Dysmenorrhoea / by Robert Bell.

  • Bell, Robert, 1845-1926.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dysmenorrhoea / by Robert Bell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    30/36 (page 24)
    accounts for every case; but as during the past five years close upon looo cases of this disorder have been treated by me, and as I have found that most of these have been the subjects of endometritis, and it was only when this was removed that the painful symptoms disappeared, it cannot be a matter of surprise that my convictions are what I have expressed. The cause of metritis may, and most assuredly does, proceed from a variety of sources. It may, and fre- quently does, arise from an atonic state of the system at large, inducing flaccidity of the uterine walls, and, moreover, interfering with the circulation in the uterus by diminishing the heart's power. If atony of the heart exists, then the uterus, from its anatomical relation to the neighbouring parts, is the first or one of the first organs to suffer, so that in the treatment of all uterine disorders it becomes of necessity a part of our plan of action to take means to restore the general health simultaneously with our efforts to relieve the local symptoms. A first duty, then, is to take particular note of the condition of the bowels, for if these be inactive we have present a common source of ansemia and bad health, in young women especially. Not only does a sluggish action of the colon act mechanically by interfering with the circulation in the pelvis, but in not a few instances by actually displacing the uterus. It also permits of a constant absorption of foetid matter into the blood which destroys the health and even the vitality of the red corpuscles, thus reducing their num- ber and quality. By this not only is the blood de- teriorated, but through it the nervous system is injured.