Outlines of the diseases of women / by John Phillips.

  • Phillips, John.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of the diseases of women / by John Phillips. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    81/332 (page 61)
    DEVIATIONS FROM NORMAL MENSTRUATION. Under this heading may be included : (1) Amenorrhcea—or absence of menstruation. (2) Vicarious Menstruation. (3) Dysmenorrhea—painful or difficult menstruation. (4) Menorrhagia—or excessive loss during menstruation (Chap. VI.). (1) Amenorrhcea. By this term we mean a non-appearance or cessation of the monthly illness during a woman's sexual life—i.e., between puberty and the menopause. Although it should be treated as a symptom rather than as disease in itself, it will be found more convenient to consider it here. Amenorrhcea is usually divided into two classes : (a) pri- mitive, where the flow has never appeared; (b) secondary or accidental, where although the flow has appeared it has become suppressed. The author, however, has preferred to classify the various forms of amenorrhcea by their mode of causation. For the proper performance of menstruation we must have the uterus, ovaries, tubes, and vagina normal in anatomy and function; the blood must be in a healthy state, and the tone of the nervous system, especially that of the vaso-motor, within proper limits. The causes of amenorrhcea may therefore be divided into four classes: i. Congenital.—The uterus may be absent or rudimentary; the ovaries, however, being normal. The converse of this may be the case—viz., a normal uterus with rudimentary ovaries; entire absence of the ovaries is extremely rare. The infantile type may persist in both uterus and ovaries throughout life. Atresia of the cervix (p. 130), the vagina (p. 106), or the vulva (imperforate hymen) (p. 104) will be considered under their separate heads. ii. Acquired—(a) Local: atresia of the genital canal, more particularly of the vagina, may occur as the result of adhesions