[156 Mothers’ remedies]

Chronic congestion of the kidneys.  Causes.—­Diseases of other organs and obstruction to the return of the circulation in the veins.  Cirrhosis of the liver causes it.  The kidney is enlarged dark red, the urine is diminished, with albumin and casts and sometimes blood.

Treatment.—­Remove the cause if possible.  Fluid diet, like milk, broths, etc.  Dry cupping or sweating materials can be used.  Rest in bed if possible.  The bowels should be kept open, and the kidneys should rest.

Blood in the urine. (Haematuria).  Causes.—­The congestion of the kidneys, pernicious malaria, etc., nephritis, tuberculosis, kidney stones.  The urine looks smoky and dark, or bright red.

Treatment.—­This depends upon the cause.  The patient must rest in bed and the kidneys should not be stimulated.  Cold applications to the loins.  Hot applications would injure.

URAEMIC toxaemia.—­This means poison in the blood occurring in acute and chronic nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys).  The cause is unknown.  The disease is acute and chronic.

Acute uraemia.  Symptoms.—­The onset may be sudden or gradual.  The headache is severe, usually on the back top of head (occipital) and extending to the neck; there is persistent vomiting with nausea and diarrhea attending it.  This may be due to inflammation of the colon.  Difficulty in breathing, which may be constant or comes in spells.  This is worse at night, when it may resemble asthma; fever if persistent, is usually slight until just before death.  General convulsions may occur.  There may be some twitching of the muscles of the face and of other muscles.  The convulsions may occur frequently.  The patient becomes abnormally sleepy, before the attack, and remains so.  One-sided paralysis may occur.  Sudden temporary blindness occurs sometimes.  There may be noisy delirium or suicidal mania.  Coma (deep sleep) may develop either with or without convulsions or delirium, and is usually soon followed by them; sometimes by chronic uraemia or recovery.

Chronic uraemia.—­This develops most often in cases of Arterio-sclerosis or chronic interstitial nephritis, (one kind of Bright’s disease).  The symptoms are less severe than those of acute uraemia, but similar, and of gradual onset, sometimes with symptoms of the acute attack.  There is often constant headache and difficult breathing; the tongue is brown and dry, sometimes there is nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sleeplessness, cramps of the legs and much itching may be present.  It may last for years.  Death may occur when the patient is in coma (deep sleep).  There may have been mania, muscular twitchings or convulsions before death.

Treatment.—­Found under “Chronic Interstitial Nephritis.”

[Kidney and bladder 157]