Involuntary trembling of the entire body that is caused by rapid contraction and relaxation of muscles. Shivering is the body’s normal automatic response to cold; contraction of muscles generates heat. Shivering also occurs in fever.
Causes The cause of fever is the release of fever-producing proteins (pyrogens) by phagocytic cells called monocytes and macrophages, in response to a variety of infectious, immunological and neoplastic stimuli. The lymphocytes (see LYMPHOCYTE) play a part in fever production because they recognise the antigen and release substances called lymphokines which promote the production of endogenous pyrogen. The pyrogen then acts on the thermoregulatory centre in the HYPOTHALAMUS and this results in an increase in heat generation and a reduction in heat loss, resulting in a rise in body temperature.
The average temperature of the body in health ranges from 36·9 to 37·5 °C (98·4 to 99·5 °F). It is liable to slight variations from such causes as the ingestion of food, the amount of exercise, the menstrual cycle, and the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. There are, moreover, certain appreciable daily variations, the lowest temperature being between the hours of 01.00 and 07.00 hours, and the highest between 16.00 and 21.00 hours, with tri?ing ?uctuations during these periods.
The development and maintenance of heat within the body depends upon the metabolic oxidation consequent on the changes continually taking place in the processes of nutrition. In health, this constant tissue disintegration is exactly counterbalanced by the consumption of food, whilst the uniform normal temperature is maintained by the adjustment of the heat developed, and of the processes of exhalation and cooling which take place, especially from the lungs and skin. During a fever this balance breaks down, the tissue waste being greatly in excess of the food supply. The body wastes rapidly, the loss to the system being chie?y in the form of nitrogen compounds (e.g. urea). In the early stage of fever a patient excretes about three times the amount of urea that he or she would excrete on the same diet when in health.
Fever is measured by how high the temperature rises above normal. At 41.1 °C (106 °F) the patient is in a dangerous state of hyperpyrexia (abnormally high temperature). If this persists for very long, the patient usually dies.
The body’s temperature will also rise if exposed for too long to a high ambient temperature. (See HEAT STROKE.)
Symptoms The onset of a fever is usually marked by a RIGOR, or shivering. The skin feels hot and dry, and the raised temperature will often be found to show daily variations – namely, an evening rise and a morning fall.
There is a relative increase in the pulse and breathing rates. The tongue is dry and furred; the thirst is intense, while the appetite is gone; the urine is scanty, of high speci?c gravity and containing a large quantity of solid matter, particularly urea. The patient will have a headache and sometimes nausea, and children may develop convulsions (see FEBRILE CONVULSION).
The fever falls by the occurrence of a CRISIS – that is, a sudden termination of the symptoms – or by a more gradual subsidence of the temperature, technically termed a lysis. If death ensues, this is due to failure of the vital centres in the brain or of the heart, as a result of either the infection or hyperpyrexia.
Treatment Fever is a symptom, and the correct treatment is therefore that of the underlying condition. Occasionally, however, it is also necessary to reduce the temperature by more direct methods: physical cooling by, for example, tepid sponging, and the use of antipyretic drugs such as aspirin or paracetamol.... fever
Severe hypothermia is sometimes complicated by gastric erosions and haemorrhage, as well as pancreatitis (see PANCREAS, DISORDERS OF). Infants and the elderly are less e?cient at regulating temperature and conserving heat than other age groups, and are therefore more at risk from accidental hypothermia during cold weather if their accommodation is not warm enough. Approximately half a million elderly people are at risk in Britain each winter from hypothermia. The other major cause of accidental hypothermia is near-drowning in icy water. Deliberate hypothermia is sometimes used to reduce metabolic rate so that prolonged periods of cardiac arrest may occur without tissue HYPOXIA developing. This technique is used for some cardiac and neurosurgical operations and is produced by immersion of the anaesthetised patient in iced water or by cooling an extracorporeal circulation.
