A serious illness in which bacterial infection causes acute contraptions of the muscles of the jaw and the neck. The patient experiences stiffness and pain in the jaw, with rise in temperature. Swallowing is difficult. There is headache and sweating .Immediate medical attention is required because tetanus can be fetal.
Decfinition :- According to the Medical Dictioneris Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani. Infection generally occurs through wound contamination and often involves a cut or deep puncture wound. As the infection progresses, muscle spasms develop in the jaw (thus the name "lockjaw") and elsewhere in the body. Infection can be prevented by proper immunization and by post-exposure prophylaxis.
Signs and symptoms:-
Tetanus affects skeletal muscle, a type of striated muscle used in voluntary movement. The other type of striated muscle, cardiac or heart muscle, cannot be tetanized because of its intrinsic electrical properties. Mortality rates reported vary from 40% to 78%. In recent years, approximately 11% of reported tetanus cases have been fatal. The highest mortality rates are in unvaccinated persons and persons over 60 years of age.
The incubation period of tetanus may be up to several months but is usually about 8 days. In general, the further the injury site is from the central nervous system, the longer the incubation period. The shorter the incubation period, the more severe the symptoms. In neonatal tetanus, symptoms usually appear from 4 to 14 days after birth, averaging about 7 days. On the basis of clinical findings, four different forms of tetanus have been described.
Generalized tetanus is the most common type of tetanus, representing about 80% of cases. The generalized form usually presents with a descending pattern. The first sign is trismus, or lockjaw, and the facial spasms called risus sardonicus, followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty in swallowing, and rigidity of pectoral and calf muscles. Other symptoms include elevated temperature, sweating, elevated blood pressure, and episodic rapid heart rate. Spasms may occur frequently and last for several minutes with the body shaped into a characteristic form called opisthotonos. Spasms continue for 3–4 weeks, and complete recovery may take months.
Neonatal tetanus is a form of generalized tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity because the mother has never been immunized are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. Neonatal tetanus is common in many developing countries and is responsible for about 14% (215,000) of all neonatal deaths, but is very rare in developed countries.
Local tetanus is an uncommon form of the disease, in which patients have persistent contraction of muscles in the same anatomic area as the injury. The contractions may persist for many weeks before gradually subsiding. Local tetanus is generally milder; only about 1% of cases are fatal, but it may precede the onset of generalized tetanus.
Cephalic tetanus is a rare form of the disease, occasionally occurring with otitis media (ear infections) in which C. tetani is present in the flora of the middle ear, or following injuries to the head. There is involvement of the cranial nerves, especially in the facial area.
Pathophysiology:-
Tetanus begins when spores of Clostridium tetani enter damaged tissue. The spores transform into rod-shaped bacteria and produce the neurotoxin tetanospasmin (also known as tetanus toxin). This toxin is inactive inside the bacteria, but when the bacteria dies, it is released and activated by proteases. Active tetanospasmin is carried by retrograde axonal transport to the spinal cord and brain stem where it binds irreversibly to receptors at these sites. It cleaves membrane proteins involved in neuroexocytosis, which in turn blocks neurotransmission. Ultimately, this produces the symptoms of the disease. Damaged upper motor neurons can no longer inhibit lower motor neurons, plus they cannot control reflex responses to afferent sensory stimuli. Both mechanisms produce the hallmark muscle rigidity and spasms. Similarly, a lack of neural control of the adrenal glands results in release of catecholamines, thus producing a hypersympathetic state and widespread autonomic instability.
C. tetani also produces tetanolysin, another toxin whose role in tetanus is unknown.
Diagnosis :-
There are no blood tests that can be used to diagnose tetanus. The diagnosis is based on the presentation of tetanus symptoms and does not depend upon isolation of the bacteria, which is recovered from the wound in only 30% of cases and can be isolated from patients who do not have tetanus. Laboratory identification of C. tetani can only be demonstrated by production of tetanospasmin in mice. The "spatula test" is a clinical test for tetanus that involves touching the posterior pharyngeal wall with a sterile, soft-tipped instrument, and observing the effect. A positive test result is the involuntary contraction of the jaw (biting down on the "spatula"), and a negative test result would normally be a gag reflex attempting to expel the foreign object. A short report in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene states that in a patient research study, the spatula test had a high specificity (zero false-positive test results) and a high sensitivity (94% of infected patients produced a positive test result). In Homoeopathy Tatanus is treated without any harmful side effects.In this way of treatment also Prophylaxis which can prevent Tetanus.
HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES:-
CICUTA 200:
• Convulsion.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Face dark red. Mouth frothing.
• Spasm of masiticatory muscels.
• Raised temperature, headache and sweating.
• Oppressed breathing.
