The Causes and Treatment of Chronic Rheumatism

Abstract

vasomotor system and also upon the nervous control of the production of heat. The dilatation of the cutaneous vessels, the increased perspiration and the cooling thereby produced are well known. The temperature of the subject may be lowered although he himself feels warmer; this is due to the warm blood which flushes the cutaneous nerves where the sensations of temperature arise. In large doses alcohol paralyses the nervous control of temperature. The man who is " dead drunk " resembles a coldblooded animal; exposure to cold produces not an increase but a decrease in combustion and his temperature steadily fall. The lowest temperatures recorded in men, who have recovered, appear in drunkards who have been exposed to cold.Anaesthetics rapidly paralyse the nervous regulation of temperature. The disturbance in temperature, be it a fall or a rise, which is seen after many surgical operations, appears to be largely due to this cause. The convenient explanation of " shock " needs further definition. The anaesthetized patient cannot regulate his temperature. The cases of hyperpyrexia scattered throughout medical literature are exceedingly numerous. Some of the observations appear to be unreliable, owing to defects in the thermometer or to fraud on the part of the patient. The range above the normal temperature is less extensive than that below, and a very high temperature is rapidly followed by death, whereas a very low temperature is compatible with life for a relatively long period. This would be expected on general physiological grounds, for some mammals have, under the natural conditions of hibernation, a temperature only five or six degrees above the freezing point.The highest records in patients who have recovered appear to be 450 to 460 (1130 to 114.80 F.), but in these cases the high temperature appears to have been maintained for a very short time. REFERENCES.'Edwards, De l'lnfluence des Agens Physiques sur la Vie,

History of fibromyalgia: Past to present

“…He properly noted that men have more localized symptoms (pain) and signs (tender points) given that recent data have shown that men have fewer pain symptom sites and tender points than women [59,60]. Traut [57] discredits Stockman's [32] histologic observations, stating that such findings "had little substantiation." His important contribution was to bring into focus the systemic features of FMS (eg, fatigue, poor sleep, headache, and colitis).…”

“…In the same year, Stockman [32] reported patchy inflammatory hyperplasia, fibroblast proliferation, serofibrinous exudates, thickening of nerves and blood vessel walls, and capillary proliferation on biopsies of excised myalgic nodules. His findings subsequently could not be confirmed [33][34][35][36], but he provided a pathologic basis for Gower's [7•] fibrous inflammation theory.…”

“…Stockman's [32] original sections were re-examined by Collins [35] at the Mayo Clinic and were reported to be essentially normal. Several muscle biopsy reports later [36] claimed inflammatory or degenerative changes, but these were found to be invalid because of a lack of appropriate design [37••].…”

“…The issue of histologic findings in FMS, first described in 1904 [32], remains a controversy. Although several controlled muscle biopsy studies were published in the 1980s showing non-specific changes, they were criticized because of flaws in methodology.…”

A critical evaluation of Quintner et al: Missing the point

“…Quintner, Bove and Cohen stated that the objective of their recent paper "A critical evaluation of the trigger point phenomenon" (Quintner et al 2014) (Dommerholt et al 2006, Gerwin et al 2004, Simons 1975, Simons 1976, since British physician Balfour in 1816 described muscle pain as "patients having a large number of nodular tumours and thickenings which were painful to the touch, and from which pains shot to neighboring parts" (Stockman 1904). We appreciate Quintner et al's efforts to critically review the current hypothetical constructs of myofascial pain and TrPs and to offer alternative perspectives and hypotheses, which eventually may lead to a better understanding of myofascial pain, although we disagree with many of their specific comments.…”