DIAGNOSIS, PHYSIOGNOMY AND PSYCHOLOGY.
The biological healing system, based on the laws of nature and the acknowledgment of the fact that no two cases of disease are exactly alike, requires much broader knowledge and much deeper insight on the part of the physician than did the old-school of medicine with its search for symptoms of special diseases and its occult prescriptions.
Since the object is to get at the root of the evil in order to regenerate the patient thoroughly, it becomes imperative to obtain, what is hardest to elicit from him perhaps, the accurate truth about himself and his ailment.
And though expert in recognizing external symptoms, it is unwise to rely entirely thereon and research must continue into realms where the patient himself only can lead us and where, willing or otherwise, he is apt to mislead.
Psychology teaches how to find the way into the darkness of a patient's soul. Physiognomy teaches, not only to read in the face and external appearance, the story of a life which is written there in characters which only experience may decipher, but also to realize when the patient employs physiognomical expressions to hide what we persistently seek; namely, the truth.
And again, in regard to healing, psychology teaches how to influence the patient so that he may discontinue to be his own worst enemy; that he may recognize his mistakes as such and discard them, although possibly he may have grown so addicted to his tastes as to prefer to continue therein in place of daring to be healthy.
In the plan of production of a regenerated and healthy humanity, every individual of this kind must be regarded as a foe who interferes with the prevention of disease both now and in futurity. To win such an one over, to make him an enthusiastic believer in the theory that health is a necessity, and, a task less easy, to prevent his relapse into his previous degenerate manner of life and health,—this is another branch of science for which psychology and physiognomy are more needful than anything else.
Here again it is the true physician's principle to enlighten the layman, and not to surround his methods with a mysterious, but imposing wall of secrecy.
We do not hesitate to reveal the main points of our system of diagnosis, which is much broader than the old system of scholastic medicine,—the performance with auscultation, percussion, X rays and the rest. Certain knowledge of these things will lead every one, ere long, to submit all disturbances of health to the hygienic physician while prevention is still probable and possible, instead of waiting until disease has taken firm hold. It will also enable men to realize that the old-school practitioner who pronounces them sound while they feel for themselves that there is something wrong within has yet "a something" left to learn.
The realm of psychology, however, is beyond the scope of my present endeavour, save in so far as it may serve to show that we are fortified with this particular knowledge, and to the end that this book may constitute a help to the aspiring hygienic-dietetic physician, calling his attention to the necessity of acquiring as profound a knowledge of psychology as may be.
I will confine myself at present, therefore, to the external symptoms which must be observed, though they are not generally considered as symptoms of disease; and yet they indicate disease or the disposition thereto, individual or hereditary, as the case may be.
I shall consequently deal with the peculiarities of hands and feet, nails and hair, eyes and ears, nose and teeth, mouth, forehead, tongue, chin, cheeks, neck, chest, abdomen, legs, and general constitution.
Nature has endowed us with strong discriminating faculties against certain external indications of disease. We experience a pleasant feeling when the hand is pressed by another hand that is warm and dry, but we shrink from the hand that is cold and moist and clammy.
Perspiring hands and feet are a sure indication that some process of degeneration is going on within the body, the production of diseased cells being in excess of what the body, under normal conditions, is able to excrete, and therefore they seek unusual channels of leaving the body, that is, through the skin and mucous membranes.
Perspiring feet are a symptom of disposition to colds and possibly tuberculosis, while perspiring hands indicate certain nervous diseases and disposition to gout; constantly cold hands and feet are usually found in people who suffer from scrofulosis or anaemia.
In many cases the quality of nails leads to the conclusion that there is a thorough disturbance of the process of nutrition. If they are fragile and brittle, there is no question but that there is lack of certain nutritive salts in the blood. Swollen and deformed nails indicate special disturbances in circulation, chronic heart and lung diseases.
Hair, or rather the absence of hair, especially in early life, is sometimes another indication of faulty nutrition.
Baldness or premature gray hair is usually a pathological indication, as is also the dishevelled hair of nervous people and children suffering from scrofulosis, while rich, glossy hair is always a sign of good health.
The development of the hair depends upon the activity of the skin, the nerves and the composition of the blood. The blood of dark-haired people is lacking in water and fat, but richer in albuminous matter. Poor quality of hair is indicative of living in bad air, poor nutrition of the skin, hard mental work, pain and sorrow. Sexual excesses during youth are often the cause of premature baldness and thin hair.
The eyes present a picture that manifests the general condition of the body, whether it be healthy, disposed to disease, or suffering from disease.
Protruding eyes are the sure symptom of the disease known as Basedow's disease; they indicate also short-sightedness, and hereditary epilepsy.