Treatment of hypothermia is by warming the patient and treating any complications that arise. Passive warming is usual, with conservation of the patient’s own body heat with insulating blankets. If the core temperature is below 28 °C, then active rewarming should be instituted by means of warm peritoneal, gastric or bladder lavage or using an extracorporeal circulation. Care must be taken in moving hypothermic patients, as a sudden rush of cold peripheral blood to the heart can precipitate ventricular ?brillation. Prevention of hypothermia in the elderly is important. Special attention must be paid to diet, heating the home and adequate clothing in several layers to limit heat loss.... hypothermia
The disease is transmitted by the anopheles protozoa. Old cases present with fever, jaundice, diarrhoea and confusion.
Symptoms: incubation 2-5 weeks. Onset sudden, with shivering and high fever (104°F), headache, vomiting. Symptoms recur every 2-3 days. Blood sample examination confirms.
Treatment. Drugs once useful in the fight against malaria are losing their effectiveness. Drug resistance becomes a major problem; in which case the remedies of antiquity have something to offer.
Alternatives. Yarrow was once regarded as the Englishman’s Quinine. Nettle tea (Dr Compton Burnett). Prickly Ash (Ellingwood). Barberry, Chiretta, Peruvian bark BHP (1983). Mountain Grape (Berberis aquifolium) (Ellingwood). Wild Indigo, cases of extreme prostration (Dr Wm Boericke).
Sweet Wormwood. The Chinese Qing Hao (Artemisia annua) proved beneficial for millennia before Quinine arrived on the scene. Its re-discovery by Professor Nelson is declared ‘very effective’.
Formula. Liquid Extracts: Boneset 1; Yarrow 1; Barberry half; Valerian half. Few drops Tincture Capsicum. Dose: 1-2 teaspoons every 2 hours.
Malaria was rife in parts of America, especially Arkansus. During the Civil War it was difficult to obtain Quinine and various alternatives were tried. Where symptoms of chills and intermittent fever presented, Gelsemium gained considerable reputation as a substitute, also as a preventative. A favourite prescription was three drops tincture in a little brandy every 2-3 hours before the chill, and repeated every hour.
Dr M.H. Grannell, Sinaloa, Mexico. “I do not doubt that I treat more malaria than any other five physicians in the United States. My sole remedy, unless other indications present themselves, is Gelsemium. I give the following with never-failing results: 30 drops Tincture Gelsemium in 4oz water. Dose: 1 teaspoon hourly.” (Ellingwood, June 1920)
Thomas Nuttall, botanist. In 1819, when on tour in Arkansus, relieved a malarial attack with decoction of Boneset.
David Hoffman, MNIMH. 1 teaspoon Peruvian bark in each cup boiling water; infuse 30 minutes. Thrice daily.
Diet. 3-day fast.
Treatment by or in liaison with a general medical practitioner. ... malaria
For long it had been realised that in certain cases of ASTHMA, adrenaline had not the usual bene?cial e?ect of dilating the bronchi during an attack; rather it made the asthma worse. This was due to its acting on both the alpha and beta adrenergic receptors. A derivative, isoprenaline, was therefore produced which acted only on the beta receptors. This had an excellent e?ect in dilating the bronchi, but unfortunately also affected the heart, speeding it up and increasing its output – an undesirable e?ect which meant that isoprenaline had to be used with great care. In due course drugs were produced, such as salbutamol, which act predominantly on the beta2 adrenergic receptors in the bronchi and have relatively little e?ect on the heart.
The converse of this story was the search for what became known as BETA-ADRENOCEPTORBLOCKING DRUGS, or beta-adrenergic-blocking drugs. The theoretical argument was that if such drugs could be synthesised, they could be of value in taking the strain o? the heart – for example: stress ? stimulation of the output of adrenaline ? stimulation of the heart ? increased work for the heart. A drug that could prevent this train of events would be of value, for example in the treatment of ANGINA PECTORIS. Now there is a series of beta-adrenoceptor-blocking drugs of use not only in angina pectoris, but also in various other heart conditions such as disorders of rhythm, as well as high blood pressure. They are also proving valuable in the treatment of anxiety states by preventing disturbing features such as palpitations. Some are useful in the treatment of migraine.... adrenergic receptors
Causes The disease occurs in epidemics affecting especially children under the age of ten years. It is due to the varicella zoster virus, and the condition is an extremely infectious one from child to child. Although an attack confers life-long immunity, the virus may lie dormant and manifest itself in adult life as HERPES ZOSTER or shingles.
