Contributions to practical medicine / by James Begbie.

  • Begbie, James, 1798-1869.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Contributions to practical medicine / by James Begbie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    attack of the disease often comes on suddenly and unexpect- edly in the midst of apparently perfect health, and in the full play of vigorous exertion; yet, I have never known one so seized who did not acknowledge that at a period not very distant, and for a time not very limited, he had heen affected with precursors which to a less unsuspecting and more expe- rienced eye foretold the coming invasion. He may at the moment have forgotten, but his memory can readily recall, the sufferings he lately endured in connection with stomach and nervous derangement, and he will he able to speak of the pain, and the acidity and flatulence of a recent indisposition, and descant on the fluttering and irregularity of the heart's action, and on the disturbance of sleep, and irritability of tem- per which accompanied them ; nor will he have failed to re- mark the state of the bowels, and the lateritious sediment of the urine, on the occasion referred to,—symptoms which, in all probability, are about to be renewed, if not already existing in connection with his present attack. The gouty diathesis being once developed, the attentive observer will discover many indications of constitutional dis- order which are referable to it. Besides the dyspeptic symp- toms usually recognized, there is often observed remarkable irregularity in the heart's action, accompanied by painful un- easiness over the left side of the chest, and pangs shooting occasionally to the shoulder and arm, similating very closely those of angina pectoris, and rendering it difficult or impos- sible for the patient to lie on the affected side. There is also in most cases much mental uneasiness and hypochondriacal depression, the patient manifesting undue anxiety as to the nature and issue of his ailments, and much peevishness and fretfulness to all concerned in the treatment of them. Along with these dyspeptic and nervous symptoms there is often remarked a peculiar aura or rapid twittering motion under the skin, as it were, chiefly in the back and limbs. I have