04/07/2025
*"LEUCORRHOEA"*
In simple words it is the catarrh of the ge***al cana l.As we all know there is
alkaline reaction of the uterine secretion, and the acid reaction of the va**nal secretion. It is more likely that all
mucus when secreted is alkaline, and that it becomes acid in the va**na owing to the presence of a special va**nal bacillus that in health, owing to the cervical plug, cannot find its way into the uterus.
The bacillus has a protective or antagonistic action upon pathogenic bacteria, which, though always present, cannot develop beyond the capacity of disposal as long as the normal standard of acidity is maintained. Under conditions of infection, patho-logic bacteria are met at the v***a by the acid secretion of the va**na, and if they chance to pass
this sentinel the mucous plug at the os acts as a further barrier against invasion of the uterus.
During the period of lochial discharge the normal va**nal bacilli disappear. They are present during pregnancy, and reappear under healthy conditions at the termination of the puerperium.
Inasmuch as but few pyogenic cocci can live in an acid medium, this reaction of the va**nal secre-tion is recognized as natureтАЩs protection against the infection of the uterus from without. Almost any
variety of micro-organisms may be found in the v***a, gonococci, staphylococci, streptococci, and even tubercle bacilli, without invading the va**na, immunity being insured as long as the secretion
remains acid, and the va**nal bacilli are in physio-logical numbers and activity. The normal secretionlof the corpus uteri is a thin colorless mucoid fluid, and is free from micro-organisms.
When, however,the cervical barrier is once broken down and micro organisms enter the cavity of the uterus, they multiply with great rapidity and give rise to the most serious diseases of the female pelvis.
The secretion of the Fallopian tubes is also alkaline, and in health is free from micro-organisms.
It may with safety be asserted that
no infection of the uterus can take place unless introduced from without, and that this cannot be introduced save mechanically, or by breaking down
the barriers that nature has constructed for defense.The cause always lies
in micro-organisms that have gained entrance through the va**na.Some cases, as the catarrh of a young girl, or of
a virgin with an almost imperforate h***n, con-stitution, which may so alter the character of the mucous secretion as to reduce its protecting qualities, and allow the ever-present bacteria to pe*****te below the epithelial lining, or inquire into
their conditions of life, there will be found a cause, without which the essential mucoid
degeneration could not have taken place.
ЁЯФ║The mechanical removal of the protective epi-thelial covering is a frequent cause of gynaecological catarrh. The examining finger, the unskilful use of instruments, even the va**nal do**he, may be suffi-cient to abrade the mucous membrane, and it is believed that rupturing the h***n during coitus has in some instances been the door through which the invasion of micro-organisms took place.
ЁЯФ║Young girls of a scrofulous diathesis suffer from catarrh of all the mucous membranes, and are very subject to catarrh of the ge***al canal.
ЁЯФ║Women who are over-worked mentally or physically, women whose reparative processes are weakened, among the rich by over-eating and an ennervating life from luxury, among the poor by insufficient nourishment and privation, reach the
same results, derangement of gland function, per-verted secretions, and, finally, gynaecological catarrh in one form or another. Both classes become subjects
of uterine, ovarian and tubal diseases that are only too frequently etiological factors in affections of the ge***al mucous membrane.
ЁЯФ║ It is a matter of frequent clinical record that the exanthematous diseases, especially measles and scarlet fever, leave as sequelae catarrh of the throat,nose and middle ear; quite as often ge***al catarrh
may be traced to the same cause, a va**nal discharge of children and of young girls following an attack of one of these diseases. Suppressed exanthemata
may also be followed immediately or remotely by catarrhal affections of the ge***al canal.