Symptoms There is an incubation period of 14–21 days after infection, and then the child becomes feverish or has a slight shivering, or may feel more severely ill with vomiting and pains in the back and legs. Almost at the same time, an eruption consisting of red pimples which quickly change into vesicles ?lled with clear ?uid appears on the back and chest, sometimes about the forehead, and less frequently on the limbs. These vesicles appear over several days and during the second day may show a change of their contents to turbid, purulent ?uid. Within a day or two they burst, or, at all events, shrivel up and become covered with brownish crusts. The small crusts have all dried up and fallen o? in little more than a week and recovery is almost always complete.
Treatment The fever can be reduced with paracetamol and the itching soothed with CALAMINE lotion. If the child has an immune disorder, is suffering from a major complication such as pneumonia, or is very unwell, an antiviral drug (aciclovir) can be used. It is likely to be e?ective only at an early stage. A vaccine is available in many parts of the world but is not used in the UK; the argument against its use is that it may delay chickenpox until adult life when the disease tends to be much more severe.... chickenpox
Treatment PENICILLIN in full dosage should be given orally for ten days. In those allergic to penicillin, ERYTHROMYCIN can be substituted. Recurrent attacks are common and may cause progressive lymphatic damage leading to chronic OEDEMA. Such recurrences can be prevented by long-term prophylactic oral penicillin.... erysipelas
As well as having an analgesic effect, heroin produces sensations of warmth, calmness, drowsiness, and a loss of concern for outside events. Long-term use of the drug causes tolerance and psychological and physical dependence (see drug dependence; heroin abuse). Sudden withdrawal produces shivering, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting, and restlessness.... heroin
A high fever of up to 40°C suddenly develops, with shivering, headache, muscle pains, nausea, and vomiting. The symptoms persist for 3–6 days, culminating in a crisis with a risk of collapse and death. The person then apparently recovers but suffers another attack 7–10 days later. If tick-borne, there may be several such relapses, each progressively milder.
The spirochaetes can be seen in a blood smear, and they can be eliminated with antibiotic drugs.... relapsing fever
The pneumonia caused by legionnellae has no distinctive clinical or radiological features, so that the diagnosis is based on an antibody test performed on a blood sample. There is no evidence that the disease is transmitted directly from person to person. The incubation period is 2–10 days; the disease starts with aches and pains followed rapidly by a rise in temperature, shivering attacks, cough and shortness of breath. The X-ray tends to show patchy areas of consolidation in the lungs. Erythromycin and rifampicin are the most useful antibiotics, although rifampicin should never be given alone because of the rapid development of drug resistance.... legionnaire’s disease
The nervous system can be likened to a computer. The central processing unit – which receives, processes and stores information and initiates instructions for bodily activities – is called the central nervous system: this is made up of the brain and SPINAL CORD. The peripheral nervous system – synonymous with the cables that transmit information to and from a computer’s processing unit – has two parts: sensory and motor. The former collects information from the body’s many sense organs. These respond to touch, temperature, pain, position, smells, sounds and visual images and the information is signalled to the brain via the sensory nerves. When information has been processed centrally, the brain and spinal cord send instructions for action via motor nerves to the ‘voluntary’ muscles controlling movements and speech, to the ‘involuntary’ muscles that operate the internal organs such as the heart and intestines, and to the various glands, including the sweat glands in the skin. (Details of the 12 pairs of cranial nerves and the 31 pairs of nerves emanating from the spinal cord are given in respective texts on brain and spinal cord.)
Functional divisions of nervous system As well as the nervous system’s anatomical divisions, the system is divided functionally, into autonomic and somatic parts. The autonomic nervous system, which is split into sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions, deals with the automatic or unconscious control of internal bodily activities such as heartbeat, muscular status of blood vessels, digestion and glandular functions. The somatic system is responsible for the skeletal (voluntary) muscles (see MUSCLE) which carry out intended movements initiated by the brain – for example, the activation of limbs, tongue, vocal cords (speech), anal muscles (defaecation), urethral sphincters (urination) or vaginal muscles (childbirth). In addition, many survival responses – the most powerfully instinctive animal drives, which range from avoiding danger and pain to shivering when cold or sweating when hot – are initiated unconsciously and automatically by the nervous system using the appropriate neural pathways to achieve the particular survival reaction required.
