The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-04-18
SURGEONS DISCOVER
NATURE OF SHOCK
Problem Long Baffled the
Medical Profession,
Doctor Says
LATE WAR ROUTS
FORMER THEORIES
Declares knowledge Will BE Valuable
in Peace Times, as "ShOcI1" Develops
After Various Accidents - Informa.
ton TO BE Spread Broadcast.


ton TO BE Spread Broadcast
CAMBRIDGE, Mass, April l8.-Dis-
coveries made by Dr. Walter B. Can
non of the Harvard medical school and
other American medical officers toward
the close of the World war have brought
forth new evidence regarding the cause
and nature of the strange condition
known as Shock condition that led
to innumerable deaths in war time and
frequently has a similar result after ac-
cidents in time of peace
Shock, or wound shock as it is often
called. has long baffled the medical pro-
fession," DR.. Cannon said today to the
Associated Press, on being asked to des-
cribe the results of his important work
in France.
This condition, which, by the way,
should not be confused with shell-shoek.
an entirely different phenomenon, usu-
ally develops some hours after a serious
wound or accident. 1t frequently fol
lowed grave shell-wounds in the war,
and often comes on after a person has
been seriously hurt in an accident in
times of peace, after, for example, he
has had a limb crushed in a railroad
accident.
Describes Condition.
A man in state OF shock usually
lies perfectly quiet, his skin is cold and
moist with peTspiration. his pulse is
rapid and thready, his arterial pressure
is much reduced, he breathes rapidly and
specifically, and, although not para
lived, he has little energy and his mind
Is dulled. He often complains OF being
| cold and thirsty. This condition may
| be followed by death or by gradual re-
covery.
There have been numerous theories
| of the nature OF shock. Some doctors
held that shock resulted from nervous
collapse, others that ii came from a
clogging of blood vessels by fat from
wounds, some that it was due to paral-
ysis of the nerves controlling the ar
| teTies, others that the adrenal gland was
somehow affected 50 as TO do the mis-
| chief, and 80 on.
Our work in France gave lis oppor-
| tunities TO study shock in the utmost
r detail. One by one we threw out the
| theories advanced in former years.
Discovers Its Nature.
I'VE finally tested and established the
1 fact that the condition results from the
| tearing or crushing OF muscles or other
1 tissues by missiles moving with terrific
! velocity. The damaged or dead tissue
| soon becomes toxic, or, in other words
/ acts like a sort OF poison. This toxin
| causes an increased permeability of the
| smallest rblood-yessels. the capillariesi
| and thus there is lost through their
| walls quantities of the fluid portion OF
| the blood, which should be in cireula-
| ton. The result is somewhat similar
to that of great loss of blood from the
| body.
Toward the end of the war we had
| learned much about methods of treating
| such cases, finding that it was helpful
| to keep the patient amply warm, to give
| him quantities of water. and, if neces-
sary, to transfuse blood into his sys-
| tenn from somebody else's.
| The mass of information about
| shock. which was collected during the
| war and will ultimately be published
/ is going to prove useful in times OF
| peace. for the condition often develops
after accidents of various kinds in which
| there is extensive tearing or crushing
of tissues. and physicians will now be
able to handle such cases more effect
/ lively than ever before"
DR.. Cannon Is now engaged at the Har.
| ward physiological laboratory in studies
of the functions of the thyroid gland,
| following his discoveries in recent years
| concerning the adrenal glands.