Nerve prostration and other functional disorders of daily life / by Robson Roose.

  • Roose, Edward Charles Robson.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Nerve prostration and other functional disorders of daily life / by Robson Roose. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

    131/734 (page 105)
    anzemic. Unless this comparatively anaemic condition of the brain exists, normal sleep is impossible. The quality of the sleep is a matter of great importance. Sound sleep for a few hours is more refreshing than sleep for a much longer time, but interrupted by periods of restlessness. Causes.—The causes of sleeplessness are many and various, but increased activity of the cerebral circulatioti is the result which most of them produce. Thus, in many cases the immoderate use of alcohol, coffee, tea, or tobacco is a direct preventive of sleep. Another, and a common cause of sleeplessness, is the accumulation in the blood of imperfectly oxidised materials, while the alkalinity of the fluid is at the same time lessened. These conditions are frequent in gouty subjects, and especially in those whose kidneys are affected. 1 he cardiac hypertrophy, so common in these cases, is associated with excessive tension in the cerebral arteries, which, in its turn, is directly antagonistic to the advent of sleep. The effect of an attack of indiges- tion in preventing sleep is well known ; it is produced in a twofold manner, a distended stomach interferes with the heart s action, and imperfectly assimilated products present in the blood cause cerebral hyperaemia and probably irritate the cerebral cells. Sleeplessness is a common symptom of neurasthenia (see p. 40), and often causes much distress in this com- plaint. Little or no improvement is effected until sleep is restored, i he sleeplessness is probably due to exhaustion