The complex functions of the nervous system include the ability to experience emotions, such as excitement and pleasure, anxiety and frustration, and to undertake intellectual activities. For these experiences an individual can utilise many built-in neurological programmes and he or she can enhance performance through learning – a vital human function that depends on MEMORY, a three stage-process in the brain of registration, storage and recall. The various anatomical and functional divisions of the nervous system that have been unravelled as science has strived to explain how it works may seem confusing. In practical terms, the nervous system works mainly by using automatic or relex reactions (see REFLEX ACTION) to various stimuli (described above), supplemented by voluntary actions triggered by the activity of the conscious (higher) areas of the brain. Some higher functions crucial to human activity – for example, visual perception, thought, memory and speech – are complex and subtle, and the mechanisms are not yet fully understood. But all these complex activities rest on the foundation of relatively simple electrochemical transmissions of impulses through the massive network of billions of specialised cells, the neurones.... nervous system
Many cases of pleurisy are associated with only a little e?usion, the in?ammation consisting chie?y in exudation of FIBRIN: to this form the term ‘dry pleurisy’ is applied. Further, pleurisy may be limited to a very small area – or, on the contrary, may affect, throughout a greater or less extent, the pleural surfaces of both lungs.
Causes Pleurisy is often associated with other forms of in?ammatory disease within the chest, more particularly PNEUMONIA, BRONCHIECTASIS, and tuberculosis; it occasionally accompanies PERICARDITIS. It may also be due to carcinoma of the lung, or be secondary to abdominal infections such as subphrenic abscess. Further, wounds or injuries of the thoracic walls are apt to set up pleurisy.
Symptoms The symptoms of pleurisy vary, being generally well marked, but sometimes obscure. DRY PLEURISY In the case of dry pleurisy, which is, on the whole, the milder form, the chief symptom is a sharp pain in the side, felt especially on breathing. Fever may or may not be present. There is a slight, dry cough, and breathing is quicker than normal and shallow. PLEURISY WITH EFFUSION is usually more severe than dry pleurisy, and, although it may in some cases develop insidiously, it is in general ushered in sharply by shivering and fever, like other acute in?ammatory diseases. Pain is felt in the side or breast, of a severe cutting or stabbing character. A dry cough usually occurs and breathing is painful and di?cult.
Treatment The treatment varies greatly with the form and severity of the attack. Bed rest, antibiotics, analgesics and antipyretics are advisable. A large pleural e?usion may need to be drained via an aspiration needle.... pleurisy
Rheumatic fever is now extremely uncommon in developed countries, but remains common in developing areas. Diagnosis is based on the presence of two or more major manifestations – endocarditis (see under HEART, DISEASES OF), POLYARTHRITIS, chorea, ERYTHEMA marginatum, subcutaneous nodules – or one major and two or more minor ones – fever, arthralgia, previous attacks, raised ESR, raised white blood cell count, and ELECTROCARDIOGRAM (ECG) changes. Evidence of previous infection with streptococcus is also a criterion.
Clinical features Fever is high, with attacks of shivering or rigor. Joint pain and swelling (arthralgia) may affect the knee, ankle, wrist or shoulder and may migrate from one joint to another. TACHYCARDIA may indicate cardiac involvement. Subcutaneous nodules may occur, particularly over the back of the wrist or over the elbow or knee. Erythema marginatum is a red rash, looking like the outline of a map, characteristic of the condition.
Cardiac involvement includes PERICARDITIS, ENDOCARDITIS, and MYOCARDITIS. The main long-term complication is damage to the mitral and aortic valves (see HEART).
The chief neurological problem is chorea (St Vitus’s dance) which may develop after the acute symptoms have subsided.
