The Portland daily press., 1890-12-20
PNEUMONIA ANDIfs SYMPTOMS
Various Facts In Regard to the
Dlsease-The Present Methods Of
Treatment
New York Evening Post.

Pneumonia has many terrors for most
people, because Of the large percentage of
fatal cases about 30 In 100, the suddenness
with which fatal issue is reached, and the
excruciating pain that accompanies the first
stages of the disease. Pneumonia results
from exposure to wet and cold and Is there.
fore more common in the winter than in the
summer, and in the Northern States is more
prevalent In the spring than at any other
season Of the year. Excessive use Of liquor
conduces to the disease in its most malignant
and fatal character. Cigarette-smoking is
not productive of the malady, but person
| addicted to this habit is regarded by physi-
clan as more likely subject for attack than
| one who does not smoke cigarettes Pneu-
monia seldom attacks children under five
years old, and attacks occur even more rarely
between the ages of five and ten. 1t is more
common among men than among women.
Pneumonia, or pneumoDitis, is a very old
form of illness, but up to the beginning of
the last decade was more generally known
as lung fever. 1t is an inflammation or con-
gestion of the lungs, and there are four dis
tinct classes of the malady. known as lobar,
obular, fibrous, and Gaseous or tubercular
pneumonia. The two classes last mentioned
MT intrequently terminate in phthsis or
consumption. The first stage of pneumonia
is known as the stage of "eDgorgemenI; the
second stage as red hepatzati0n," when
the lungs become the color Of the liver.
When this brOwnish color gives way TO gray
he malady has reached the third stage,
called the stage of gray Repatriation.
This is the stage of abortion" in favorable
Cases, when cOnvaleScence enSues In un-
favorable cases the disease passes into the
purulent stage when death is likely tC ensue
within very few days; IL sometimes comes
in few hours.
The first symptom of pneumonia observ-
able by the ordinary patient Is a pronounced
chill, frequently accompanied by rigOr. H.
vasiOn is abrupt. immediately alter the
chill, and sometimes while the chill c0ntin-
ues, the patient experiences a severe pain
within circumscrlbrd space at or near the |
nipple on the affected side. The pain ia
character is lancinatiDg, very much resemb-
ling that caused by stab A racking cough |
and expectorati0n soon follow. This is the |
stage In which the oval bacteria Is founo 10
the sputum. The symptoms noticed by the |
patient are now fever of a temperature of
from 1903 to los degrees, pain in the head,
anOfexia or loss of appetite, severe thirst, |
a hot skin, pulse varying from 80 to 100, full |
and hard, and increased respiration The
patient finds much difficulty and pain In |
breathing, and is compelled to breathe short |
iy and quickly. 1t is verv often the case /
that patients do not at once take to their |
beds. There are many cases Of pneumonia
tnat physicians call walking cases." Pa |
tients suffering with pneumonia frequently |
walk into the hospitals.
In the second stage of the disease the pa |
TENTS pain may Cease, but the cough may /
continue, though less hard and painful In |
the third stage, the patient, ii the symptoms |
are favorable, will cough less respiration |
will resume its normal condition, appetite /
will return, and pain will almost, ii not en- |
tirely, disappear. One of the peeuliarlties |
of pneumonia is that this third stage in the /
Incorporate may lead to delirium tremens. /
This happened In eight cases out of 1873 OBJ |
served at Bellevue Hospital some years ago. /
Delirium tremens and intermittent fever are L
very likely to render cases fatal. Once con-
valescence begins in cases of pneumonia. /
however, recovery Is almost certain. Fatal
relapSeS are very infTequent.
Pericarditis. or Inflammation of the men,
branous sac which encl0ses the heart, is
very grave complication ID pneumonia.
There are a dozen or more methods of |
treating pneumonia i'll practical use at the
present time. The oldest method is blood
letting, and this, although for many years
almost abandoned, Is again coming in vogue |
In cases where the patient Is plethOric Great
care Is exercised In the use Of this method, |
however. and physicians resort to it only in |
cases where the patient is very full-bloOded |
The late DIR. Austin Flint, while at Bellevue
Hospital some yeare ago, advocated as a |
plan to render the attack harmless dOse of |
from forty to sixty grains of quinine, and
adopted 1t with success In many cases.
Dr. A. j. Fitz-Gerald of No. 1868 Madison
Avenue, who Is attached to the staff of the
Harlem Hospital, and to whom the Evening
Post Is indebted Tor most of its information |
on this subject, gave the following course of |
treatment as the most commonly used:
La the first stage, quinine, antipyrine, AGO.
nite, and antifebrines are used. Flaxseed |
poultices. as hot as the patient can bear |
them, are applied every twenty minutes. Ex-
pectorants are also administered. The treat
ment Is mainly alcoholic in the second stage. |
Whiskey and milk, commonly taking the |
form of milk punch, are prescribed, the OBJ
lect being to support the action OF the heart
In cases OF pneumonia where death results |
1t Is always due to heart-failure. Digtalis
Is also prescribed. The treatment is con-
tlnued into the third stage, and up to con-
valescence or the fatal issue. The latter
comes when the lungs become consolidated |
so that the blood cannot pass through them
and cannot become oxygenated, without
which the heart refuses to receive it. To |
aid the OxygenatiDg function of the lungs, |
physicians have lately made use of oxygen |
gas. In cases where cerebral symptoms be- |
come manifest ice-bags are applied to the
head.
IL is owing to the necessity of aiding the
oxy genating function of the lungs that
some physicians in Germany, in the treat
ment OF infant patients, have adopted the |
radical measures above referred to. they
nave carried their patients into the open air,
sh"s PAuScOuAus DcLuk nUL u very dangerous /
one, as it is a well known fact that people
suffering from fever rarely contract colds.
IL Is reported that In one of the German hos
pitfalls ward is being prepared specially for
the treatment of patients suffering from
pneumonia, the preparation including the
construction of machinery for pumping cold
air over the heads of the patients. This is a
dlstlnctively German method of treatment,
and at present does not meet with the ap-
prevail of American physicians. Outd or
frRatnnnf 10 p0f nnk 1
though. At the Ninety-ninth Street ana
Manhattan Hospitals in this city there are
tents in which many cases of Pneumonia
have been successfully treated. The tents
are well heated in the winter, though, by
large stoves, so that the patients, while
breathing air almost absolutely pure, are not
exposed to the cold. Freer atmospheric cir
cuiatiOn is a common objective point witt
American physicians in the treatment of
pneumonia, although, as said, they do not 60
so far In this matter as the Germans