Читать книгу Special Report on Diseases of the Horse - Charles B. Michener - Страница 23

Active congestion is caused by—

(1) Functional activity.—Any organ which is constantly or excessively used is habituated to hold an unusual quantity of blood; the vessels become dilated; if overstrained the walls become weakened, lose their elasticity, and any sudden additional quantity of blood engorges the tissues so that they can not contract, and congestion results. Example: The lungs of a race horse, after an unusual burst of speed or severe work, in damp weather.

(2) Irritants.—Heat and cold, chemical or mechanical. Any of these, by threatening the vitality of a tissue, induce immediately an augmented flow of blood to the part to furnish the means of repair—a hot iron, frostbites, acids, or a blow.

(3) Nerve influence.—This may produce congestion either by acting on the part reflexly or as the result of some central nerve disturbance affecting the branch which supplies a given organ.

(4) Plethora and sanguinary temperament.—Full-blooded animals are much more predisposed to congestive diseases than those of a lymphatic character or those in an anemic condition. The circulation in them is forced to all parts with much greater force and in large quantities. A well-bred, full-blooded horse is much more subject to congestive diseases than a common, coarse, or old, worn-out animal.

(5) Fevers.—In fever the heart works more actively and forces the current of blood more rapidly; the tissues are weakened, and it requires but a slight local cause at any part to congest the structures already overloaded with blood. Again, in certain fevers, we find alteration of the blood itself, rendering it less or more fluid, which interferes with its free passage through the vessels and induces a local predisposition to congestion.

(6) Warm climate and summer heat.—Warmth of the atmosphere relaxes the tissues; it demands of the animals less blood to keep up their own body temperature, and the extra quantity accumulates in the blood-vessel system. It causes sluggishness in the performance of the organic functions, and in this way it induces congestion, especially of the internal organs. So we find founders, congestive colics, and staggers more frequent in summer than in winter.

(7) Previous congestion.—Whether the previous congestion of any organ has been a continuous normal one—that is, a repeated functional activity—or has been a morbid temporary overloading, it always leaves the walls of the vessels weakened and more predisposed to recurrent attacks from accidental causes than are perfectly healthy tissues. Thus a horse which has had a congestion of the lungs from a severe drive is liable to have another attack from even a lesser cause.

The alterations of congestion are distention of the blood vessels, accumulation of the cellular elements of the blood in them, and effusion of a portion of the liquid of the blood into the fibrous tissues which surround the vessels. When the changes produced by congestion are visible, as in the eye, the nostril, the mouth, the genital organs, and on the surface of the body in white or unpigmented animals, the part appears red from the increase of blood; it becomes swollen from the effusion of liquid into the spongelike connective tissues; it is at times more or less hot from the increased combustion; the part is frequently painful to the animal from pressure of the effusion on the nerves, and the function of the tissue is interfered with. The secretion or excretion of glands may be augmented or diminished. Muscles may be affected with spasms or may be unable to contract. The eyes and ears may be affected with imaginary sights and sounds.