Blood coughing seems to appear somewhat more frequently with the female sex than with the male and has with them unmistakable relations to menstruation, as with the sick it often sets in before, often after or even during the same and at such times more frequently than at others.
It is of great importance for the layman to know that a hemorrhage rarely leads to inevitable death. Fatal hemorrhages are always preceded by warning attacks. Blood coughing may appear at any stage of consumption. In some cases it is particularly lasting. Sometimes the patients experience considerable relief from their feeling of oppression after a hemorrhage.
A number of the consumptives as a rule complain of difficulty in deglutition. This is caused by ulcers on the posterior wall of the larynx.
With many patients the appetite is undisturbed for a long time, and there are consumptives that will eat a comparatively large dinner during an attack of fever reaching 40° C. Generally the desire to eat disappears during the course of the disease, especially toward the end of the sickness.
The stool may be normal or costive, but is very often diarrhoetic. Twelve or more evacuations may take place during a day; as a rule they are much increased by gasses and are of bad odor. They weaken the patient very much and hasten the end.
One of the most constant attendants during the course of consumption is the Fever. It is rather irregular. In cases of slow process the fever is often very insignificant; often it is only a state of general excitement that takes hold of the patient afternoons, slight dizziness, increased lustre of the eyes, slightly flushed appearance, somewhat increased pulse, which invites to test the temperature of the body by means of a thermometer, which by the way shows it to be about 38° C. With quick consumption the fever is generally high.
Sweat is also a characteristic sign. The exceedingly debilitating effect of night-sweats is well known.
During the course of pulmonary consumption extreme emaciation of the patient is brought about. All tissues are subject to the same, most marked is the disappearance of adipose tissue. This symptom is of the greatest importance as a continued increase in weight means improvement and even cure. Therefore weighing the patient from time to time gives a sure meter for the course of the disease.
The course of pulmonary consumption is very different. With quick consumption the end comes within two or three months. Chronic pulmonary consumption may last for years. With this improvements in the fine season alternate with deterioration in the winter.
Concerning the former treatment of pulmonary consumption, this will also be applied in the future in the same manner as far as preventive means and general hygiene is referred to.