Читать книгу Old Age Deferred. The causes of old age and its postponement by hygienic and therapeutic measures онлайн

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The condition of menstruation can give us valuable information. The late appearance of the first menstrual period, irregularities of menstruation, its appearance at irregular intervals, and frequent disappearance for months, will give us an unfavorable idea of the ovarian activity, especially when each menstrual period is accompanied by pain. So will sterility, as this condition is common, not only in association with ovarian inactivity (if not due to malpositions of the uterus or impotency of the husband), but also with thyroid deficiency. On the other hand, too frequent pregnancies or miscarriages will also unfavorably influence our judgment, as these agencies have, as a rule, a deteriorating effect upon these important glands, causing their exhaustion and, at the same time, that of the thyroid. In women with thyroid insufficiency and general loss of muscular tone, prolapse of the uterus may be frequent, and also metrorrhagia. As Hertoghe found, we can stop uterine hæmorrhages in women with thyroid insufficiency by the administration of thyroid extracts. The history of previous gonorrhœal infection must be specially investigated, as this disease, if not treated, which is unhappily so often the case, will always involve the ovaries, causing their destruction and often their obliteration. Gonorrhœa in women is far oftener overlooked than in men, as it so often passes for a simple discharge, until by microscopical examination gonococci are found, and the ovaries already injured. It is a sad fact that a large majority of the cases of pelvic disease in married women are due to infection by the husband, for an enormous number of men enter upon marriage with gonorrhœa that is imperfectly cured, or not cured at all. Let us hope that there will come a time when a law will be passed obliging every man to be examined thoroughly before entering upon marriage, especially for gonorrhœa and syphilis. Such legal precautions would soon check the transmission of these diseases to the wife and of syphilis to the innocent descendants. It may be that thus, to a large extent, the propagation of some of the greatest scourges of humanity can be checked, viz.: of tuberculosis, alcoholism, and crime^[123] which, as shown previously, flourish on the soil prepared for them by hereditary syphilis.