See also:

• ASTHMA (Gr. avBµa, gasping, whence lio-Ogaivw, I gasp for breath)

ASTHMA (Gr. avBµa, gasping, whence lio-Ogaivw, I gasp for breath)  , a disorder of respiration characterized by severe paroxysms of difficult breathing (dyspnoea) usually followed by a See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period of See also:

• COMPLETE

complete See also:

• RELIEF

relief, with recurrence of the attacks at more or less frequent intervals . The" See also:

• TERM

term is often loosely employed in reference to states of embarrassed respiration, which are plainly due to permanent organic disease of the See also:

• RESPIRATORY

respiratory See also:

• ORGANS

organs (see RESPIRATORY See also:

• SYSTEM

SYSTEM: See also:

• PATHOLOGY (from Gr. raBos, suffering)

Pathology) . The attacks occur quite suddenly, and in some patients at See also:

• REGULAR

regular, in others at irregular intervals . They are characterized by extreme difficulty both in See also:

• INSPIRATION (Lat. inspirare, breathe upon or into)

inspiration and expiration, but especially in the latter, the See also:

• CHEST (Gr. Kiarl, Lat. cista, O. Eng. cist, test, &c.)

chest becoming distended and the See also:

• DIAPHRAGM (Gr. Scat/pay,aa, a partition)

diaphragm immobile . In the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of " pure " idiopathic or " See also:

• NERVOUS

nervous " See also:

• ASTHMA (Gr. avBµa, gasping, whence lio-Ogaivw, I gasp for breath)

asthma, there is no See also:

• FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever or other sign of inflammation . But where the asthma is secondary to disease of some See also:

• ORGAN

organ of the See also:

• BODY

body, the symptoms will depend largely on that organ and the disease See also:

• PRESENT

present . Such secondary forms may be See also:

• BRONCHITIS

bronchitis, cardiac, renal, peptic or thymic . The mode of onset differs very markedly in different cases . In some the attack begins quite suddenly and without warning, but in others various sensations well known to the patient announce that an attack is imminent . According to the See also:

• LATE

late Dr See also:

• HYDE
• HYDE, THOMAS (1636-1703)

Hyde See also:

• SALTER, JOHN WILLIAM (1820-1869)

Salter the commonest warning is that of an in-tense See also:

• DESIRE

desire for See also:

• SLEEP (0. Eng. slcepan; Ger. schlafen; cf. Lat. labi, to glide, and " slip ")

sleep, so overpowering that though the patient knows his only See also:

• CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of warding off the attack is to keep awake, he isyet utterly unable to fight against his drowsiness . Among other patients, however, a See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition of unwonted See also:

• MENTAL

mental• excitement presages the attack . Again the secondary forms of the disease may be ushered in by flatulence, See also:

• CONSTIPATION (from Lat. constipare, to press closely together, whence also the adjective " costive ")

constipation and loss of appetite, and a symptom which often attends the onset, though it is not strictly premonitory, is a profuse diuresis, the urine being watery and nearly colourless, as in the condition of hysterical diuresis .

In the See also:

• MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority of instances the attack begins during the See also:

• NIGHT

night, sometimes abruptly but often by degrees . The patient may or may not be aware that his asthma is threatening . A few See also:

• HOURS, CANONICAL

hours after midnight he is aroused from sleep by a sense of difficult breathing . In some cases this is a . slowly increasing condition, not becoming acute for some See also:

• HOUR

hour or more . But in others the attack is so sudden, so severe, that the patient springs from his See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed and makes his way at once to an open window, apparently struggling for breath . Most asthmatics have some favourite attitude which best enables them to use all the See also:

• AUXILIARY (from Lat. auxilium, help)

auxiliary muscles of respiration in their struggle for breath, and this attitude they immediately assume, and guard fixedly until the attack begins to subside . The picture is characteristic and a very painful one to See also:

• WATCH (in O. Eng. wcecce, a keeping guard or watching, from wacian, to guard, watch, wacan, to wake)

watch . The See also:

• FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face is See also:

• PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale, anxious, and it may be livid . The See also:

• VEINS

veins of the forehead• stand out, the eyes bulge, and See also:

• PERSPIRATION (Lat. per, through, and spirare, to breathe)

perspiration bedews the face . The See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head is fixed in position, and likewise the powerful muscles of the back to aid the See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt at respiration . The breath is whistling and wheezing, and if it becomes necessary for the patient to speak, the words are uttered with See also:

• GREAT

great difficulty . If the chest be watched it is seen to be almost motionless, and the respirations may become extraordinarily slowed .

Inspiration is difficult as the chest is already over-distended, but expiration is an - even far greater struggle . The attack may last any See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time from an hour to several days, and between the attacks the patient is usually quite at ease . But notwithstanding the intensely distressing See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the attacks, asthma is not one of the diseases that shorten See also:

• LIFE

life . In the See also:

• CHILD
• CHILD, FRANCIS JAMES (1825-1896)
• CHILD, L
• CHILD, LYDIA MARIA (1802-1880)
• CHILD, SIR FRANCIS (1642-1713)
• CHILD, SIR JOHN (d. 1690)
• CHILD, SIR JOSIAH (163o - 1699)

child, asthma is usually periodic in its recurrence, but as he ages it tends to become more erratic in both its manifestations and time ofappearance . Also, though at first it may be strictly " 'Sure " asthma, later in life it becomes attended by chronic bronchitis, which in its turn gives rise to See also:

• EMPHYSEMA (Gr. Eµ / vuav to inflate)

emphysema, As to the underlying cause of the disease, one has only to read the many utterly different theories put forward to See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account for it, to see how little is really known . But it has now been clearly shown that in the asthmatic See also:

