Medical diagnosis for the student and practitioner (1922) (14784502255)

Identifier: medicaldiagnosi00gree (find matches)
Title: Medical diagnosis for the student and practitioner
Year: 1922 (1920s)
Authors: Greene, Charles Lyman, 1862-
Subjects: Diagnosis
Publisher: Philadelphia, Blakiston
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress



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d to allow for the constant error in-herent in the palpatory method, must have involved the inclusion of maximalreadings so high as to raise serious doubts concerning the legitimacy of thefigures. The mortality reports of life insurance companies show the fallacyinherent in the application of the word normal to any such figures. * The author feels that the lower figures for adults are to be accepted only with decidedreservation inasmuch as he has usually found them only in association with more or lessprofound subnutrition or circulatory depression. Low readings are especially common intuberculosis even during the incipient stage. t The average normal for the sixth decade is 138 mm. Hg. Maximum obtained inlarge group 150 mm. Hg. BLOOD PRESSURE 477 Important Statistical Data.—/. W. Fisher has recently published a mostvaluable article reporting the average systolic pressures obtained as the result°f x9>339 readings representing that number of accepted candidates for lifeinsurance.
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Fig. 185.—The UskoflE sphygmotonometer. This instrument simultaneously recordsblood pressure in millimeters of mercury, together with the brachial pulse at varyingpressures, and one other tracing (jugular, carotid, apex beat, etc.). (Courtesy, A. H.Thomas Co.) The following table shows that even those who had attained the later yearsof the sixth decade of life showed an average systolic blood pressure slightlyunder 135 mm. of mercury. Dr. J. W. Fishers Table Ages Number Average bloodpressure 15-20 281 119.85 21-25 785 122.76 26-30 791 123.65 31-35 689 123.74 36-40 2,111 126.96 41-45 6,740 128.56 46-50 4,471 130.57 51-55 2,371 132.13 56-60 I, IOO I34-78 total 10.310 tcR r>T On 525 applicants accepted in earlier years who showed an average sys-tolic pressure of 152.58 mm., the Northwestern Life Insurance Company 478 MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS Excessivemortality. Importanttemporaryi ncrease. suffered an excess mortality exceeding by over 30 per cent, the general averageof that company. On an