Chronic rheumatic heart disease occurs subsequently in at least half of those who have had rheumatic fever with carditis. The heart valve usually involved is the mitral; less commonly the aortic, tricuspid and pulmonary. The lesions may take 10–20 years to develop in developed countries but sooner elsewhere. The heart valves progressively ?brose and ?brosis may also develop in the myocardium and pericardium. The outcome is either mitral stenosis or mitral regurgitation and the subsequent malfunction of this or other heart valves affected is chronic failure in the functioning of the heart. (see HEART, DISEASES OF).
Treatment Eradication of streptococcal infection is essential. Other features are treated symptomatically. PARACETAMOL may be preferred to ASPIRIN as an antipyretic in young children. One of the NON-STEROIDAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS (NSAIDS) may bene?t the joint symptoms. CORTICOSTEROIDS may be indicated for more serious complications.
Patients who have developed cardiac-valve abnormalities require antibiotic prophylaxis during dental treatment and other procedures where bacteria may enter the bloodstream. Secondary cardiac problems may occur several decades later and require replacement of affected heart valves.... rheumatic fever
Cause A virus spread by close contact with infected individuals. Rubella is infectious for a week before the rash appears and at least four days afterwards. It occurs in epidemics (see EPIDEMIC) every three years or so, predominantly in the winter and spring. Children are more likely to be affected than infants. One attack gives permanent IMMUNITY. The incubation period is usually 14–21 days.
Symptoms are very mild, and the disease is not at all serious. On the day of onset there may be shivering, headache, slight CATARRH with sneezing, coughing and sore throat, with very slight fever – not above 37·8 °C (100 °F). At the same time the glands of the neck become enlarged. Within 24 hours of the onset a pink, slightly raised eruption appears, ?rst on the face or neck, then on the chest, and the second day spreads all over the body. The clinical signs and symptoms of many other viral infections are indistinguishable from rubella so a precise diagnosis cannot be made without taking samples (such as saliva) for antibody testing, but this is rarely done in practice.
An attack of German measles during the early months of pregnancy may be responsible for CONGENITAL defects in the FETUS (for information on fetal abnormalities, see under PREGNANCY AND LABOUR). The incidence of such defects is not precisely known, but probably around 20 per cent of children whose mothers have had German measles in the ?rst three months of the pregnancy are born with congenital defects. These defects take a variety of forms, but the most important ones are: low birth weight with retarded physical development; malformations of the HEART; cataract (see under EYE, DISORDERS OF); and DEAFNESS.
Treatment There is no speci?c treatment. Children who develop the disease should not return to school until they have recovered, and in any case not before four days have passed from the onset of the rash.
In view of the possible dangerous e?ect of the disease upon the fetus, particular care should be taken to isolate pregnant mothers from contact with infected subjects. As the risk is particularly high during the ?rst 16 weeks of pregnancy, any pregnant mother exposed to infection during this period should be given an intramuscular injection of GAMMA-GLOBULIN. A vaccine is available to protect an individual against rubella (see IMMUNISATION).
In the United Kingdom it is NHS policy for all children to have the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (see MMR VACCINE), subject to parental consent. All women of childbearing age, who have been shown by a simple laboratory test not to have had the disease, should be vaccinated, provided that the woman is not pregnant at the time and has not been exposed to the risk of pregnancy during the previous eight weeks.... rubella
Symptoms The period of incubation (i.e. the time elapsing between the reception of infection and the development of symptoms) varies somewhat. In most cases it lasts only two to three days, but in occasional cases the patient may take a week to develop his or her ?rst symptoms. The occurrence of fever is usually short and sharp, with rapid rise of temperature to 40 °C (104 °F), shivering, vomiting, headache, sore throat and marked increase in the rate of the pulse. In young children, CONVULSIONS or DELIRIUM may precede the fever. The rash usually appears within 24 hours of the onset of fever and lasts about a week.
