Hereditary hypoplasia in man, due to degeneracy : the underlying basis of those cases having a hereditary origin, and the relation of this underlying cause to the functional neuroses, tuberculosis, infections and immunity / Charles P. Noble.

  • Noble, Charles P. (Charles Percy), 1863-1935.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Hereditary hypoplasia in man, due to degeneracy : the underlying basis of those cases having a hereditary origin, and the relation of this underlying cause to the functional neuroses, tuberculosis, infections and immunity / Charles P. Noble. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    6/12 (page 6)
    there is a general appearance of lassitude and languor, due to lack of tone and to poor nutrition of the liga- ments and of the muscles and of the fasciae of the body. The form of the vertebral column is altered, its curves are changed. This change lessens the capacity of the chest and alters the configuration of the abdominal cav- ity. To speak first of the abdominal cavity: This change in form alters the direction in which intra- abdominal pressure exerts its force. Added to this is the lack of ione in the muscles of the abdomen, and these two factors, acting in concert on the viscera of the abdomen and pelvis, with their suspensory liga- ments and the other structures which directly support them, themselves feel the influence of the primary de- fect in the ovum and so have lax tissues, which yield insufficient support—bring about visceral ptosis. The result in the chest is that, owing to the abnormal con- figuration of the bones, there is less room for the lungs, and, owing to the hypoplasia of the ribs and of the mus- cles of respiration and of the nerves and nerve centers which control respiration, there is defective respiration. These factors, together with the hypoplasia of the lung tissues, make this group peculiarly susceptible to the invasion of the Bacillus tuberculosis; and so it has long been recognized that such people—that is, those having such a configuration of their bodies—are liable to this disease—consumption, or tuberculosis. It is noted above that the women belonging to this group are peculiarly liable to the development of puer- peral infection. I have long observed that these women are especiallv liable; also that those on whom I have operated for dropped kidney, and the nervous group of which we have been speaking, have been especially liable to develop infection of the urinary tract from cathe- terization following operations. Now we see that the same group, as has been known for years, are peculiarly liable to develop consumption. What is the explana- tion? We must go back to the primary defect in the ovum which results in what was formerly called low tissue resistance to infection, or. as it is now stated, a low opsonic index: that is to say, that unknown some- thing, in the blood plasma, which enables the individ- ual through the action of the so-called opsonins to lessen the virulence of the infecting organism. Is not this, in part, the explanation of the nature of infec-