia is beneficial, and nourishing but unstimulating diet, with avoidance of spiritu- ous liquors, should be the rule. If the bleeding be excessive the effort to limit it should be made by taking the liquid extract of ergot, from one half to a whole tea-.spoonful in water thrice or four times daily; and if ex- cessive loss of blood during the period has been the rule, this should be taken for a day or two before the illne.ss begins, and for a few days after it has ceased. To relieve pain a pill of one- third of a grain of extract of Indian hemp may be occasionally taken, or 30 grains of bromide of potassium dissolved in water. Iron tonics taken during the intervals are valuable for re- storing or maintaining the general health. Pain is often also relieved by the use of some sup- port to the uterus in the form of a pessary if such can be adjusted for the purpose. If the loss of blood be so excessive or per- sistent as to threaten serious consequences, a surgeon would probably propose an operation for the removal of the ovaries. The ovaries being removed, the monthly illness ceases, and thus nature’s method of relieving the patient is antici])ated. Cancer of the Womb.—This disease may occur in the body of the womb or be limited to the neck (p. 479). The former case is compara- tively rare. Cancer differs from fibroid and other simple tumours, in that it destroys the sub- stance of the organ in which it is situated, spread- ing through it and from it to other jmrts, and tending also to pass to other organs. If it be removed it is liable to return. For these reasons a cancerous tumour is called- malignant as oppo.sed to simple. The womb is the com- monest seat of cancer in the female, and its occurrence there is very frequent. It rarely occurs below the age of twenty yeai’s or above that of sixty, and is most frequent between forty and fifty. It has an inevitable tendency to death, and from one to two years is the average period of life after its aj^pearance. Its cause it is impossible to state. That it has a tendency to occur in families seems unde- niable, and some distinguished authorities be- lieve it occurs chiefly in women who have borne children, and in whom the neck of the womb has been torn. Such local irritation, however, may be only the exciting cause of the api)ear- ance of a tumour to which the woman was already disposed. There are several vai’ieties of it. It is com- mon as an affection of the lining surface of the neck of the womb, gradually eating into and destroying the deeper parts, occasioning ulcera- tion and thickening extending inwards. Its symptoms are mainly pain, loss of blood, and discharge. The pain may not arise till the disease is far advanced, and is of a stabbing or burning kind, shooting up to the loins and down the thighs. It is generally worse at night. It is the loss of blood that often arouses suspicion. It may occur from apparently trifling causes, and though it may be slight to begin with, it be- comes at length a perpetual drain upon the body. As a consequence the person comes to have a characteristic appearance, the skin be- coming of a peculiar sallow or dirty yellowish colour. The discharge is watery, tinged usually with blood, extremely irritating to the skin of the external parts, and of a very offensive smell. The disease may ulcerate its way into the bladder or bowel, so that water constantly dribbles away or motions are passed from the genital passage.