The condition of the mucous membranes of the eyes permits certain conclusions as to the genital organs.
If the eyes are abnormally small, we draw the conclusion that there is general weakness and deficiency in nutrition. They indicate retarded development, which may be seated in the central nervous system. The eyes usually recede during severe diseases. A hyperaemic condition of the eyelids, with or without inflammation, is always a symptom of a dysaemic condition of the entire system (scrofulosis). In some cases of scrofulosis there is not another visible sign on the entire body, and yet the eyelids and eyelashes, which sticks together most of the time, tell the story of an inherited condition of dysaemia.
A yellowish hue of the eyes indicates disease of the liver.
The color of the iris does not indicate much in itself, although the theory of Liljequist, which deserves some attention, claims that if a person deteriorates in health, the eyes, if originally light blue, darken more and more and finally change into brown or the color of the hybrid race. Liljequist's scale of healthy eyes reads: Light blue, medium blue, dark blue; then light, medium and dark brown. However, brown eyes do not represent sickness; they but indicate nervousness and sensibility.
According to Liljequist, individuals belong to the hybrid race when they are born of parents one of whom has blue eyes and the other brown eyes. The weaker race transmits the brown colour of its iris to the middle part of the iris of the child, while the colour of the stronger race reappears in the outer part of the iris; not, however, as pure blue, but tinted with a delicate shade of green, in consequence of the light brownish-yellowish colour which emanates from the central part.
When death is imminent, the iris displays a grayish-black, muddy gray or muddy brown colour.
The pupil of the eye is irritated in cases of nervous disease and indicates this condition. In cases where only one pupil is dilated, a local disease of the optic nerve or one side of the brain is evident. If the pupils are insensible to external irritations and remain rigid, the conclusion is that the brain or the spinal cord is badly affected.
It may be stated in a general way that clear, brilliant eyes, (when not caused by fever) are usually an indication of the good quality of the blood as well as of all other humours of the body, together with normal activity of all the central organs.
The mouth and tongue: Pathological indications manifested by the mouth are principally displayed by the lips, which are clear red in healthy people, while a hectic red indicates fever and pulmonary disease. Pale lips indicate anaemia and chlorosis, and lips of a bluish hue are signs of a generally weakened organism. Frequent, vivid contractions of the lips (usually thin in this case) indicate great nervousness.
The color of the mucous membrane of the tongue is a very fair indication of health or sickness. If a person is in health, the tongue is rosy and not coated. But any disturbance in the intestines causes a more or less coated tongue, and consequently shows the detrimental influence these particular ailments exert upon the brain and nerves. Hence, a coated tongue affords a valuable indication in making a correct diagnosis, especially in case of chronic catarrh of the stomach, this being one of the main causes of depression, and melancholia, as stated by Piderit.
The forehead, or rather the record traced thereon, in lines of nature's unimpeachable calligraphy, warrants certain conclusions as to mentality and character; and these may be important in determining the truthfulness of the patient's stories of suffering and other items which facilitate or impede a correct diagnosis.
The interpretation of such features, however, belongs to the realm of pure psychology, this is also true of similar conclusions drawn from the outlines of the chin.
Of much more importance for the purpose of diagnosis is the nose.
Even a child understands what the red nose of the habitual drunkard signifies. A bloated nose with a tendency to become sore is an indication of a disposition to scrofulosis.
Other indications of disease are displayed to the experienced physician by the condition of the nose.
The nose is one of the most typical of the human organs; it is also in the closest connection with the entire system with its groups of organs—the brain, intestines, breast and even the sexual organs.
The infinite variety of nasal formation has attracted the intense interest of the physiognomist to this organ.
The most important function of the nose lies in its action as a respiratory organ. Bad habits or faulty construction which prevent it from serving in this capacity, lead to much suffering and disease, and it is always important to determine whether the channels of the nose are clear and open and efficiently serve their purposes.
The function of the nose as an olfactory organ must also rank highly in its importance. In this case, however, the nose of the physician plays the important part; not the nose of the patient. In fact, most of the famous authorities, among them Professor Jaeger of Stuttgart, Dr. Heim of Berlin and Dr. Lahmann of Dresden, have made very valuable discoveries in this respect.
Dr. Heim has found methods of determining the nature of certain acute diseases from the odour emitted from the person.
Dr. Lahmann distinguishes the hypochondriacal, the melancholic and the hysteric odours, which, as he says, are most characteristic.
The same applies to the odour of diabetics and other people who suffer from disturbances of digestion, and patients who suffer from cancer and other diseases involving a process of putrefaction.
