The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-03-30
A DREADFUL DISEASE
INFORMATION OF VALUE TO EVERY
BODY ABOUT APPENDICITIS.

A Dangerous superfiuity-Popular Errors
on the subject-How to Recognize the
Danger Signs-Between the Ages of Ten
and Thirty 1t Is Most to Be Feared.
There is a popular and false notion
that appendicitis is caused by grape
seed, an orange seed or some other foreign
substance getting into the vermiform
appendix The true cause is the setting
up OF inflammation and consequent gan
CREME in the tissue of the appendix, u.s.
ually due to insufficient circulation of
blood in the part itself. In thousands of
operations which have taken place
many in time to save the life of the pa
tlent and many too late--there is not
one authenticated case of foreign SUBJ
stance, such as a seed, being found in
the appendix. This will be more fully
realized when one has in mind that the
interior of the appendix is only big
enough to admit medium sized darn
ing needle Its great liability to disease
is due entirely to its low order of vital
resistance-that is, it is an organ which
appears to have no actual use in the
present machinery of man, but in the
earlier stages of mans development it
is believed to have been a large pouch
that played an important part in the
digestive operations Of the human sys-
tenn. By ages of disuse it has gradually
shrunk to its present dimensions and is
known to science as a vestigial organ,
one which is only a remnant of it's
former self and possessing but vestige
of its original functions.
This becomes more clear if some other
parts of the body which now seem to
have no use are considered. The tonsils
are in this class and also the wisdom
teeth, and both are peculiarly subject to
disease.
The appendix is in one of the most
delicate and vital parts of the body, in
the peritoneal cavity, usually to the
right of the center of the abdomen.
But in rare instances it has been found
on the left side, and still more rarely
otherwise displaced. This discovery,
made very recently, has caused the sur
geons to be extremely careful to locate
the trouble before using the knife.
But science never stands still. It al
ways pushes its Investigations beyond
mere appearances, and out of the myte-
ries of nature develops facts which give
it power and might. When it was once
proved that the poison which produced
septic peritonitis came from the break
ing down or decay of the appendix,
the very root of one of mans worst
physical foes was laid bare. Further
practice established beyond doubt that
in large majority of cases the appen-
dix could be removed by a simple sur
gical operation and the patient restored
to vigorous health, if the disease was
discovered in time and correctly dag
nosed.
The surgeons now regard the opera
ton itself as one of the most simple,
but to obtain the best results it should
take place within few hours after the
patient begins to suffer from the disease.
In fact, the sooner the operation is had
the better are the chances of recovery,
while if the knife is not resorted to
death is sure to ensue very promptly or
after lingering miseries from the deadly
poison perambulating through the sys-
tenn and coming to the surface in alb
scesses
The symptoms are so plain and un-
mistakable to the surgeon of today that
any sufferer may know them for himself:
First. THE attack is always sudden.
1t comes on when the person is appar-
emily in the best of health and without
the slightest warning.
Second. "A sharp pain is felt in the
very center of the abdomen. This is al
ways the case, whether the appendix be
in its correct place on the right side or
displaced to the left.
Third "A sore and tender spot, very
painful to the touch, is located exactly
where the incision must be made to find
the appendix.
These are the three plain symptoms
which have been found in thousands of
cases with scarcely variation
Thus it is that many sudden deaths
occur to persons in robust health. They
are thought to have collie or vertigo,
when the truth is that miserable and
useless little organ, the appendix, has
met with some kind of an accident and
clogs the whole machine.
Appendicitis usually occurs between
the ages of 10 and 80 years. 1t is ex-
tremely rare above or below those ages.
1t is much more frequent among males
than females, the proportion in all
countries being 20 per cent females to
30 per cent males.
The cause for this difference is of
very recent discovery, and is not even