The bladder muscles share in the ataxia, and the consequent retention
of urine frequently causes cystitis, and may endanger life by the
involvement of the kidneys.
The bowels cannot be emptied or are moved without the patient's
knowledge, and these annoyances combine with the pain and nervous
apprehension to drive the victim into a melancholic or neurasthenic
state. He suffers, too, from want of occupation, from the absence of
exercise, from the anticipation of worse changes in the near future, and
usually by the time he reaches the specialist has been more or less
poisoned with iodide of potash and mercury, and perhaps with morphia.
In the third, the paralytic stage, which seldom comes on until the
symptoms have lasted for years, there is gradual loss of power and
ataxia, increasing until he is totally unable to walk. If a patient is
not seen until this condition of things has been reached, but little can
be hoped from any treatment, though in a few cases energetic measures
may bring about a marked improvement, which is rarely lasting.
Pages:
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200