There is generally, also, a sense of constriction in the throat—as of a choking by the clutch of a hand—and sometimes regurgitation of food, intense pains around the heart or in the epigastrium—with flatulence, eructations, and hiccough.
A very common symptom is the so-called "girdle," a sensation as though a rope or band were tightly drawn around the body at the waist. One of the earliest noticeable symptoms is the want of co-ordination—ataxia. This is most pronounced in the lower extremities, and is responsible for the unsteadiness of ataxics in walking or standing.
The gait in ataxia is staggering—resembling somewhat the inco-ordination of a man under the influence of alcohol, and there is an exaggerated lifting of the feet and legs with each step. The normal "knee-jerk" reflex—that quick jerk of the foot and lower leg that follows a sharp blow struck below the knee when the leg is held free—is generally abolished. In fact, this failure of the reflexes is usually one of the earliest diagnostic symptoms.
Later in the disease the sphincters of the bladder and the anus lose their power to contract, and there is incontinence of both urine and feces.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DIET
As with any other disease in which there are serious trophic changes, and the generation within the system of toxic products from food decay, it is absolutely indispensable in ataxia to observe the utmost care in the selection of the diet. The food should be light, but nutritious—nourishing and strengthening the system, without, at the same time, putting too great a tax upon the organs of digestion and assimilation.
Particular care should be taken to insure daily movements of the bowels, and to see that the kidneys are flushed with a plentiful supply of water drunk each day.
LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA—THE REMEDY
The generally accepted opinion among medical men is that locomotor ataxia is an incurable disease, and that there is little or nothing that any form of treatment can accomplish that will tend to restore function—or even to arrest the course of the disease, and postpone its fatal termination.