Diabetes, mellitus and insipidus / by Andrew H. Smith.

  • Smith Andrew H. (Andrew Heermance), 1837-1910.
Date:
1889
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diabetes, mellitus and insipidus / by Andrew H. Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Albumen may not be present at all times, and many specimens of the urine may be examined before a cast is found. Now in simple polyuria an occasional trace of albumen is common, and now and then a cast is present. It may therefore not be easy to discrim- inate at first sight between a mild case of polyuria and a severe one of contracted kidney. The history of the case, the period of life (contracted kidney occurring generally after 40 years of age), the absence or minor degree of arterial tension and of hypertrophy of the left ventricle in diabetes insipidus, the absence of the eye-changes of chronic nephritis, these will seldom leave the differential diagnosis long in doubt. Surgical affections of the prostate and bladder, and surgical kidney, though giving rise to increased secretion of urine, have their own distinctive features which can scarcely be overlooked. Prognosis.—Diabetes insipidus is rarely cured, though it sometimes ceases spontaneously. It has been known to cease during pregnancy and not to recur after delivery. A severe pneumonia has in more than one instance had a like happy result. Death when due directly to the disease occurs by exhaustion. This may take place in as short a period as four months, or only after many years. Those cases in which excessive appetite is developed show a more profound derangement of the vital pro- cesses and are more fatal. Usually life is terminated by some inter-current affection.