The diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases : a practical treatise for students and practitioners of medicine / by George M. Niles.

  • Niles, George McCallum, 1864-
Date:
[1914], ©1914
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases : a practical treatise for students and practitioners of medicine / by George M. Niles. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    testines, or is the reflection of a disturbed mentality, it is a thing of reality to the patient; otherwise, he would not come for relief. He is naturally unable to differentiate between important and unimportant symptoms—all are important to him; and a lack of interest from the one to whom he has come for aid may impair confidence at the start, and greatly handicap the most worthy efforts. Again, the attitude of the physician toward the patient should be as far as possible optimistic. In no class of diseases, other than those purely mental, is there such a tendency toward pessimism, low spirits, or even a settled gloom, as in the digestive troubles. The sour-appearing dyspeptic, with his complaints and grumblings, his warped viewpoint of life, and his mournful introspection, has become a familiar and classic picture. These sad-visaged sufferers nearly always come with a ready-made diagnosis, whose basic supports may be built upon the most nebulous foundations, but who cannot be swerved from their false ideas by rough tactics. No matter how foolish some of these ideas may appear to the trained intellect of the medical man, or how bizarre the fancies, they must be met as if they were real pathologic entities, not ridiculed nor scoffed at. These varied symptoms do not necessarily denote a weak mentality. It appears that digestive distress, when long drawn out, affects all grades of intelligence with an almost equal blight. It seemingly spares no one. Thus, to as- sume that a patient is weak minded, because he gives way to depression and food-fear as a result of dyspepsia, is in the vast majority of instances absolutely incorrect and unjust. Furthermore, there are few cases of chronic indigestion that can be successfully managed by medical and dietetic measures alone, if administered in a routine manner, unaccompanied by any moral propulsive power. The dynamics of medicine and the dynamics of mind cannot be disassociated. It is, therefore, necessary at the very beginning of the treatment to get in close touch with the