Physiological principles in treatment / by W. Langdon-Brown.

  • Langdon-Brown, W. (Walter), 1870-1946.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Physiological principles in treatment / by W. Langdon-Brown. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    stimulates growth. Such reactions differ in degree rather than in kind from those of iodothyrin and adrenalin. Abrahams classified thus the inherent apparatus by which the body can defend itself when attacked: 1. The physiological reserve, primarily to combat exhaustion. This is called up in any condition of unusual strain, cardiac hypertrophy being a typical example. 2. The biochemical apparatus, which enables one tissue, when attacked, to appeal to another for assist¬ ance. 3. The nervous mechanism, which, as we have seen, is the latest in evolution, and the swiftest and most com¬ plex in its action. The most essentially vital acts are subserved by a double mechanism. Thus, in heart diseases it is to the physiological reserve and the nervous mechanism that we look, while in digestive disturbances we must rely on the biochemical apparatus and the nervous system. In organo-therapy we are calling the biochemical appara¬ tus to our aid. Now, the substances which produce effects upon the body fall into two groups (Ehrlich). The first are closely allied in their chemical character to proteins, such as the toxins; all are produced by the agency of living organisms. As a result of their introduction, the tissues react by development of an antibody, and are therefore called ‘ antigens.’ The second group include all the common drugs, which probably act on proto-