Complications The most common and serious of these is glomerulonephritis (see under KIDNEYS, DISEASES OF), which may arise during any period in the course of the fever, but particularly when DESQUAMATION occurs. Occasionally the patient develops chronic glomerulonephritis. Another complication is infection of the middle ear (otitis media – see under EAR, DISEASES OF). Other disorders affecting the heart and lungs occasionally arise in connection with scarlet fever, the chief of these being ENDOCARDITIS, which may lay the foundation of valvular disease of the heart later in life. ARTHRITIS may produce swelling and pain in the smaller rather than in the larger joints; this complication usually occurs in the second week of illness. Scarlet fever, which is now a mild disease in most patients, should be treated with PENICILLIN.... scarlet fever
It is a disease of the slaughter house, veterinary surgeon, farm and meat trade worker. Young males are particularly at risk. In cows, infection may precipitate abortion of a calf but it does not affect the foetus in humans. May produce a rash on the arm of a vet handling a case.
Resembles glandular fever in the acute stage, with fever and high temperature, shivering, headache, profuse sweating, fatigue and anxiety-depression. Symptoms include enlargement of the spleen, liver, lymph glands, sore throat, possible rash, tremor and irritability. In long-standing cases a reactive arthritis may attack the joints. Often, it assumes an attack of influenza, its real nature remaining undiagnosed. Treatment. By medical practitioner. Herbal antibiotics may be regarded as a supportive role. Antibacterials: Garden Thyme, Garlic, Elecampane, Burdock root, Pulsatilla, Echinacea, Poke root, Myrrh, Goldenseal.
Tinctures. Formula. Blue Flag root 30ml; Poke root 15ml; Fringe Tree 30ml; Echinacea 60ml. Dose: 1-2 teaspoons in water every 2 hours (acute); 1 teaspoon thrice daily (chronic condition). ... brucellosis
In an atomic age the collapse of medical services provided by governments is not far removed from the bounds of possibility. Wars come and go, medical fashions change, what is regarded as scientific today, may be neglected to tomorrow’s superstition. It is possible this book may be consulted long after 20th century medicine has had its day.
The preventative remedy of history is Garlic. It was given to workers on the Great Pyramid of Cheops as a known antiseptic and prophylactic against infection. A riot ensued when supplies ran out. During the Great Plague under Charles II a colony of people escaped death, living to reveal their secret – all were in the habit of eating Garlic. It was later confirmed that the plague was not found in houses in which Garlic had been consumed.
The disease is spread by fleas from the black rat by the organism: bacillus pestis. Incubation period is two to five days, followed by severe headache, shivering, dizziness, fever and rapid pulse. Before delirium, the patient may have the ‘staggers’ and confused speech.
Glands of the body enlarge and may suppurate. Suppuration is a welcome sign indicating speedy elimination of pus. Haemorrhagic spots break out on the skin.
The most dangerous type is that which affects the lungs, known as ‘pneumonic’ and which is highly infectious; characterised by cyanosis (blueness of the face).
Occasionally there are human cases of Bubonic Plague in California and the West but today they seldom prove fatal. Public health officials point out that the incidence of the disease in China and Vietnam is lower than for centuries because of vaccine therapy. Wild animals still spread sporadic cases of the Plague.
Treatment: Health Authorities to be notified immediately and patient isolated. All bedding and personal effects to be destroyed or disinfected. Specialised nursing necessary. If hospital care is not available, the patient should receive treatment for collapse (Capsicum, Ginger or other circulatory stimulants).
In the absence of streptomycin and tetracycline, to which the organism yersinia is sensitive, powerful alternatives may assist: Echinacea, Wild Indigo, Poke root, Queen’s Delight, Sarsaparilla, Yellow Parilla, Goldenseal, Prickly Ash.
Topical. Poultice of Slippery Elm, Marshmallow, or both combined to promote suppuration. History records pulped fresh Plantain leaves.
To be treated by general medical practitioner or Infectious Diseases consultant. ... bubonic plague
Constituents: quinoline alkaloids, (quinine is extracted from the bark) resin, tannins, glycosides.
Action: anti-protozoal, anti-cramp, anti-malarial, appetite stimulant, bitter, febrifuge, tonic.
Uses: Cinchona was named after the Countess of Cinchona, wife of the Viceroy of Peru who was cured of a malarial fever with the powdered bark. News of her recovery spread like wildfire through the high society circles of Europe which started a world demand for the bark.
