Dyspepsia

“ Two Diseases Closely Associated.—Chronic dyspepsia is almost invariably associated with the diseases of women. Indeed, the two seem almost inseparable, for whenever you find a woman complaining of soreness across the lower part of the bowels, irregular menstruation, ovarian irritation, inflammation of the bladder, leucorrhœa, etc., you will find a confirmed dyspeptic. The blood is thin and watery, the bowels are constipated, and the whole nervous system seems to be upset. ”

“ Armstrong, "the most constant symptoms of dyspepsia, are a furred tongue, flatulence of the stomach, and fretfulness, or depression of spirits;" he goes on to say, "these may arise primarily from disorder or disease in the stomach itself, or they may depend upon an affection of the brain, liver, bowels, or some other remote or adjacent part." The nature of dyspepsia depends totally upon its cause, and where so many circumstances may occasion it, it is difficult to imagine one more variable. ”

“ The general tendency of American life is also in the direction of a highly-developed and morbidly sensitive nervous system, and functional dyspepsia is a natural sequence of this. The symptoms of dyspepsia thus caused usually manifest themselves at an early period of life.
Age also predisposes to weak digestion. The stomach becomes weak as age advances, in common with all the functions of the body, and consequent upon this weakness there is diminished excitability of the gastric nerves, with diminished muscular action of the walls of the stomach and deficient secretion of the gastric juice. ”

“ It is stated, in this work, that dyspepsia is Protean in its symptoms, but single and uniform in its nature; the very reverse is the fact; its symptoms are of a single character, and of an uniform attack, while its nature is variable and inconstant. A dyspeptic [Pg 237] will complain of a want of appetite, a degree of squeamishness and irritability, eructations, heart-burn, pain in the head, stomach, and bowels, with costiveness; his tongue will be furred, and his pulse a little increased in strength and quickness. ”

“ The symptoms of uterine dyspepsia may vary greatly in intensity, but not infrequently become so severe as to disturb very seriously the general health of the woman so affected. They may be enumerated as follows: The appetite in uterine dyspepsia is variable, but is generally good; the tongue is not usually coated to any great extent, nor does the mucous membrane of the mouth commonly exhibit any notable change; pain in the epigastrium is common after meals, with acid eructations and heartburn (pyrosis) ”

“ Rickets, mucous disease, lienteric diarrhoea, infantilism, prolapse of the rectum, and infection with thread-worms are common complications. No doubt children with primary dyspepsia are often nervous and restless, and the elements of infection and of neurosis are frequently combined. Yet often we meet with cases in which the gastric or intestinal disturbance comes near to being a pure neurosis. The nutrition, then, seldom suffers to any very great extent, or to a degree in any way comparable to that which is characteristic of dyspepsia from other causes. ”

“ People who dine at uncertain hours, and eat one meal too quickly on the last, must expect the stomach to retaliate in the long run. A very fruitful cause of dyspepsia is imperfect mastication. We remember one old gentleman who used always to warn young people on this point by saying: "Remember you have no teeth in your stomach." Nervous people nearly always eat fast, and as nearly always are the victims of nervous irritability, produced by dyspepsia....To sit much in a stooping posture interferes with the stomach's action. ”

“ As the lungs are lifted they throw the shoulders apart and broaden the back as much as they fill the chest; that the first step in curing dyspepsia is to lift the vital organs sufficiently high in the body; that he has never known a case of chronic dyspepsia where the stomach was as high as it ought to be, while at the same time the person had proper nourishment; that the vital organs are developed by exercising the muscles which surround the vital organs ”

“ Although this was described on the wrapper as “for dyspepsia” so many disorders were stated to be due to this cause, and amenable to treatment with this preparation, that it may fairly be included in this chapter. On the other side of the wrapper it was called “A cure for impurities of the blood,” and “A cure for dyspepsia and liver complaints.” In a circular enclosed with the bottle it was stated:
The symptoms mentioned above are the smoke of the fire of indigestion—a fire that will eat out your very vitals and sap your strength and vitality. ”

