Gangrene Health Dictionary

Decay or death of tissue from inadequate blood supply. Two kinds, dry and moist: in the dry the flesh withers, in the moist there is putrefaction.

Causes are many: blood-clotting, burns, frostbite, boils, Raynaud’s Disease, injuries, ulcerated bedsores. Diabetics and arteriosclerotics are most at risk, where even minor injuries to fingers or toes may result in necrosis.

Symptoms: wounds swollen and painful with oozing of brown exudate of sickly odour. Fever, low blood pressure, sweating and bronze discoloration around lesion.

To be treated by or in liaison with a general medical practitioner.

Treatment. Hospitalisation. Thuja and Echinacea make a powerful combination for senile or diabetic gangrene. Externally, also, they break down the odour, stimulate tissue to renewed activity and promote healthy granulation. Echinacea strengthens the body’s powers of resistance. Treatment may also have to be aimed at releasing spasm of the peripheral blood vessels.

Alternatives. Tinctures. (1) Combine, Echinacea 4; Thuja 1. (2) Combine, Echinacea 3; Goldenseal quarter; Myrrh quarter. (3) Combine, Sarsaparilla 2; Wild Indigo 1; Lobelia 1. Dose: 1-2 teaspoons in water every 3 hours. (4) Thuja, (singly): 5 drops in water every 3 hours.

Abundant herb teas to support: Lime flowers, Nettles, Marshmallow root.

Topical. Powdered Myrrh wrapped over affected area for 24 hours. Renew for same period. Repeat as necessary. When condition clears leave undisturbed for few days. OR: Lint soaked with tincture Myrrh applied to affected area; replenish when dry. OR: Aloe Vera pulp or gel. OR: Tea Tree oil, neat. May be diluted many times. (Dr Paul Belaiche, Paris) For diabetic gangrene.

Diet. 3-day fruit juice fast, followed by diet as for heart and circulatory disorders.

General. Regulate bowels. 

Death of tissue, usually as a result of loss of blood supply. Gangrene may affect a small area of skin or a substantial portion of a limb. Pain is felt in the dying tissues, but once dead they become numb. The affected tissue turns black. There are two types of gangrene: dry and wet. In dry gangrene, there is usually no infection, and the tissue dies because it has no blood supply. Dry gangrene does not spread, and it may be caused by arteriosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, thrombosis, frostbite, or an embolism. Wet gangrene develops when dry gangrene or a wound becomes infected by bacteria. The gangrene spreads and gives off an unpleasant smell. There may be redness, swelling, and oozing pus around the blackened area. A virulent type called gas gangrene is caused by a bacterium that destroys muscles and produces a foulsmelling gas.

Treatment of dry gangrene consists of attempting to improve the circulation to the affected area before the tissues die. Antibiotic drugs can prevent wet gangrene from setting in. Amputation of the affected part and the surrounding tissue is necessary.

Necrosis and putrefaction of tissue due to lack of blood supply

The death and decay of body tissues caused by a de?ciency or cessation of the blood supply. There are two types: dry and moist. The former is a process of mummi?cation, with the blood supply of the affected area of tissue stopping and the tissue withering up. Moist gangrene is characterised by putrefactive tissue decay caused by bacterial infection. The dead part, when formed of soft tissues, is called a slough and, when part of a bone, is called a sequestrum.

Causes These include injury – especially that sustained in war – disease, FROSTBITE, severe burns, ATHEROMA in large blood vessels, and diseases such as DIABETES MELLITUS and RAYNAUD’S DISEASE. Gas gangrene is a form that occurs when injuries are infected with soil contaminated with gas-producing bacilli such as Clostridium welchii, which are found in well-cultivated ground.

Treatment Dry gangrene must be kept dry, and AMPUTATION of the dead tissue performed when a clear demarcation line with healthy tissue has formed. Wet gangrene requires urgent surgery and prompt use of appropriate antibiotics.

n. death and decay of part of the body due to deficiency or cessation of blood supply. The causes include disease, injury, or *atheroma in major blood vessels, frostbite or severe burns, and diseases such as *diabetes mellitus and *Raynaud’s disease. Dry gangrene is death and withering of tissues caused simply by a cessation of local blood circulation. Moist gangrene (also known as wet gangrene) is death and putrefactive decay of tissue caused by bacterial infection. See also gas gangrene.