Etiology of rheumatism, diet in rheumatism, relation of chorea and rheumatism and of tonsillitis and rheumatism / by Joseph E. Winters.

  • Winters, Joseph Edcil, 1848-1922.
Date:
[1907?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Etiology of rheumatism, diet in rheumatism, relation of chorea and rheumatism and of tonsillitis and rheumatism / by Joseph E. Winters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    8/16 (page 8)
    cane sugar taken may be converted into lactic acid. Two or three ounces of sugar is fi-equently taken in the foi-m of sweets—its peniiciousness exceeds computation. Tlie bacilli that cause milk to curdle form SO per cent, of lac- tic acid from glucose. These bacilli are always present in the alimentary canal. When the glycogen-forming power of the liver is unable to keep pace with the demands made upon it, there re- sults what is termed alimentary glycosuria. Recent re- searches make it probable that an enzyme in the cells of the body effects lactic-acid fermentation from sugar in every instance when the glycogen-forming power of the liver is unequal to the demands. When intracellular enzymes produce lactic acid from sugar, this withdraws alkalies from the tissues. Inordinate reliance in basic-free broths; immoderation in lactic-acid-forming sweets, are fundamentally answer- able for the rheumatic proclivity, and the alarming in- crease of heart disease in childhood. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF RHEUMATISM IN CHILDHOOD TRANSCENDS IN INTEREST THE ADULT FORM. A large part of the oxidation of the body occurs in the muscles. An adult of 1.50 pounds, with 48 per cent, of his total body-weight voluntary muscles, 20 per cent, of which is proteid, has the fundamental elements for a rheumatic storm. A child of 50 pounds, with half the relative pro- portion of voluntary muscles of the adult, is exempt from this bias. Numerous minor events make up the rheumatism of childhood. The large appropriation of potash by the growing mus- cles ; the exuberance of acid products of the muscle-laboring child, make the balance between supply and demand of min- erals close and easily lost. A growing child is continually on the verge of an excess of acid products. Growth im- poses enhanced vulnerability to acid irritant. With every overplus a minor phase is manifested. Recurring minor events are inherent to growth; they are natural to the period. This seeming irregularity is regular; it is nor- mal. Recurring, masked, atypical rheumatism in child- hood is physiological.