Appendicitis | Page 8

into it. When its function is not interfered with by an unusual
pressure as from constipation, no doubt it can empty itself and does do
so.
When it is understood first of all that appendicitis--the inflammation
known as appendicitis--is a local manifestation of a general or
constitutional derangement, the cause for this local manifestation may
be taken up.

In order to understand why the disease localizes we must refer the
reader to the peculiar anatomical construction of the cecum and the
appendix, and their relation to other parts. The cecum is a large, blind
pouch, one of the shortest of the several divisions in the continuity of
the intestinal canal, which begins where the small intestine ends, and
ends where the large intestine begins. Its blind end or pouch is down;
this dependent position makes it peculiarly liable to impaction and the
injuries which are disposed to come from distention; for, as the colon
ascends from its connection with the cecum, the force of gravity must
be reckoned with.
The colon is very liable to be more or less distended with
accumulations, and especially is this true of those of sedentary habits,
for a call to evacuate the bowels is frequently postponed.
This postponing of duty to nature has evolved, in all these years of
civilized life, a weakened functioning so that man is more subject to
constipation than any other animal. The bowels are educated to tolerate
a great accumulation and the pretty general habit of taking drugs to
force action has grown a weakened state which is the natural sequence
of overstimulation and as this has been going on generation after
generation it has become more or less transmissible.
The cecum, situated as it is, must bear the brunt of the evil effects of
constipation. When the large intestine is full or distended, as it usually
is in cases of chronic constipation, so that nothing can pass out of the
cecum this organ becomes a jetty head, so to speak, against which the
peristaltic waves from the small intestine break. The full force of the
peristaltic waves from the small intestine with its onrush of fluid or
semifluid contents subjects the cecum to great distention and strain.
If there were any way to prove that so-called appendicitis is more
common to-day than in former times, it is reasonable to believe that the
irritating effect of the pretty general habit of taking cathartic medicine
has had more to do with bringing it about than any other one thing.
Distention, with the straining of the walls from peristaltic onrushes as
described above, and the infection that this part of the alimentary canal

is subjected to because of the decomposition of food that is going on to
a greater or less extent in all victims of constipation, are the causes of
inflammation in the cecum. If the inflammation involves the appendix
or the cecal location of the appendix, it may be called appendicitis, but
the appendix is involved the same as any other contiguous part. Any
mind capable of reasoning should have no trouble in rightly assigning
the responsibility of this disease, if sufficient attention be given to
anatomism.
There is not any very good reason for one capable of analyzing, to
jump at the conclusion that the appendix is the cause of the disease
because it is frequently found in the field of inflammation. The same
reasoning would make Peyer's glands the cause of typhoid fever.
The unwholesome condition of the intestinal tract which is the
immediate or exciting cause of appendicitis and other diseases peculiar
to this location, is brought on by improper life; not one cause, nor a
dozen special causes, but anything and everything that break down the
general health create this condition; then add the accidental eating of
decomposition, or add decomposition, auto-generated, and we have the
necessary data.
The opening of the appendix is so very small that inflammation of the
cecum soon closes it and then we have a mucous surface without
drainage, which means obstruction--opposition to the requirements of
nature--for one of the functions of the mucous membrane is to secrete
and this secretion must have an outlet or the part becomes diseased.
According to the theory of bacteriology a micro-organism is to blame
for appendicitis. If this were true it would relieve humanity of all
responsibility. There is a disposition on the part of man to shirk
responsibility and the germ theory is not the first theory of vicarious
atonement that he has spun. Those who wish to shirk all kinds of
responsibility by adopting the germ theory and by making
micro-organisms the scape-goat may do so, but I would advise all
sensible people to keep in mind the following truth: _Violated hygienic
laws predispose to disease; _then, when resistance is broken down, the