Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-05-31
DREAD PNEUMONIA.
Information About Disease For
Which There In no Cure.

I'M fOTmatlon Hpout SiSSdoc ES'
Which There ls no Cure.
Next to tuberculosis Of the lungs
pneumonia, another lung malady, IL
the most deadly disease now prevalent
in the United States. During the veal
1904, when the last Federal mortality
statistics were gathered, 1t killed 45,-
900 Americans and sowed the seeds OF
consumption in probably 10000 more
Since then the death rate has decreas-
ed little, If at all. There are no tried
and tested remedies for pneumonia.
The patient, 1t would seem, gets well
through natures efforts or he never
gets we'll at all.
Irasmuch as just about rs per cent
OF those who have pneumonia recover
1t may be seen from the foregoing fig
ures that there are about 100000 cases
of the disease In the United States
each year. Those who get well, un-
luck lily for them, are ever Thereafter
disposed to have further attacks. A
man who has had smallpox or yellow
fever once never takes the disease
again, for the reason that both Of these
maladies leave immunity against
themselves behind them. But pneu-
monia, instead Of leaving its VIC
tim immune, makes him even
more liable than he was in the
first place. Thus it happens that per-
sons who have had pneumonia early in
life often contract 1t again later on.
The ancient Greeks were familiar
with pneumonia and old Hippocrates
described 1t very accurately. He even
differentiated between pneumonia and
the early stages Of consumption-a
thing which modern doctors sometimes
fail to do. Aretoeus, another physician
)t antiquity, wrote a very excellent
treatise on pneumonia, but It was not
until 1910 that there was any truly
scientific investigation Of the disease.
Today we know a great deal about 1t
and have learned how to prevent 1t,
but so far no very efficient means Of
aiding nature to cure 1t have been de-
vised. although experiments with an
anti-toxin are giving promising re-
suits.
Pneumonia, to put It briefly, Is q
malignant Inflammation of the lungs
due to the presence Of minute organ
isms or germs. These germs corrode
md blockade the air passages through
the lungs and cut off large portion
Of the patients customary supply OF
air. In addition. they weaken his
heart by putting on it the extra hard
work of pumping blood through mar
rowed and clogged channels. Finally,
they secrete poisons which are spread
through the blood to all parts Of the
body and disable many Of the vital
organs. 1t is seldom that pneumo-
mia patient dies Of suffocation. Far
more often his heart gives out or the
germ poisons kill him by invading his
brain.
Ordinarily, the blood of healthy
man Is vigorous enough to tackle and
XIII lHc6C 6Cliho 90 OWN 90 sANS o.
into the lungs, but when mans pow
er Of resistance Is lowered, for any one
OF a hundred reasons, the blood does
its work badly and the G, ms get a
foothold. Then follows an attack OF
pneumonia, which Is merely q battle
between blood and germs on a large
scale. II the blood wins the patient
gets we'll. If the germs win he dies.
Three times out Of four the victory
goes to the blood.
A mans power Of resistance may be
lowered by sudden chill, such as that
following an unexpected plunge into
icy water in midwinter. Again, 1t
may be lowered by the gradual chill
following the wearing Of wet shoes.
Yet again, it may be decreased by lack
of sleep, by overwork, by too violent
exercise, by overeating, and particular
ly by indulgence in alcohol. The man
who drinks is always a more shining
mark for pneumonia than the total alb
stainer. Common experience indicates
this and scientific experiment con-
firms 1t.
There are many forms Of pneumo-
MIA, and it may be caused by any one
of a dozen different germs, but the
most common type Is that caused by
a little organism called Fraenkles
pneumococcus, after the German sa-
want who discovered it. The pneumo-
coccus under the microscope appears
as a tiny dark speck surrounded by
transparent capsule. 1t Is germ OF
the very lowest order, and despite the
fact that it seems to be alive and man
ages to get about, 1t is plant and not
an animal.
When this minute organism invades
the lungs it takes up its home In the
walls Of the air cells and causes them
to grow congested and red. After that
1t begins to fill the cells themselves
with a sticky, fibrinous fluid, in which
there are a lot Of blood corpuscles.
During the third stage this fluid grows
thinner and part Of it Is absorbed py
the lung tissues and carried away.
The rest Is expelled by expectoration-
and the patient is convalescent.
All Of this may take place in one
lung or in both. The less widespread
the infection, Of course, the greater the
patients chances Of recovery. When
both lungs are involved we have what
is commonly called double pneumo-
MIA
The principal types Of the disease
are as follows:
1. The common lobar pneumonia
This is the type which ordinarily at
tacks the previously healthy subject.
2. Terminal pneumonia This is a
type Of the disease which often ap-
pears in the last stages Of gout, dia-
betes Bright's disease, etc., when the
whole bodily organism is much deoili-
tated and the lungs are open to the
invasion Of all sorts Of germs. In
Bright's disease the actual and imme-
diate cause of death Is usually pneu-
monia.
8. Secondary pneumonia This type
frequently follows the administration
q, oloo nornnOn Spunel