On Remissions in the Course of General Paralysis

1861 ◽  
Vol 7 (38) ◽  
pp. 253-265
Author(s):  
A. Sauze
Keyword(s):  
General Paralysis ◽  
Fatal Course ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cerebral Organ

The study of the intermissions which occur in the course of general paralysis is not the least interesting chapter in the history of this disease. Is it not a matter of surprise, that an affection which occasions such grave disturbances of the cerebral organ should undergo ameliorations so pronounced as might well be taken for a real cure, did not the experience of each day teach us that it is but arrested for a longer or shorter time, and that sooner or later the paralysis resumes its fatal course. Have not even alienists asserted that they have cured demented paralytics ? The existence of intermission in the course of general paralysis does not at the present time need to be demonstrated. It is enough to glance at the treatises of MM. Calmeil and Bayle, to find the most remarkable examples of it.

The Neuropathic Diathesis, or the Diathesis of the Degenerate

1888 ◽  
Vol 34 (146) ◽  
pp. 167-176
Author(s):  
G. T. Revington
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
Normal Development ◽  
Personal History ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Mind

I think that the foregoing statistics, and those which follow, together with the large number of cases which I quote, and which connect general paralysis with almost every form of neurotic manifestation, will prove conclusively that neurotic inheritance is a striking feature in the causation of general paralysis. I question whether a distinction between “the cerebral and the insane element” in general paralysis can be maintained. If general paralysis is not a degeneration of the mind-tissue, then the pathology of insanity has no existence, and I would say that the subtle influence for evil, which is transmitted from parents, whose brains are deteriorated by neurotic outbursts, or soaked in alcohol, or wrecked by physiological immorality, tends strongly towards such degeneration. If insanity is, as Dr. Savage says, a perversion of the ego, then a general paralytic is the in-sanest of the insane. We know that the children of a melancholic parent, for example, may develop any form of neurosis—in other words, it is not that melancholia or general paralysis, or any other definite disease, is transmitted, but that a certain tendency to deviate from normal development is transmitted. This tendency to deviate is the neurotic diathesis, and the form of its development is determined by collateral circumstances, and a certain series of collateral circumstances determine the development of general paralysis. Perhaps neurotic inheritance may mean in some cases a limited capital of nervous energy, and if this is wasted recklessly the individual breaks down suddenly and pathologically, as we all do slowly and physiologically. I would also point out that considering the number of histories of insanity which owing to ignorance or reticence we, do not receive, and considering that we never receive information as to the existence of the slighter neuroses, it is marvellous that we get so high a percentage as 51. Of the 145 general paralytics with a reliable history, 38 had a family history of insanity, 28 a family history of drink, 8 of both, 43 had a personal history of drink, 8 of a previous attack too remote to be considered, at least, according to our present ideas, as part of the disease, and the vast majority had a history of some physiological irregularity which must be considered as conducive to the creation of an acquired neurosis. We may now pass to some further statistics.

Syphilitic General Paralysis

1893 ◽  
Vol 39 (165) ◽  
pp. 217-224
Author(s):  
M. J. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
The Other ◽  
Fin De Siecle ◽  
Short Life ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
Generic Term ◽  
Fin De Siècle ◽  
History Of ◽  
Vexed Question

At the present time, when our fin de siècle knowledge of “general paralysis” enables us to recognize under that generic term many types of the disorder, and when the relation between it and syphilis continues a rather vexed question, little apology is needed for introducing to notice the following cases. They illustrate unmistakably some of the instances in which syphilis is solely responsible for what. Is termed by Dr. Savage” A process of degeneration which ultimately produces the ruin we recognize as general paralysis.”∗ Whatever may be hereafter formulated from the present evolutionary crisis in the history of the disorder there can be but little doubt that syphilis will be one of its most intimate and important relations. The story of its methods is briefly sketched in the following two short life-histories—in one asserting itself in the offspring of its victims by right of impure heredity, in the other carrying death direct into the vital centres by the force of its malignant virus.

Notes on a Case of Fracture of the Fibula in a Melancholic Patient, with Remarks on Treatment in Fractures Generally

1898 ◽  
Vol 44 (184) ◽  
pp. 101-104
Author(s):  
J. F. Briscoe
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Medical Officer ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
Post Mortem Examination ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Treatment ◽  
Fractured Ribs ◽  
Osseous System

The object of this communication is to draw from the members of the Association the modern treatment of fractures as adopted in institutions for the insane. It is obvious that the various plans, as practised in hospitals, must be considerably modified in asylums. For instance, to strap and bandage a case of fractured ribs, secundum artem, taxes any medical officer, unless the patient is quietly disposed and clean in his habits. However, with skill and a fairly docile patient, there should be little difficulty in the management of ordinary fractures of the bones below the elbows and the knees. From time to time one reads of cases of fractures of the ribs occurring in asylums, remarkable autopsies being recorded. It is difficult sometimes to give a correct history of their causation, and, in consequence, much opprobrium has been unjustly cast on asylum officials. It is believed by not a few that there is a peculiar affection of the ribs in the insane causing them to fracture readily. It is said, too, that it is common in general paralysis. Dr. Christian has stated in the Journal of Mental Science, January, 1886, that he is decidedly opposed to the idea that general paralytics are more liable to fracture of the bones. He gives 250 cases, and says, “I can assure you, gentlemen, I have not come across a single case of fracture among them.” But no figures of the kind can be relied upon unless verified by post-mortem examination. It is not uncommon to find in the mortuaries of ordinary hospitals and asylums, and in the dissecting-room, specimens of fractured ribs, the causation of which is unaccounted for. With our present pathological knowledge of the osseous system we must withhold our verdict.

