The Four Epochs of Woman's Life; A Study in HygieneGalbraith, Anna M. (Anna Mary)
Science
The Four Epochs of Woman's Life; A Study in Hygiene
Galbraith, Anna M. (Anna Mary)
Women -- Health and hygiene
Case II.-- Woman aged fifty-three years came to consult me because of
pain, hemorrhage, and loss of weight. There had never been any
cessation of the menstrual period. She said that she began to have
irregular hemorrhages three years previously, and that they were
constantly becoming more frequent and more alarming, and that, in
addition to this, there was a constant discharge of blood, which
necessitated her wearing a napkin all the time. She also stated that
for the preceding six months the pain had been so severe that she had
not had one solid night's sleep, and that in that time she had lost
forty pounds in weight.
This patient was in the very last stages of cancer of the uterus, and
all that could be done for her was to make her comfortable. She had
given birth to one child which caused a deep tear of the neck of the
womb; and it is probable that this neglected tear was the primary
cause of the cancer, which began in the neck of the womb.
Case III.-- Woman aged forty-five years; married, but had never had
any children. She said that the periods were normal as to duration and
amount, but that for the past two years they had two days ahead of
time, and that for the past four months she had been having just
enough irregular bleeding between the periods to keep her clothing
stained.
On examination a diagnosis of cancer of the uterus was made. The
pathological examination proved this to be a most malignant type of
cancer of the neck of the womb. The entire uterus and appendages were
at once removed. And although the patient made an excellent recovery
from the operation, she succumbed to the disease one year after the
operation was performed.
These cases have been cited at length because they are all typical and
because of the variety of symptoms and the great difference of age.
Only in one of the cases was there any very severe pain, and it was
really the pain, which had become unendurable, which caused the
patient to seek relief.
It is the concensus of opinion of the medical profession that cancer
of the uterus is one of the common causes of death among women; that
the cancer rate of mortality has increased during the last four
decades; that it is most common near the time of the menopause; and
that there is a direct causal relation between cancer of the neck of
the womb and the traumatisms which occur during childbirth.
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