The common forms of gastroenteritic neuroses : their aetiology and treatment / by Anthony Bassler.

  • Bassler, Anthony, 1874-
Date:
1908 [i.e. 1909]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The common forms of gastroenteritic neuroses : their aetiology and treatment / by Anthony Bassler. 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.

    4/12 (page 4)
    * Bassler: Gastroenteritic Neuroses. In considering the subject of digestive neuroses which have a primary or more important seat in the general body, a much broader and interesting field of factors is encountered. For the primary under- standing of these, all irregular processes pertaining to the general body must be viewed as a cause mani- festing its main force upon the most vulnerable point of the human economy—the gastroenteron. In broad divisions I shall consider these under the head- ings of nutritional, toxic, reflex, and psychic causes, since into these groups they may be clinically divided. The nutritional neuroses are those digestive dis- turbances which ensue from abnormal states of nu- trition of the general nervous system. Such ab- normal states could develop from habitual insuffi- cient intake of food, deficient absorption of same, low vitality states from excessive physical or men- tal work, or abnormal catabolic conditions of the general system. Naturally, in many cases which ap- pear mainly nutritional, toxic causes must also be figured in the makeup of factors. But since clinical- ly, any rightful deduction from results in therapy, the- nutritional side deserves first consideration, be- cause for the best results in the treatment of the case the toxic causes may be considered as of sec- ondary importance. In many “dyspeptics,” in men who are too busy to eat, and women who eat freakishly, states of sub- nutrition are common. It is often a difficult matter to diagnosticate such states of underfeeding in any definite way, because in appearance many of these patients look quite well nourished, and such a condi- tion might not be suspected until you obtain history details of the quantities, time, and quality of food that is customarily partaken of. In this group of cases, it is an interesting fact that the subjective