“ A great many women suffer with a form of indigestion or dyspepsia which does not seem to yield to ordinary medical treatment. While the symptoms seem to be similar to those of ordinary indigestion, yet the medicines universally prescribed do not seem to restore the patient's normal condition. Mrs. Pinkham claims that there is a kind of dyspepsia that is caused by derangement of the female organism, and which while it causes disturbance similar to ordinary indigestion cannot be relieved without a medicine which not only acts as a stomach tonic, but has peculiar utero-tonic effects as well ”

“ By gastralgia, considered as a distinct affection, however, we mean a purely neuralgic condition of the sensory fibres of the stomach, excluding inflammatory and structural changes on the one hand and chronic forms of atonic dyspepsia on the other. The attacks are usually periodical in character, with constricting pain in the pit of the stomach, and the intervals are not necessarily associated with symptoms of dyspepsia. It chiefly occurs in females of nervous temperament at the catamenial periods. ”

“ But though one may not be quite up to the mark in judging of the significance of these numerous species of bitters, one at all events is able to understand the constant complaints of Americans themselves on the subject of their health. One never elsewhere met with people who so frequently impart to you the information [Pg 79] that they are suffering from dyspepsia. They do things in America on a big scale, and here they have a bigger amount of dyspepsia than any other country in the world. ”

“ Dyspepsia may commence and proceed so insidiously as not to excite the suspicion of friends, although the patient generally desires active treatment, such as cathartics, emetics, and medicines to act upon the liver. When the disease becomes confirmed, it presents some of the following symptoms: Weight, uneasiness, and fullness in the region of the stomach, attended by impatience, irritability, sluggishness, anxiety, and melancholy; there is impairment of the appetite and taste, also sourness, flatulency, and, perhaps, frequent attacks of colic, loss of hope, courage, and energy ”

“ The tongue in dyspeptic troubles varies much in character. In reflex sympathetic indigestion it is not unfrequently clean; in hepatic dyspepsia it is generally thickly coated with a white or yellow fur. The symptoms are such as pertain more especially to chronic gastro-duodenal catarrh, such as nausea, epigastric oppression, furred tongue, heartburn, acid eructations, flatulent distension of the stomach and bowels, unpleasant taste in the mouth, offensive breath, loaded urine, frontal headache, irritability, and hypochondriasis. ”

“ One doctor writes:
"What makes dyspepsia so hard to cure? This very alcohol taking. The best cure is to refuse all alcoholic drinks, at meals and all other times, and drink nothing but water."
The causes of dyspepsia are various; errors of diet being the most common. Others are mental worry, care and anxiety, and the use of drugs. An eminent writer upon this disease says:—
"My main object in the treatment is to prevent the sufferers from resorting to drugs, which in such cases, not only produce their own morbid conditions, but also confirm those already existing. ”

“ Give to that organ, habitually, what is exactly right for it, both as regards quality and quantity, and I do not believe we shall hear any more, in this world, about dyspepsia.
But he who would confine his stomach to food which his head tells him is right, will not surely put mince pie into it. He must know that such a strange compound, however agreeable, will in the end be destructive, not only of health, but of gustatory enjoyment.
The mince pie dyspeptic is just the man for quackery to feed upon. ”

“ The symptoms of dyspepsia, even when due to a like cause, are so numerous and diversified in different individuals that probably no description could exactly represent them as they occur in any given case. All that can be here attempted is to mention some of the more prominent morbid phenomena usually present in greater or less degree.
Very briefly, a furred tongue, foul breath, disturbance of appetite, nausea and vomiting, oppression in the chest, pain, flatulence and distension, acidity, pyrosis and constipation or diarrhoea are a few of the commonest symptoms. ”

