The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1891-01-24
FATAL PNE IJMO N Ia.

FATAL PNEIJM n
Peouliarities OF q Prevalent and
| Dangerous Disease.
| Its Different Symptoms and Stages and
/ the Various Methods of Treatment
| in Use Among Physicians of
! Different Schools.
The sudden changes Of temperature
and the carelessness Of people generally
| who are apt to expose themselves I'M
necessarily to wet and cold are fruitful
| Inducements to this disease, the statis-
tics of which show fatality OF about
thirty in one hundred cases. The NAL
adv, says the Chicago Tribune, was
formerly known as lung fever. 1t IS
an inflammation or congestion OF the
| lungs, and there are four distinct classes
the lobar, lobular, fbrous and Gaseous
| or tuberctlar pneumonia. The two
| classes last mentioned not intrequentiy
terminate in phthisis Or consumption.
The first stage is known as that OF en-
gorgements, the second as ''rett hep
atization" when the lungs become the
color. Of the liver When this brownlsh
color gives way to gray the malady has
reached the third stage, that OF gray
liberalization. This is the stage OF
ssabsorDtion'' in favorable cases, when
conYalescence ensues. In unfavorable
cases the disease passes into the puru-
lent stage, when death is likely to en-
sue within q very few days, sometimes
in few hours.
The first symptom is usually pro
nounced chill, followed by sharp pain
within circu1nscribed space at or near
the nipple on the affected side. A rack"
ing cough and expectoration soon fol"
low. This is the stage in which the
oval bacteria is found in the .spntu1n.
Then follows high fever. pain in the
head, loss OF appetite, severe thirst,
prostration, increased respiration and
pulse varying from 80 to 100.
In the second stage pain may cease,
but the cough may continue, though
less hard and painful. LII the third
stage the patient, il the symptoms are
favorable, will cough less; respiration
| will resume it's normal condition, appe-
tite will return and pain will almost, if
not entirely, disappear One OF the Pc
! culiarities of pneumonia is that this
third stage in the Incorporate may lead
to deliriu1n treuens. Once GONZALES
cence begins in cases Of pneumonia,
however, recovery is almost certain.
Fatal relapses are very infreqnent.
pericarditis, or Inflammation Of the
| mem branous sack which incloses che
heart, is a very grave complication In
ne,amonia 5.
bloodletting, ard some physicians re-
seort to that now when the patient IL
! plet1oric. Some believe that the at
tack can be rendered harmless by dose
of from forty to sixty grains Of quinine.
The course Of treatment commonly
employed is to give quinine, antipyrine,
acorite, and antifebrines in the first
stage, with expectorants and faxseed
poultices as hot as they can be borne
applied every twenty minutes. In the
| second stage the object is to support
the action Of the heart, and milk punch
or some other stinlulant is given. Dig
italis is also prescribed, and this treat
ment is continued with the third stage
and up to convalescence OF the fatal is
! sue. Death comes when the lungs be-
come consolidated SO that the blood can
not pass through them and can not be-
come oxygenated, and is due to heart
failure. Some physicians have lately
nsed oxygen gas to aid the oxygenating
function of the lungs and in Germany
patients have been carried into the open
air. In one Of the German hospitals
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. At some of the hospitals in
this country cases have been success
fully treated in tents The tents are
| well heated in winter, though, by large
stoves, so that the patients, while
breathing air almost absolutely pure,
are not exposed to the cold. Treer at
! mospheric circulation is a common OBJ
jective point with American physicians
In the treatment of pneumonia, al
though they do not go SO far in this mat
ter as the Germans, A careful atten-
tion to ones health, the wearing of
warm clothing, keeping the feet from
getting wet, and the avoidance of drafts
will enable one to generally escape an
attack of this serious disease.
BRAZILIAN PEBBLE.
| 1t Makes No Better Lens Than q Good