Albuminuria, with and without dropsy : its different forms, pathology, and treatment / by George Harley, M.D., F.R.S.

  • Harley, George, 1829-1896.
Date:
1866
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Albuminuria, with and without dropsy : its different forms, pathology, and treatment / by George Harley, M.D., F.R.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    the mercurial fcotor of the breath becomes distinct, for such patients do not readily tolerate the reducing action of mercury. It will be often necessary to combine with this treatment the administration of port wine and light nutritious foods. Atrophied kidney must be treated upon the general prin- ciples already enunciated, and, of course, it is one of the most suitable of all renal affections for increasing the action of the skin and lungs. In it, as well as in all cases of confirmed albuminuria, we may occasionally be able to prolong the life of our patient from the free action of the skin being periodically induced by the Turkish bath, and when that cannot be obtained the hot vapour bath may often be substituted with advantage, care being always taken to employ the bath periodically and at short intervals ; for then alone can we expect advantangeously to make the skin vicariously perform the function of the renal organs. In the latter stages of atrophied kidney, as well as in the fatty and waxy forms of kidney disease, the symptoms of uraemic poisoning may sometimes be diminished by admi- nistering small doses of tartar emetic. Indeed, Dr. Lang, of Konigsberg, recommends the use of tartarised antimony in the urffimia that follows acute exanthematous diseases.(h) Regarding puerperal albuminuria, sufficient has already been said to serve as a guide to its treatment. All that need here be repeated is, that premature labour ought only to be had recourse to in those forms where the pregnancy is asso- ciated with true kidney disease, or w'here there is reason to anticipate the occurrence of convulsions either at or before the time of delivery. Premature labour may also successfully be had recourse to in the earlier months of pregnancy, when (h) Brit. Med. Jour., Jan. 21, 1859.