On the influence of the Alpine climates on pulmonary consumption / by Hermann Weber.

  • Weber, Hermann, 1823-1918.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the influence of the Alpine climates on pulmonary consumption / by Hermann Weber. 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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    ness or mistiness of the atmosphere; the number of clear or rainy days; the quantity of rain and snow; the degree of humidity of the air; and many other circumstances, no doubt, exercise some influence. As the Swiss Society of Naturalists has appointed a committee to inquire into the occurrence of consumption in the various parts of Switzerland, and as the same Society has meteorological stations all over the country, it may be anticipated that gradually some of the circumstances influencing or counteracting the occurrence of consumption may be elucidated. As it has been repeatedly shown that consumptive diseases, in their earlier stages, are favourably influenced by the removal of the patient to higher elevations, it appears surprising that this plan of treatment has been almost entirely disregarded by the medical men of Europe. I will, therefore, shortly discuss the principal objections met with in conversa- tion with men of deservedly high reputation in our profession. 1. The low temperature and the roughness of the Alpine climate during the greater part of the year are usually regarded as hostile to the delicate constitution of the consumptive patient. Cold, however, is in itself surely no cause of phthisis, which, in some of the most northern parts, is rarer than in the South of Europe. The popular prejudice against cold may, perhaps, be understood, by considering that cold in- duces delicate people to remain indoors, and keep their doors and win- - dows closed, and that it often prevents the poor from gaining their livelihood; that it, therefore, gives rise indirectly to the most powerful causes of consumption; viz., confinement in ill-ventilated rooms, insuf- ficient exercise and imperfect breathing, scanty clothing, and want of proper food. With more reason we might say, that cold in itself coun- teracts the tendency to consumption where there is a sufficiency of food and clothing, for it causes an increased abstraction of heat from the body, to supply which the respiratory action must be proportionately increased and the expansion of the lungs promoted, which latter is one of the greatest prophylactics against consumption. 2. A second objection often raised is, that the rarefied air of elevated localities increases the tendency .to haemoptysis. It probably owes its origin to the description of great ascents by Saussure, Humboldt, and others; but these climbers were in conditions very different from those of the invalid gently walking about near his temporary mountain resi- dence. Those who have ascended high mountains, and especially steep snow-slopes, without being in thorough training for such work, wll re- member the violent beating of the heart and the throbbing of the carotid and temporal arteries, which might, one should think, easily lead to rupture of the vi^eak vessels; yet, how rarely such a ru]Dture actually does occur, how seldom any bleeding from the nose or mouth takes place, all those can testify who are in the habit of spending tiieir holida)'s on the Swiss mountains. Some of the famous guide.i who constantly ac- company the great Alpine climbers tell us that they have rarely, others that they have never, seen those much talked of bleedings, either in their fellow-guides or in their enteqjrising patrons. It may, therefore, be concluded that this supposed effect of rarefied air has been much exaggerated; but, even if it were to occur amongst active climbers, this ought not to deter the quiet invalid sojourning in elevated valleys. One of the most frequent causes of pulmonary hxmorrhage is probably the rapid breaking down of lung-tissue, and through this the lesion of blood- vessels before they have been obliterated; and circumstances favouring such a process are likely to increase the tendency to pulmonary ha;mor- rhage, while those unfavour.ible to it diminish the tendency; and I trust that such an influence may sooner or later be accorded to well selected Al|iine climates. But, a]5art from reasoning, let iis see what experience leaches. Dr.