Healthcare

As the years passed, some of these doctors died; Doll and Bradford Hill investigated the cause of death in each ease. Some of the deaths were from lung cancer and two facts emerged quite clearly. First, there was a very clear relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Second, the chances of dying from the disease increased with: increasing cigarette consumption. Since then a mass of evidence confirming these results has poured in from all over the world. There have been Attempts to finds other explanations of the connection between lung cancer and smoking but none fits the facts as well as the simple explanation that there is something in the cigarette which is it a cause of lung cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Although one generally finds it easy to elicit the reflexes after one has acquired some experiences it is necessary to make sure that the patient relaxes his limbs and that his attention is distracted from the tests. One should strike the tendon and not the muscle, because in the latter case one tests myotatic irritability and not the tendon reflex. For the deep reflexes it is well to place the limb or muscle in the half way position between contraction and relaxation. Read the rest of this entry »

They are essentially phenomena of decerebrate rigidity. The lower extremities are extended and adducted, the forearm pronated the wrist and hand often flexed and generally everted or supinated.

Under reflexes are generally included deep (or tendon and periosteal) and superficial or cutaneous reflexes. To these may be added pathologic reflexes of spinal automatism and other organic reflexes. The value of Read the rest of this entry »

Between the waves a movement, so to speak, there is bizarre posturing of the body and limbs. After a time contractures of the muscles, especially of the feet and torsion of the pelvis become permanent features, in addition to the movement. Myoclonus is a sudden, regular or irregular contraction of a muscle which does not usually produce movement. It appears as if the muscle responded to a faradic current. These spasmodic Contractions generally are observed in the limbs but may be seem in the body and face. Hiccup is a spasmodic myoclonus of the diaphragm. Read the rest of this entry »