Appendicitis: The Etiology, Hygenic and Dietetic TreatmentTilden, J. H. (John Henry)
Science
Appendicitis: The Etiology, Hygenic and Dietetic Treatment
Tilden, J. H. (John Henry)
Appendicitis
These patients are so comfortable after the second or third day that
it is hard to make them or their friends believe that they have
appendicitis People are so afraid that they will starve to death if
they have no food for a few days that they make haste to get put on
a killing treatment rather than run any risk. This fear is absurd
Physicians are largely to blame for this popular ear, for those who
do not feed by mouth still have the idea that their patients must
have nourishment, so they feed by rectum. This is also absurd. What
the patient needs is rest, and the more complete the rest the
quicker the recovery. Give the patient all the water he wants.
The bowels will move in fourteen to twenty eight days from the
beginning of the attack. Then the fast can be broken by giving a
glass of hot milk, which is to be chewed well, or given in the form
of junket; this is to be repeated three times a day for a week, or
give the milk twice a day and a plate of mutton broth for the third
meal. I do not give solid food because there is a large abscess
cavity opening into the bowels, and if solid food is given before it
has time to close, it is liable to find its way into this cavity,
thereby preventing healing, and bringing on a chronic condition that
will ultimately end in death. The less food taken for one week after
the discharge takes place, the better. Any rational individual
should see that withholding food is the proper treatment. Milk
should be thoroughly mixed with saliva or not taken at all. Remember
that if milk is not taken with great deliberation, and great care
given to _thoroughly insalivate each sip, then it amounts to the
same thing as eating solid food._
Milk is a solid food when taken into the stomach as a beverage or a
drink like water.
In appendicitis all nature cries out for rest, and if it is given 99
out of every 100 cases will get well and there will be no suffering
and no danger after the first seventy-two hours.
The ordinary physician sends for a surgeon, and if he is a victim of
the surgical mania the patient must be operated upon at once, for if
twelve or twenty-four hours are given, the conditions may clear up
and an operation will be unnecessary. The majority of surgeons feel
that they will forfeit their right to heaven if they do not cut at
once. The consequence is that there are many patients operated upon
who are as innocent of having the disease as the surgeon is innocent
of a knowledge of a better plan of treatment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account