Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-03-27
A PECULIAR CASE.
A DISEASE WHICH HAS ATTRACTED
INTEREST AMONG DOCTORS.

A DISEASE WHICH HAS ATTRACTED
INTEREST AMONG DOCTORS.
Addison's Disease. or "Bronzed skin.
First Appears q Gradual Change In the
Color of the skin-Ihe Last Stages.
No Cure.
In Rising Sun, Ind, short time ago,
death brought TO a close casa which has
attracted keen interest and Widespread at
tention, not only of the medical fraternity
OF that section, but also Of Cincinnati,
whittier the patient came q short time since
for treatment. The name Of the man was
Stephen e. Seward He died Of Addison q
disease. The remarkable feature Of Sew
ards case was the gradual supervention Of
the discoloration Of the skin, which, al
though originally Of fair complexion event
uaily gave him the appearances Of a perfect
typo of full bloode8 African.
This nature of this case was not compre-
hended until he visited the clinic Of Drs.
Ransohoff and Whitaker at the Ohio Msdi.
cat college on Sixth street two months ago.
when tho case was recognized a. one Of
Addison's disease or ssbrenzed skin" Sew
ard was single man, and at the time Of
his death Is years old. He came Of very
Z healthy stock, both Of his parents being
still alive and his ancestors having all
reached round old age. He was employed
up to six months ago as a laborssr on his
fathers farm. He was a man Of fine ply
sique and great strength, ard UP to the time
had been able to perform an immense days
work. About that tfme-six months ago
be began to notice that even a couple of
hours e1ertion in the field was followed by
an unaccountabls sense of WEAKNESS.
Within two months after the beginning of
his disease this inconvenience had increased
to such an extent as to unfit him for his
work
A GRADUAL CHANGE
About this time there was a gradual
change in the color Of his skin. Before this
discoloration began he was a blonde. of
fair complexion, light hair and gray eyes.
In the beginning his face became the color
Of ashes. He grew darker and darker, until
at length he became pronounced black,
large quantities Of the coloring matter
being deposited on the skin Of the face,
neck, shoulders, hands, and forearnls, and
subsequently in all parts Of tbs integurnent
The mucous membrane of the lips, tongue
and of tho mouth participated in this dis
coloration- The physical appearance Of tho
patient did not otherwise Indicate the gray
ity of his disease The muscles retained
their development, and there was but little
hamilton In the last four weeks rapid
change for the worse set in, and death re-
suited in little over lx months after the
inception of the disease This was an un-
usually rapid course, for, as rule, patients
who suffer from this disease linger for from
rrrr rS fire. Hr-f IL l..
grave as the inevitable
Altogether not more than 200 cases of
this peculiar disease could be collected
from medical literature The disease is
+ one Of comparatively recent recognition, as
no well marked case is recorded previous to
1872, when Loebstein, of Paris, discovered
the first known instance. The name by
which it is generally knovn-Addisons S
dLSease-was given it after DIR. Addison, of
London. who in 1855 collected eleven cases,
only four Of which, however, strictly belong
to this category. 1t was DR.. Addison who
first recognized the fact that the peculiar
discolored condition Of the skin is due to
diseased condition Of the supornal cap
sTlles, minute bodies situated above the kid
neys, the physiological character of which
has not yet been established In Addison 5
disease these bodies referred to are invari-
ably found to be the seat of Inflammation,
of consumption or Of cancer
ALWAYS PROVES FATAL.
1t is for this reason that the disease in
varlably prL YES fatal The patient may for
awhile, improve, but the progress of the
case may be compared to that Of a man
who has an inevitable staircase to descend
He may lnger or go back. but the descent
is still to be taken, and the best he can
hope for is 10 go down slowly and with long
pauses. Bronze skim may be said to be
disease Of the laboring class. Those who
WELD the ak and toll with the shovel are al
most always its victims 1t is for this
reason that it attacks the male nearly twice
as often as the female. @ the IS3 cases re-
Gently collected by Greennow, 119 occurred
il males and "a in females Associated
with the bronze skim and the accompany
ing muscular weakness ara other symptoms,
which are more or less characteristic Of the
disease, and which hasten the end Most
prominent among them are severe pains in
the abdomen, inveterate attacks OF vornit-
ing and dlarrhoea, great difficulty in breath
ing snd finally commissions.
So far as the treatment Of the disease Is
concerned there is none worthy Of the
name. Remedial agents have not yet been
discovered that can directly or indirectly
affect the diseased condition of the superual
capsules, as the surgery of the abdomen
does not lay claim TO that domain 1t is,
however, among the probabilities Of sue
{ cesSful progress that in the near future in
these cases, which medicine cannot reach, the
knife viii be ressorted TO. Addison-s disease
must not DO cnnfoundei with melanosis.
which also at times discolors the skin, but
in which tumors, black Is ink of rapid
I growth, and often followed by liberation.
csver the body. In Aidisou's disease the
7 skin is perfectly smooth The only resem-
/ b.anca between the two affections is The
{ diScoloration- In both diseases those parts
which are exposed to the air and light turn
darker than the rest OF the body.-Cincir-
natl Enquirer.