Volume 1

Health lectures for the people.

Date:
1883-1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Health lectures for the people. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    631/896 (page 165)
    Rheumatism. This is a disorder almost as general as a common cold, and is particularly frequent in cold damp places. In fact, so prevalent is it in some districts that the term rheumatic has been applied to it, either because of the great number of inhabitants so afflicted, or because a new comer to such district is pretty sure to become a victim to this painful affection. But it is not by any means confined to certain districts. Everywhere, in this cold, damp, variable climate of ours, we find numerous examples of it. Neither is it confined to persons of any special rank in life, but in every class of society, in both sexes, and at all ages, you find people complaining of this unpleasant ailment. And the worst of it is, that when once it has fairly laid hold of an individual, he is never sure when he may be free of the enemy. It has a most un- pleasant faculty of returning to visit its old haunts. The fact is, that one attack, so far from giving immunity from a second, as is the case in many of the acute infectious disorders, seems to pre- dispose to the onset of another. There are varieties of this disorder—the acute, or rheumatic fever, the subacute, and the chronic. About the first two I have nothing to say this evening. They are major ailments, and the acute variety often leaves behind it serious effects and a damaged constitution. It always demands most careful supervision of the rnedical attendant. As most people are aware who have suffered from rheu- matism, the parts of the body most commonly selected for the attack are the joints, muscles, and fibrous structures, and unfortunately for the patient, these attacks which give rise to so much pain are often most troublesome at night, and interfere most materially with the night's rest. There is, however, another form of chronic rheumatism which, on the contrary, is charac- terised by the affected parts feeling somewhat cold, as well as stiff and painful, and which sensations are much aggravated by damp cold weather, and are relieved by warmth and the heat of the bed. This variety is spoken of as cold rheumatism.