DIARRHEA, CHOLERA INFANTUM, OR SUMMER COMPLAINT, AND DYSENTERY.
These diseases are usually considered separately by medical writers but, as they are closely related, a simple diarrhea not unfrequently running into a cholera infantum or a dysentery, we shall consider them together.
Diarrhea is an affection characterized by unnaturally frequent evacuations from the bowels of a liquid of morbidly soft consistency. It may be simple or inflammatory, and acute or chronic.
A diarrhea is said to be bilious when the discharges are composed principally of serum, highly colored with yellow or green bile; catarrhal, when they are of a semi-transparent, mucous character; serous, when the dejections are thin and watery, sometimes mixed with blood, bile, or ingesta.
The symptoms of the affection are usually at first those of indigestion, a fullness of the stomach, flatulency, and colicky pains. The pains, which precede each evacuation, are intermittent in character. There may be an unpleasant sinking sensation in the abdomen, and, with the discharge, exhaustion, a feeble pulse, and a cool skin. In the inflammatory variety, there is more or less fever.
Cholera Infantum, or summer complaint, is a disease peculiar to the warm season, and more prevalent in cities, and among those children who do not nurse at the breast. It is characterized by great irritability of the stomach, and persistent vomiting and purging, the discharges from the bowels being copious and watery, and sometimes containing specks of curd, yellowish-green matter, and mucus. The limbs of the little sufferer are usually drawn up, indicating pain in the bowels, and there is great prostration with cold extremities. The invasion may be so sudden, and the disease so violent as to destroy life in a few hours.
Dysentery, also known as bloody-flux, consists of an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the large intestine, with ulceration of the affected surfaces. The disease is accompanied with much nervous prostration, and is distinguished by severe pains in the abdomen of a griping nature, followed by frequent scanty and bloody stools, and much straining. Occasionally the attack is ushered in with a chill and aching pains in various parts of the body, with copious fecal dejections. In other cases the attack is preceded by loss of appetite, a sense of uneasiness with dull pains in the abdomen, and weariness. The disease, like diarrhea, may be either acute or chronic.
The Causes of these affections of the bowels are many and varied. They may be brought on by exposure to cold and wet, or by improper and indigestible articles of food, such as unripe fruits, salads, pastries, and, in fact, anything which interferes with the normal operations of the digestive apparatus. One of the most fertile sources of diarrhea in infants, and of cholera infantum, is the administration of unsuitable food, the ill effects of which are greatly increased by exposure to heat or cold. Uncleanliness, and the inhalation of impure air, are prolific causes Of these diseases. Epidemics have been supposed to be due to some peculiarity in the condition of the atmosphere, or to some impalpable germ of a vegetable or animal nature.
Treatment. In the treatment of these diseases, one should first endeavor to ascertain the cause of the trouble, and then, if possible, effect its removal. Attention should be given to the hygienic surroundings of the individual afflicted; if he reside in a miasmatic district, or in a location in which the atmosphere is contaminated by the decomposition of animal or vegetable matter, or filled with noxious gases, his abode should be changed. A pure, dry air is most beneficial in these cases.
Only the least irritating and most easily digestible articles of food should be taken. Healthy cow's milk is slightly alkaline, but that of cows fed on slops is usually acid, and unfit for infants. It is, therefore, well to test all milk with blue litmus paper before feeding it to young children. If found to be strongly acid, that is if it turns the paper red, it should be rejected, but if only slightly so, sufficient lime water may be added to render it slightly alkaline. For adults and older children, the diet should consist of such starchy foods as arrow-root, sago, corn starch, and rice, and of ripe grapes, freed from the skins and seeds, peaches, and boiled milk, or milk and lime water. In some cases the animal broths are beneficial, especially mutton broth. To quench the thirst, crust coffee, rice coffee, and lemonade, in small quantities, may be taken.