• STATE
• STATE, GREAT OFFICERS OF

state the respiratory centre is in an unstable and excitable condition, and that there is a morbid connexion between this and some See also:

• PART

part of the nasal apparatus . Dr See also:

• ALEXANDER
• ALEXANDER (1461-1506)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OF BATTENBERG) (1857-1893)
• ALEXANDER (ALEXANDER OsxENOVici) (1876-1903)
• ALEXANDER, ARCHIBALD (1772—1851)
• ALEXANDER, FRANCIS (1800—1881)
• ALEXANDER, GEORGE (1858— )
• ALEXANDER, JOHN WHITE (1856- )
• ALEXANDER, JOSEPH ADDISON (18o9—186o)
• ALEXANDER, SIR JAMES EDWARD (1803—1885)
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM (1824— )
• ALEXANDER, WILLIAM LINDSAY (1808—1884)

Alexander See also:

• FRANCIS
• FRANCIS (FRarrcols) OF SALES, ST (1567-1622)
• FRANCIS (Lat. Franciscus, Ital. Francesco, Span. Francisco, Fr. Francois, Ger. Franz)
• FRANCIS, SIR PHILIP (174o-1818)

Francis has shown, however, that the disease is not directly due to any See also:

• MECHANICAL

mechanical obstruction of the nasal passages, and that the See also:

• NOSE (O.Eng. nosu, cf. Dutch neus, Swed. nos, snout; the Aix in Provence. Both at Aix and at Lyons he acquired great connexion with O.Eng. nasu is obscure, cf. Ger. Nase, Lat. pares, distinction by his labours during outbreaks of the plague. In nostrils,

nose comparatively rarely supplies the immediate exciting cause of the asthmatic attack . Paroxysmal See also:

• SNEEZING (0. Eng. fneosung, from fneosan, to sneeze, cf. Dutch fniezen, allied to the obsolete neeze, and ultimately to be referred to root seen in Gr. irveiv, to breathe; the initial s is due to association with numerous words, such as snort, snuff, snor

sneezing is another See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form in which asthma may show itself, and, curiously enough, this fo m-occurs more frequently in See also:

• WOMEN

women, asthma of the more recognized type in men . In infants and See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young See also:

• CHILDREN, LAW RELATING TO

children paroxysmal bronchitis is another form of the same disease . Dr See also:

• JAMES
• JAMES (Gr. 'IlrKw,l3or, the Heb. Ya`akob or Jacob)
• JAMES (JAMES FRANCIS EDWARD STUART) (1688-1766)
• JAMES, 2ND EARL OF DOUGLAS AND MAR(c. 1358–1388)
• JAMES, DAVID (1839-1893)
• JAMES, EPISTLE OF
• JAMES, GEORGE PAYNE RAINSFOP
• JAMES, HENRY (1843— )
• JAMES, JOHN ANGELL (1785-1859)
• JAMES, THOMAS (c. 1573–1629)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (1842–1910)
• JAMES, WILLIAM (d. 1827)

James Goodhart notes the connexion between asthma and certain skin troubles, giving cases of the See also:

• ALTERNATION (from Lat. alternare, to do by turns)

alternation of asthma and See also:

• PSORIASIS

psoriasis, and also of asthma and See also:

• ECZEMA (Gr. EKE a, a cutaneous eruption)

eczema . The disease occurs in families with a well-marked neurotic See also:

• INHERITANCE

inheritance, and twice as frequently in men as in women . The immediate cause of an attack may be anything or nothing .

Dr Hyde Salter notes that 8o% of cases in the young date from an attack of whooping cough, bronchitis or See also:

• MEASLES, (Morbilli, Rubeola; the M. E. word is maseles, properly a diminutive of a word meaning " spot," O.H.G. m¢sa, cf. " mazer "; the equivalent is Ger. Masern; Fr. Rougeole)

measles . In the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general treatment of asthma there are two methods of dealing with the patient, either that of hardening the individual, widening his range of See also:

• ACCOMMODATION (Lat. accommodare, to make fit, from ad, to, cum, with, and modus, measure)

accommodation, and thus making him less susceptible, or that df modifying and adapting the environment to the patient . These two methods correspond to the two methods of See also:

• DRUG
• DRUG (from Fr. drogue, a word common in Romance languages, cf. Span. and Ital. droga; the origin of the word is obscure, but may possibly be connected with Dutch droog, dry)

drug treatment, tonic or sedative . During the last few years the method of treatment first used by Dr Alexander Francis has come into prominence . His See also:

• PLAN
• PLAN (from Lat. planes, flat)

plan is to restore the stability of the respiratory centre, by cauterizing the septal mucous membrane, and combining with this general hygienic See also:

• MEASURES

measures . In his own words the operation, which is entirely painless and insignificant, is performed as follows:—" After See also:

• PAINTING

painting one See also:

• SIDE
• SIDE (mod. Eski Adalia)

side of the septum See also:

• NASI, JOSEPH (16th century)

nasi with a few drops of See also:

• COCAINE, C17H21NO4

cocaine and See also:

• RESORCIN (meta-dioxybenzene), C5H4(OH)2i one of the dihydric phenols. It is obtained on fusing many resins (galbanum, asafoetida, &c.)

resorcin, I draw a See also:

• LINE

line with a galvano-cautery point from a spot opposite the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle turbinated body, forwards and slightly downwards for a distance of rather less than See also:

• HALF

half an See also:

• INCH (O. Eng. ynce from Lat. uncia, a twelfthpart; cf. " ounce," and see As)

inch . In about one See also:

• WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week's time I repeat the operation on the other side." In his monograph on the subject, he classifies a large number of cases treated in this manner, most of which resulted in complete relief, some in very great improvement, and a very few in slight or no relief .