“ The consequence is, the blood is not properly purified, and often, from this cause, ulcers form in the lungs. Tight dressing is one of the most frequent causes of consumption and dyspepsia, for dyspepsia is often brought on by such tightness of dress, that the stomach and the other organs around it, are impeded in their duties.
It is very important for health, that persons who labour should have enough sleep, and it is also important that they do not sleep too much. If they do not sleep enough, the strength and health slowly decay, and if they sleep too much, the same effect is produced. ”

“ Symptoms.—Persons suffering from chronic dyspepsia complain of a bad taste in the mouth, dry throat, nausea, and a feeling of great weight in the stomach for an hour or two after each meal.
Frequently there is no appetite whatever, or it may be even more ravenous than natural because of the irritation and inflammation in the stomach. When the latter is the case, food does not satisfy, and it becomes necessary to eat every two or three hours in order to quiet the gnawing and empty feeling in the stomach. The chronic dyspeptic suffers greatly from nervousness and depression of spirits ”

“ The treatment of dyspepsia depends less on medicine than on the adoption of regular habits of life. Moderation in eating, drinking, and the indulgence of the passions; early rising, due exercise, and retiring to rest at an early hour, will do much to restore the tone both of the stomach and nerves. ”

“ Many young men waste away and die of symptoms resembling consumption which are solely the result of the loathsome practice of self-abuse. The real number of consumptives whose disease originates in this manner can never be known.
Dyspepsia.—Indigestion is frequently one of the first results. Nervous exhaustion is always felt by the stomach very promptly. When dyspepsia is once really established, it reacts upon the genital organs, increasing their irritability as well as that of all the rest of the nervous system. ”

“ The constitutional causes which may produce the disease are numerous, and are worthy of careful study as bearing directly upon the treatment. Disorders of the digestive tract, including dyspepsia in its many forms and constipation, are not infrequently found to be the exciting cause of an attack, while faulty excretion through the several emunctories, and the existence of a gouty or rheumatic disposition, may all prove potent factors. ”

“ The manifestations of dyspepsia in the aged do not vary materially from those of adults, but the causes are somewhat different; the treatment is conceived on a plan based on the age and life-long habits of the patient. An aged stomach is not an active stomach. ”

“ Her disease was chronic dyspepsia: the stomach was so irritable that it could seldom retain anything—at least a portion of even the smallest ordinary ration would be ejected—the liver was very much congested and enlarged; the bowels were obstinately constipated; there was extreme emaciation, and but little strength, though, generally, great good nature and cheerfulness in spite of her ailments. Had been taking chloral for wakefulness, and iron and strychnine as a tonic. She took no medicine after becoming my patient. ”

“ In most cases it is found very helpful to separate the protein from the farinaceous food, and the more severe the dyspepsia the more thoroughly should this be done, only relaxing as the dyspepsia yields. No fluid should be drunk at meal-times, but from one to two tumblers of hot water should be drunk from an hour to an hour and a half before food. This washes any remnant of the last meal from the stomach, and also supplies material for the free secretion of saliva and gastric juice, thus promoting and accelerating digestion. ”

“ Chronic dyspepsia, by weakening the organism, renders it more liable to fall a prey to the attacks of the tubercle bacillus, but, on the other hand, the tuberculous lesion in the lung is often accompanied by a most intractable form of dyspepsia. ”

“ Dyspepsia is not an infrequent sequel, as would necessarily be the case after a disease characterized by so much gastric irritation and by such serious lesions of the liver and spleen. As a consequence, care in diet is often required for a considerable period after the course of the disease has ended; dyspeptic symptoms are frequently complained of, and marked emaciation and anæmia often protract convalescence. ”

“ In many cases of gastric ulcer the appetite is not disturbed, but the patient refrains from eating on account of the pain caused by taking food. Among the so-called sympathetic symptoms of dyspepsia are headache, dizziness, depression of spirits, oppression in the chest, and irregularity of the heart's action. Dyspepsia contributes its share to the production of the anæmia and of the loss of flesh and strength which are present in some degree in most cases of chronic gastric ulcer. ”