Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with ichthyol / by William Odell.

  • Odell, William, 1851-1925.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis with ichthyol / by William Odell. 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.

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    patients I also give malt and oil, and this, with the good and and wholesome food provided, helps to increase the weight—one patient, recently, having gained 16 pounds in eight weeks. The patients at the Western Hospital are encouraged to eat as much as they like, but forced feeding is not adopted, and, besides the ordinary meals, there is an abundant supply of milk provided. In private practice, I very often prescribe the tablets of iron and Ichthyol sent out by Messrs. Hermanni in boxes of 50, and I have seen very good results from this form of treatment, notably in cases of enlarged tuberculous cervical glands, but it is very seldom that the same accurate observations can be made in private as in Hospital practice. On this point, Professor Koch, in his original monograph on “Tuberculin,” says: “In several cases I have had a decided impression that the nursing of the patients had a very considerable influence in the result of the treatment. For this reason I strongly advocate the use of the remedy in proper institutions, where careful observations can be carried out, in preference to the treatment at home, or as an out-patient.” This statement of Professor Koch applies to every form of treat- ment, including that with Ichthyol. The value of Ichthyol to the Dermatologist is established beyond expectation, and its usefulness in gynecology is admitted by all, and in most diseases it seems to have a beneficial effect to a greater or less extent; but, to my mind, in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis there is no better auxiliary to “open- air treatment ” than Ichthyol, and, if my hastily written paper is the means of directing attention to the value of the drug in this form of disease, I shall be more than satisfied.