Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1893-02-02
SOF FTENING OF THE BRAIN.
TDr. Henry S. Williams, in the North
American Review.

rDr. Henry S. Williams, in the North
American Review.
OF all the diseases that menace the
race, only few are absolutely fatal.
Indeed, there is but one common
disease that invariably brings its
victims speedily'to the grave. This
most ruthless OF maladies is that
terrible form of insanity technically
called general paresis or paretic
dementia, and known to the layman
as s'softening OF the brain" Its
unvarying history entities it to pre-
cedence over consumption, cancer,
Bright's disease; in short, places it
peerless in bad pre-eminence. And
as if this were not enough, its malig-
nifty is emphasized by the way in
which it jugsles with its victim be-
fore it cxtinsuishes his life. 1t
changes his personality, dethrones
reason, almost eliminates the mind,
and steadily weakening the body,
leaves toward the last mere skeletal,
vegetative being scarce recognizable
as the vestige of its former self;
unknowing, unfeeling, mindless, to
his friends at once fearful memory
and terrible objective presence.
Finally death comes in form hor-
-ible enough to be the fitting climax
of so awful disease. OF course it
is not to be understood that the
stages of this disease follow an abso
luteiv liked routine. The abnormal
is everywhere only perversion of
the normal, and until we have two
organisms exactly alike we shall
never see two identical cases of any
disease. Still, the essential symp-
toms of typical cases of paresis are
singularly uniform. 1t seems para
doxical ttat the patient who during
the early stage thinks himself lost
forever, will few weeks or months
later. when the fatal disease has more
firmly fixed its hold, declare himself
absolutely well-better, stronger
than eve. in his life before-and
laugh to scorn anyone who contra
diets him. During the early stage
of his disease he will not admit a ray
of hope, because he feels hopeless.
Later on. thouoh his body is weak and
every faculty and function is failing,
he cannot be persuaded that such is
the case, becaIse he feels we'll. But
why, it may be asked, does the pa
tient experience feelings so at vari-
ance with the facts? Usually a person
feels i'll because he is i'll, or well be-
cause he is we'll; why is it otherwise
with the paretic? Now, the "whys"
+ things physiological are not
always easy to make out; never
tbelcss, it happens that we are
able to give at least a proXlmate
solution of this seeming anomaly.
Everyone knows that the brain is in
some way indissolubly connected
with the mind. 1t appears further
that the activity of the mind depends,
whatever the link OF connection, upon
the circulation OF the blood in the
brain. Under normal conditions,
the blood supply is regulated and
momentarily changed in accordance
with impressions sent from the outer
world. But in the brain of the
paretic, the mechanism that should
regulate the blood supply is out of or
der. During the early stage, free
flow of blood is not permitted.
Hence the mind is persistently slug
gish and depressed. Tell the patient
that he has fallen heir to fortune;
no responsive thrill goes through
his mind. Entreat him to cheer up; ;
he cannot. Lateron, through a diff
ferent maladjustmept of the controll-
ing mechanism, the brain Of the pare
tic is permanently surcharged with
blood. A perpetual sense OF well.
being then encompasses him. Tell
him that he is III; he laughs at you.
Assure him that he is doomed to an
early grave; ne replies, 81 will live a
century" He feels, as he never felt
before, the lust and strength of youth.
The circulation in his brain is persls-
tantly overactive; his ideas CORE
spond. But overactivity means
excessive wear on the mechanism of
the organism, just as on an inanimate
machine. Hence the brain in which
this abnormal activity prevails wears
out rapidly. It's cells degenerate
and become useless. At last it is so
wasted that It's functionings produce
only the most rudimentary mental
states. Then the tissues become so
weakened that small blood vessels
burst, lacerating the brain, and bring
ing on those convulsions which are
so painful feature of the, disease,
and which finally terminate the pa
tents life. Post ntorteu examination
will,show that the brain of the,pare-
tic may not be sssoftened,p butt that
Its cells and other tissues are every
where more or less degenarated OF
1decayed. 1t is inconceiyaole that