Its temperature-reducing effect is felt by other fevers with shivering chill and violent shaking. Enlargement of the spleen due to abnormal destruction of blood cells. Iron-deficient anaemia. Atrial fibrillation of the heart. Alcoholism. Debility. For recovery from excessive diarrhoea, loss of blood and exhausting liver and gall bladder conditions. Persistent flatulence. Polymyalgia. Loss of appetite (with Hops).
Practitioner only use. The remedy is on the General Sales List, Schedule 2, Table A up to 50mg per dose (Rla); over 50mg per dose it is obtainable from a pharmacy only. Herbal practitioners are exempt up to 250mg per dose (750 daily).
Tincture (BPC 1949). Dose: 2 to 4ml.
Tonic Mineral Water. On open sale. A palatable way of taking quinine for malaria prevention. ... cinchona bark
Symptoms: chill, shivering, headache, sore throat, weakness, tiredness, dry cough, aching muscles and joints, body temperature rise, fever. Virus tends to change, producing new strains.
Influenza lowers the body’s resistance to infection. For stomach influenza, see: GASTROENTERITIS. Effects of influenza may last for years.
Treatment. (Historical) One of the most virulent strains of history was during the outbreak after World War I. The American Eclectic School of physicians treated successfully with: 5 drops Liquid Extract Lobelia, 5 drops Liquid Extract Gelsemium, and 10 drops Liquid Extract Bryonia. Distilled water to 4oz. 1 teaspoon 4-5 times daily.
Bedrest. Drink plenty of fluids (herb teas, fruit juices). Hot bath at bedtime.
Alternatives. Teas. Elderflowers and Peppermint, Yarrow, Boneset, Pleurisy root.
Tablets/capsules. Lobelia, Cinnamon.
Potter’s Peerless Composition Essence.
Powders. Cinnamon, with pinch of Cayenne.
Dose: 500mg (two 00 capsules or one-third teaspoon) every 2 hours.
Formula. Lobelia 2; Pleurisy root 1; Peppermint quarter; Valerian half. Dose: Liquid Extracts: one 5ml teaspoon. Tinctures: two 5ml teaspoons. Acute cases: every 2 hours in hot water. On remission of temperature: thrice daily.
Nurse Ethel Wells, FNIMH. Half an ounce each: Elderflowers, Yarrow, White Horehound, Peppermint, Boneset. Infuse 2 tablespoons in 1 pint boiling water in a clean teapot. Drink teacupful at bedtime and the remainder, cold, in teacupful doses the following day.
Inhalant. Aromatherapy: 5 drops each, Niaouli, Pine and Eucalyptus oils in bowl of hot water; inhale steam with head covered. See also: FRIAR’S BALSAM. 4 drops Peppermint oil in bath.
Diet. 3-day fast, where possible, with herb teas and fruit juices.
Supplements. Daily. Vitamin A 7,500iu. Vitamin C 3g. ... influenza
Onset: 2-10 days.
Sources of infection: water-cooling and air-conditioning plants, Aerosols.
Usually attacks those with existing lung weakness. Those with low natural resistance and smokers are most at risk. Epidemic or single cases. Diagnosis confirmed by Haematological laboratory.
Symptoms. High body temperature (above 39°C). Rigor. Shivering. Diarrhoea. Dry cough. Bleeding from stomach and intestines. Mental confusion. Chest pains, shortness of breath, occasional diarrhoea. Differential diagnosis. Glandular fever. Other forms of pneumonia.
Indicated: anti-microbials and expectorants.
Treatment. Formula. Pleurisy root 2; Echinacea root 2; Grindelia quarter. Dose – Powders: 500mg (two 00 capsules or one-third teaspoon). Liquid extracts: one 5ml teaspoon. Tinctures: two 5ml teaspoons. Every 3 hours. Take together with:–
Fenugreek tea. 2 heaped teaspoons seeds to each cup water simmered gently 10 minutes. Drink freely 1 cup. Seeds should be swallowed.
Enema. Strong Yarrow tea enema to control bowel bleeding. ... legionnaire’s disease
A sample of fluid from a bubo, or a sputum sample, is taken to confirm the diagnosis.
Possible treatments include streptomycin and tetracycline drugs.... plague
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