The fact that most patients diffuse unpleasant odours is of the greatest importance to married people, as it easily produces antipathy, and especially in the case of chronic diseases, is frequently made the basis of separation and divorce.
Were this defect known to be but the symptom of a curable disease, the husband or wife would probably prefer to consult the hygienic physician rather than the lawyer. Knowledge in such case would mean the preservation of domestic happiness.
The teeth: The parents of a young man once complained to me that their son had been rejected as a cadet at West Point upon physical examination, because two of his teeth were filled.
The authorities are certainly justified in their decision.
The lack of perfect teeth indicates faulty digestion. Usually the teeth are ruined during youth because children breathe through the mouth instead of through the nose,—either on account of the physical condition of the nose or because the tonsils are enlarged.
The lack of sufficient nutritive salts in the diet is often revealed by the condition of the teeth.
From a physiological standpoint the teeth are no less important than the brain, the eyes and the hair; and the conclusion that perfect eyes, hair and teeth indicate a perfect brain is absolutely justified, while the lack of perfection in these organs shows internal deficiencies long before they appear in external manifestation in the form of disease.
Since healthy blood is the basic condition of healthy teeth, the fact that people have clean white teeth, set in regular line, indicates the existence of healthy blood. On the other hand, a bad composition of the blood is manifested by short, irregularly set, yellowish teeth.
The teeth of healthy people are always somewhat moist, dry teeth are accordingly a bad sign.
The only advantage of yellowish teeth rests in the fact that their dentine is, as a rule, stronger. Extremely bluish white teeth often consist of a soft, porous and tender dentine.
Faulty structure of the teeth indicates weak bones in general.
Crippled teeth and the late appearance of teeth in infants,—that is, not before the ninth month,—are symptoms of rachitis. Healthy children have their teeth between the fifth and seventh months.
The teeth of diabetics become loose without any formation of tartar, (an incrustation of phosphate of lime and saliva).
Extremely yellow teeth indicate jaundice, while reddish teeth show hyperaemia of the dentine. Carious teeth are a result of disturbed circulation.
The gums are also very indicative of disease. If they are of a pale pink colour, they indicate anaemia or chlorosis; if bluish red on the edge, they indicate tuberculosis.
Some of the most striking indications of existing disease are demonstrated by the neck. By feeling the neck and carefully watching its external appearance, the experienced scientist will obtain much valuable information that will aid in his diagnosis, and give him additional knowledge as to the processes going on within the body of the patient.
The significance of the formation of the thorax (chest) is well known, even to many laymen. Flat chest, so-called chicken chest, indicates imperfect development of the lungs, and when extreme, even tuberculosis.
A flabby abdomen indicates disposition to hernia and stagnation of the blood, frequently causing hemorrhoids or inflammation of the prostate gland in men, and all kinds of diseases—inflammatory or catarrhal—in women.
As to the legs, the so-called varicose veins are indications of weak blood-vessels and intestinal hemorrhage, while inflamed nerves lead to the conclusion of gouty diathesis and the danger of paralytic strokes.
The skin usually affords more indications that aid in forming a correct diagnosis than is usually recognized.
If examination were made of the excreta through the pores of an individual during 24 hours, some conclusion might be definitely arrived at as to any germs of disease present in the body and in course of expulsion in this way.
All bacteria incident to detrimental processes proceeding within the human organism, are to be found in the perspiration.
Freckles indicate a certain predisposition inherent in the blood, while some forms of eczema point to the conclusion that there are diseased processes in action within the body.
It is most important under this system to determine the chemical condition of the body in each individual case.
Acids or alkalines prevail. If the former, patients have bad teeth, a disposition to gout, diabetes and cancer. The normal condition is the predominance of alkalines.
In such cases as the former, physiological chemistry will point to the counterbalancing of the acids to establish a correct composition of the blood, and thus to prevent the impending danger. The biological system of health which is rapidly taking the place of all others, is equipped with so searching a knowledge of the human organism that no disease, be it ever so adroitly concealed, can escape its minute attention; not excepting even the disposition to disease.
The old adage is still true that "prevention is better than cure" and the intelligent person will probably recognize the wisdom of so safe and sane a course and endeavor to prevent the evils to which he may be exposed. Thus, for his own satisfaction, if he be wise he will adopt these two simple precautions:
(1) Examination by an accredited hygienic-dietetic physician.
(2) Regulation of his mode of living in accordance with the course prescribed.
The words of the famous Moleschott ring true today, more than in the past, when he said: "One of the principal questions a patient should ask his physician is, how to make good, healthy blood." Experience shows that there is but one method to attain good blood,—that priceless factor upon which our thinking, our feeling, our power and our progeny depend, and that is by means of correct food and nutrition.