Alcoholism as a Cause of General Paralysis [L'Alcoolismo come Causa della Paralisi generale]. (Ann. di Nevrol., Anno xix, fasc. 2.) Seppili

1902 ◽  
Vol 48 (200) ◽  
pp. 168-168
Author(s):  
W. C. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Clinical History ◽  
Brain Lesions ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Progressive Course

The author, studying the ætiology in 102 cases (78 males and 24 females) of general paralysis admitted under his care to the Brescia asylum between 1894 and 1900, found 16 cases (13 males and 3 females) in which alcoholism appeared to him to be the sole cause of the disease. He gives in this paper a very brief résumé of the clinical history of these cases, and of the macroscopic brain lesions noted in ten of them. He finds that alcohol is capable of generating a true general paralysis, and that cases of alcoholic origin do not differ in any respect from cases of other causation. In six of his cases the disease was of the exalted type, in one of the hypochondriacal, and in nine of the simple demented type. The cases ran a progressive course without remission, terminating fatally in from two to three years. The distinctive characters which some authors assign to alcoholic general paralysis or pseudo-general paralysis—generalised tremor, slightness of speech trouble, frequency of remission, etc.—were not noted. Hallucinations and the delirium of conjugal infidelity, also said to be specially common in such cases, were only found in one instance.

The Diathesis of General Paralysis

1892 ◽  
Vol 38 (160) ◽  
pp. 30-40
Author(s):  
G. R. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Recent History ◽  
The Sun ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
Hereditary Factor ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common ◽  
As If

Ten years ago Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson said that the description of a fresh diathesis was almost as easy as the discovery of a new nerve centre or the revelation of a new bacterium. Yet no new diathesis, so far as I know, has since then become generally recognized in our special branch of medicine. To-day the neurotic diathesis stands as god-mother to a large family of diseases, and little has been done to differentiate their ætiology, or to trace their genealogy. On the contrary there seems to be a tendency to exaggerate the importance of environment in the ætiology of many of the diseases of the nervous system, and to ignore the hereditary factor. Especially is this the case with general paralysis. Excepting the writings of a few, a course of reading on the ætiology of general paralysis would incline one to believe that there is no evil under the sun—from syphilis to the cessation of lactation—that may not sufficiently account for the onset of that disease. It seems almost as if the observers had first tried to find an acknowledged raison d'être, and, failing in that, had adduced as “cause” anything in the recent history of the patient at all out of the common, or which had ranked as important in the estimation of his friends.

scholarly journals Otolaryngologists and the Early Diagnosis of Mucopolysaccharidoses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Diagnostics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle de Araujo Torres ◽  
Anneliese Lopes Barth ◽  
Mariana Pires de Mello Valente ◽  
Paulo Pires de Mello ◽  
Dafne Dain Gandelman Horovitz
Keyword(s):  
Chart Review ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Inborn Errors ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Fatal Course ◽  
History Of ◽  
Nose And Throat

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are a group of inborn errors of metabolism with an aggressive and usually fatal course. Therefore, early treatment is essential because the involvement of head and neck structures is almost always present in MPS. Our study aimed to retrospectively assess—via a chart review and a survey of caregivers—the history of ear, nose and throat (ENT) symptoms, the number of otolaryngology visits prior to diagnosis, and whether otolaryngologists diagnosed the disease in a cohort of MPS patients followed at an academic medical center. Twenty-three patients were evaluated. Age at diagnosis ranged from 0.2 to 33.0 years (median, 3.2 years). Prior to being diagnosed with MPS, 20/23 (87%) patients presented with at least one episode of otalgia, airway disorder, sleep disturbance, speech delay or suspected hearing loss. One patient had an adenotonsillectomy with paracentesis of tympanic membranes. Ten of the 23 patients (43%) were seen by an otolaryngologist before the diagnosis of MPS, none of which had the disease suspected during these visits. Notwithstanding limitations, our results suggest that increased awareness of MPS among otolaryngologists may allow for earlier diagnosis and better management of these patients.

The Treatment of General Paralysis by Malaria; The Use of Speech Inscriptions for Early Diagnosis

1923 ◽  
Vol 69 (284) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. W. Scripture
Keyword(s):  
Early Diagnosis ◽  
Return To Work ◽  
General Paralysis ◽  
History Of ◽  
Short Time

The history of general paralysis records undoubted cases where the disease has for some reason or other seemed for a time actually cured so that the patients could return to work. Although such cases after a short time showed relapse whereby the disease then followed its usual course, this fact is sufficient to indicate the possi bility of stopping the progressive paralysis in some way.

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