Volume 1

A handbook of the theory and practice of medicine / by Frederick T. Roberts.

  • Roberts, Frederick Thomas, 1839-1918.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of the theory and practice of medicine / by Frederick T. Roberts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    21/500 (page 5)
    what may only predispose at one time may excite at another, and especially is this true when several deleterious influences act to- gether and for a long period. Further, a so-called predisposing cause may only render one organ more liable to be attacked with a certain disease than another; for example, age exercises a marked influence as regards the seat of tubercle or cancer. For the purpose of pointing out the more common causes of disease somewhat in detail, it will be convenient to classify them into:—I. Intrinsic, or those depending upon the individual, in whom they are either inherent or acquired. 2. Extrinsic, or those due to accidental, and chiefly external influences. So far as this is prac- ticable, an endeavour will be made to indicate which may be ranked as predisposing, and which as exciting causes. I. Intrinsic, a. Age.—A number of diseases are more prone to occur at certain periods of life than at others; while some morbid conditions tend to affect different organs at different ages, or even to be limited to special tissues in the same organ. This may often be explained by the nutritive and functional activity of the system generally, or of certain organs, being much greater at one time of life than at another, and therefore the liability either to general or local disease is more marked. Changes of structure also, in the direction of decay, not unfrequently account for the predisposition due to age, as for example, degeneration of the vessels in advanced life rendering them brittle, and thus leading to cerebral haemor- rhage. Young children and persons advanced in years are very subject to ailments of various kinds. b. Sex.—Females are more prone to certain affections than males, and vice versa, while some diseases are necessarily limited to one or olher sex. This depends on the difference in the conditions of certain organs in the two classes of persons, and in the length of outlets (e.g., the urethra); on the functions peculiar to each sex ; on the dissimilarity in habits, occupation, &c ; on the difference in consti- tutional strength and vigour; or on certain peculiarities in the nervous system, women being much more sensitive and excitable, and therefore more liable to various nervous disorders. The pro- portion of deaths is greater among males than females. c. General or Constitutional Condi 'lion. State of Health, <S°<r. A state of general debility, whether congenital or acquired, predisposes to many diseases. Possibly the opposite condition of robustness and vigour may increase the liability to other affections. The condition of the blood has also much influence, plethoric or anaemic individuals being predisposed to many complaints. Previous diseases, espe- cially those of an acute nature, f requently predispose to or excite others, e.g., the various fevers, hooping-cough, lung-affections, rheumatism, and syphilis. Certain symptoms, such as cough, particularly if neglected, may be productive of serious mischief. Habitual neglect in attending to the natural functions, especially those connected with the alimentary canal, very commonly leads to iujurious results. The existence of morbid changes in certain organs or tissues may readily induce or predispose to further lesions in them, or may give rise to diseased conditions in other