Scientific American Supplement, No. 520, December 19, 1885Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 520, December 19, 1885
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Last year I said: "There is a growing sentiment that many diseases not
heretofore regarded as nervous (and perhaps all diseases) are of nervous
origin." This truth, that all pathologico-histological changes in the
tissues of the body are degenerative in character, and, whether caused by
a parasite, a poison, or some unknown influence, are first brought about
by or through a changed innervation, is one that is being accepted very
largely by the best men in the profession, and the accumulation of facts
is increasing rapidly, and the acceptance of this great truth will prove
to be little short of revolutionary in its influence on the treatment of
the disease. This is the outgrowth of the study of disease from the
standpoint of the evolution hypothesis. Derangements of function precede
abnormalities of structure; hence the innervation must be at fault before
the organ fails. Hence the art of healing should aim at grappling with
the neuroses first, for the local trophic changes, perverted secretions,
and structural abnormalities are the effects or symptoms, not the causes
of the disease. Dr. J.L. Thudicum has studied the chemical constitution
of the brain, and he holds that, "When the normal composition of the
brain shall be known to the uttermost item, then pathology can begin its
search for abnormal compounds or derangements of quantities." The great
diseases of the brain and spine, such as general paralysis, acute and
chronic mania, and others, the author believes will all be shown to be
connected with special chemical changes in neuroplasm, and that a
knowledge of the composition and properties of this tissue and of its
constituents will materially aid in devising modes of radical treatment
in cases in which, at present, only tentative symptomatic measures are
taken.
The whole drift of recent brain inquiry sets toward the notion that the
brain always acts as a whole, and that no part of it can be discharging
without altering the tensions of all the other parts; for an identical
feeling cannot recur, for it would have to recur in an unmodified brain,
which is an impossibility, since the structure of the brain itself is
continually growing different under the pressure of experience.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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