CHAPTER XV
DISEASES OF THE RESPIRATORY TRACT
TUBERCULOSIS, PNEUMONIA, AND TONSILLITIS
TUBERCULOSIS
The dietetic treatment for tuberculosis must, as in any other pathological condition, depend largely upon the general condition of the patient, and the symptoms manifested at the time.
Character of Disease.—The disease may have reached an acute stage in which the rise of temperature is marked and the progress of the tuberculous symptoms rapid, or it may be found to be an old chronic condition in which the progress is slow.
Again, the patient may be found to be suffering from a tuberculosis which is neither acute nor very slow. Each of these stages requires slightly different treatment which, however, for the main part is much the same.
Individuals having an incipient form of tuberculosis have been known to develop an acute form of the disease upon being subjected to a strenuous treatment for some other and entirely different condition. This has been especially noticeable in certain individuals to whom the starvation treatment is given.
Dietetic Treatment in Acute Stage.—The dietetic treatment of the acute tuberculosis under such circumstances must necessarily be adapted to that of the original disease for which starvation was believed to be necessary. The forbidden foods must still be omitted from the dietary, but in these cases it is found advisable not to prolong the starvation treatment but to substitute foods which will do the least harm under the circumstances. This is necessary to cover the energy requirements of the body and to make good the tissue wasted through the development of the specific disease.
Dietetic Treatment in Chronic Stage.—The diet for tuberculosis has been so widely discussed and so universally used that a few words only seem necessary here. One of the chief points to be emphasized is the danger arising from gastro-intestinal disturbances. The digestive apparatus of the tuberculous individual is more apt to be impaired, so that any undue exertion required to digest a meal is likely to bring about disturbances more or less serious in character.
Method of Administering Diet.—For this reason it is no longer the custom to stuff the patient in an effort to overcome the inevitable tissue waste, since such treatment in many cases defeats the end for which it was intended, bringing on acute indigestion, or at times diarrhea, which might readily cause a greater loss of body weight than could possibly be produced by the surplus food given.