Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

AEROTHERAPEUTICS

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 271 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

AEROTHERAPEUTICS , the treatment of disease by atmospheric See also:

air: a See also:term which of See also:late has come to be used somewhat more loosely to include also pneumotherapeutics, or the treatment of disease by artificially prepared atmospheres. The See also:physical and chemical properties of atmospheric air, under See also:ordinary pressure or under modified pressure, may be therapeutically utilized either on the See also:external See also:surface of the See also:body, on the See also:respiratory surface, or on both surfaces together. Also modifications may be induced in the See also:ventilation of the lungs by See also:general gymnastics or respiratory gymnastics. The beneficial effects of air under ordinary pressure are now utilized in the open-air treatment of phthisical patients, and the See also:main indications of benefit resulting therefrom are reduction of the See also:fever, improvement of appetite and the See also:induction of See also:sleep. The air, however, maybe modified in See also:composition or in temperature. Inhalation is the most See also:common and successful method of applying it—when modified in composition—to the human body. The methods in use are as follows: (I) Inhalation of gases, as See also:oxygen and nitrous See also:oxide., The dyspnoea and cyanosis of See also:pneumonia, capillary See also:bronchitis, See also:heart failure, &c., are much relieved by the inhalation of oxygen; and nitrous oxide is largely used as an anaesthetic in See also:minor operations. (2) Certain liquids are used as anaesthetics, which volatilize at See also:low temperatures, as See also:chloroform and See also:ether. (3) See also:Mercury and See also:sulphur, both of which require See also:heat for volatilization, are very largely used. In a See also:mercurial or sulphur See also:bath, the patient, enveloped in a See also:sheet, sits on a See also:chair beneath which a spirit See also:lamp is placed to vaporize the See also:drug, the best results being obtained when the See also:atmosphere is surcharged with See also:steam at the same See also:time. The vapour envelops the patient and is absorbed by the skin. This method is extensively used in the treatment of syphilis, and also for See also:scabies and other parasitic affections of the skin.

(4) Moist inhalations are rather losing repute in the See also:

light of See also:modern investigations, which tend to show that nothing See also:lower than the larger bronchial tubes is affected. Complicated apparatus has been devised for the application, although a wide-mouthed See also:jug filled with boiling See also:water, into which the drug is thrown, is almost equally efficacious. Artificial atmospheres may be made for invalids by respirators which See also:cover the mouth and See also:nose, the air being See also:drawn through See also:tow or sponge, on which is sprinkled the disinfectant to be used. This is most valuable in the intensely offensive breath of some cases of See also:bronchiectasis. The air may be modified as to temperature. See also:Cold air at 32-330 F. has been used in chronic catarrhal conditions of the lungs, with the result that cough diminishes, the See also:pulse becomes See also:fuller and slower and the general See also:condition improves. The more See also:recent observations of Pasquale di Tullio go far to show that this may be immensely valuable in the treatment of haemoptysis. The See also:inspiration of superheated dry air has been the subject of much investigation, but with very doubtful results. Hot air applied to the skin is more noteworthy in its therapeutic effects. If a current of hot air is directed upon healthy skin, the latter becomes See also:pale and contracts in consequence of vasoconstriction. But if it is directed on a patch of diseased skin, as in See also:lupus, an inflammatory reaction is set up and the diseased See also:part begins to undergo See also:necrosis. This fact has been used with See also:good results in hipus, otorrhoea, rhinitis and other nasal and laryngeal troubles.

Lastly the air may be either compressed or rarefied. The physiological effects of compressed air were first studied in diving-bells, and more recently in caissons. See also:

Caisson workers at first enjoy increased strength, vigour and appetite; later, how-ever, the opposite effect is produced and intense debility supervenes. In addition, caisson workers suffer from a See also:series of troubles which are known as accidents of decompression. (See CAISSON DISEASE.) But, therapeutically, compressed air has been utilized by means of pneumatic See also:chambers large enough to hold one or more adults at the time, in which the pressure of the atmosphere can be exactly regulated. This See also:form of treatment has been found of much value in the treatment of See also:emphysema, See also:early pulmonary See also:tuberculosis (not in the presence of persistent high temperature, See also:haemorrhage, softening or suppuration), delayed absorption of pleural effusions, heart disease, See also:anaemia and See also:chlorosis. But compressed air is contra-indicated in advanced tubercle, fever, and in diseases of kidneys, See also:liver or intestines. Rarefied air was used as See also:long ago as 1835, by V. T. Junod, who utilized it for See also:local application by inventing the Junod See also:Boot. By means of this the See also:blood could be drawn into any part to which it was applied, the vessels of which became gorged with blood at the expense of See also:internal See also:organs. More recently this method of treatment has undergone far-reaching developments and is known as the passive hyperaemic treatment.

There are also various forms of apparatus by means of which air at greater or lesser pressures may be drawn into the lungs, and for the performance of See also:

lung gymnastics of various kinds. Mr Ketchum of the See also:United States has invented one which is much used. A See also:committee of the See also:Brompton See also:Hospital, See also:London, investigating its capabilities, decided that its use brought about (1) an increase of See also:chest circumference, and (2) in cases of consolidation of the lung a diminution in the See also:area of dulness.

End of Article: AEROTHERAPEUTICS

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
AERONAUTICS 		[next]
AERT VAN DER NEER

Site © 2006 - Net Industries