Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 3 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 3 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
Among emotional causes fear easily heads the list. Bernard states that a
horse became epileptic in connection with the terror caused by the
giving way of a wooden bridge over which he was passing. Bourgelat and
Reynal adduce instances, in cavalry horses when first put under fire.
Reynal records the case of another which had his first attack when
facing a moving locomotive, and which never again could see an engine in
motion without suffering another attack. La Notte mentions the case of a
horse attacked when frightened by a sky rocket; Romer, the case of a
horse scared by the sudden display of a white sheet in front of him, and
Friedberger and Fröhner relate cases of attacks caused by intense rays
of light, as in racing toward the declining sun, or the dazzling
reflection from the surface of water. Liedesdorf saw it in a dog scared
by a locomotive.
A strong impression like that caused by transition from bright light
into darkness, by seeing shadows of trees crossing the road, or violent
suffering caused by severe forms of constraint have been named as
causes.
Speaking in “Brain,” of epilepsy in man, Alexander Haig attributes the
fits to the fluctuations of uric acid in the blood. Headache (migraine)
he finds to be very closely allied to epilepsy and convulsions and to be
a result in a susceptible system of a liberal flesh diet. By a vegetable
and fruit diet he reduces the ingestion and formation of uric acid, so
that the largest quantity which a patient is likely to get into his
blood, shall never or only very rarely, affect the blood pressure and
increase the intracranial circulation to a dangerous extent. In
predisposed subjects, all flesh food, soup, and meat extracts must be
avoided, while even tea, coffee, cocoa and other vegetable articles
containing xanthin compounds are to be regarded as producing uric acid,
and to be denied, or employed only as the merest flavoring.
This position is greatly strengthened by the fact that epilepsy is so
much more frequent in the carnivora (dog, cat, bird) than in the
herbivora. It also suggests very strongly a light vegetable diet for
both prophylactic and curative purposes in our domestic animals. In the
same line the frequent and liberal drinking of warm water, the use of
diuretics and the flushing of the large intestine are indicated.
For other causes see under pathology.
_Symptoms in the_ =Horse=. It has been claimed that premonitory
symptoms, such as dullness, lack of energy and quick, nervous or
startled movements herald an attack, but in animals as in man, the
disease usually attacks suddenly without any antecedent indication.
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