• From injury inflicted upon head and spinal coloumn.
HYPERICUM 200:
• Tetanus feared after punctured wound. Pain shoots up ine the wound along the nerves.
• After development of tetanus.
• To follow ledum in early stages. In later stages only Hypericum.
LEDUM 200:
• First remedy when tetanus is feared. As soon as a wound has been inflicted. Prevents tetanus.
NUX VOMICA 200:
• Violent convulsions of the whole body. Extreme rigidity of the limbs.
• Eyes destroyed, face red.
• Chest drawn in, causing difficulty in breathing.
• Spasm preceded by violent chills and shuddering.
PASSIFLORIA INC (Mother tincture. Thirty drops dose every hour):
• Extreme rigidity of muscles of the neck and of shoulders.
• Difficulty in swallowing.
• Tetanus from punctured wounds.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
TETANUS/LOCKJAW
A serious illness in which bacterial infection causes acute contraptions of the muscles of the jaw and the neck. The patient experiences stiffness and pain in the jaw, with rise in temperature. Swallowing is difficult. There is headache and sweating .Immediate medical attention is required because tetanus can be fetal.
Decfinition :- According to the Medical Dictioneris Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. The primary symptoms are caused by tetanospasmin, a neurotoxin produced by the Gram-positive, obligate anaerobic bacterium Clostridium tetani. Infection generally occurs through wound contamination and often involves a cut or deep puncture wound. As the infection progresses, muscle spasms develop in the jaw (thus the name "lockjaw") and elsewhere in the body. Infection can be prevented by proper immunization and by post-exposure prophylaxis.
Signs and symptoms:-
Tetanus affects skeletal muscle, a type of striated muscle used in voluntary movement. The other type of striated muscle, cardiac or heart muscle, cannot be tetanized because of its intrinsic electrical properties. Mortality rates reported vary from 40% to 78%. In recent years, approximately 11% of reported tetanus cases have been fatal. The highest mortality rates are in unvaccinated persons and persons over 60 years of age.
The incubation period of tetanus may be up to several months but is usually about 8 days. In general, the further the injury site is from the central nervous system, the longer the incubation period. The shorter the incubation period, the more severe the symptoms. In neonatal tetanus, symptoms usually appear from 4 to 14 days after birth, averaging about 7 days. On the basis of clinical findings, four different forms of tetanus have been described.
Generalized tetanus is the most common type of tetanus, representing about 80% of cases. The generalized form usually presents with a descending pattern. The first sign is trismus, or lockjaw, and the facial spasms called risus sardonicus, followed by stiffness of the neck, difficulty in swallowing, and rigidity of pectoral and calf muscles. Other symptoms include elevated temperature, sweating, elevated blood pressure, and episodic rapid heart rate. Spasms may occur frequently and last for several minutes with the body shaped into a characteristic form called opisthotonos. Spasms continue for 3–4 weeks, and complete recovery may take months.
Neonatal tetanus is a form of generalized tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity because the mother has never been immunized are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. Neonatal tetanus is common in many developing countries and is responsible for about 14% (215,000) of all neonatal deaths, but is very rare in developed countries.
Local tetanus is an uncommon form of the disease, in which patients have persistent contraction of muscles in the same anatomic area as the injury. The contractions may persist for many weeks before gradually subsiding. Local tetanus is generally milder; only about 1% of cases are fatal, but it may precede the onset of generalized tetanus.
Cephalic tetanus is a rare form of the disease, occasionally occurring with otitis media (ear infections) in which C. tetani is present in the flora of the middle ear, or following injuries to the head. There is involvement of the cranial nerves, especially in the facial area.
Pathophysiology:-
Tetanus begins when spores of Clostridium tetani enter damaged tissue. The spores transform into rod-shaped bacteria and produce the neurotoxin tetanospasmin (also known as tetanus toxin). This toxin is inactive inside the bacteria, but when the bacteria dies, it is released and activated by proteases. Active tetanospasmin is carried by retrograde axonal transport to the spinal cord and brain stem where it binds irreversibly to receptors at these sites. It cleaves membrane proteins involved in neuroexocytosis, which in turn blocks neurotransmission. Ultimately, this produces the symptoms of the disease. Damaged upper motor neurons can no longer inhibit lower motor neurons, plus they cannot control reflex responses to afferent sensory stimuli. Both mechanisms produce the hallmark muscle rigidity and spasms. Similarly, a lack of neural control of the adrenal glands results in release of catecholamines, thus producing a hypersympathetic state and widespread autonomic instability.
C. tetani also produces tetanolysin, another toxin whose role in tetanus is unknown.
Diagnosis :-
There are no blood tests that can be used to diagnose tetanus. The diagnosis is based on the presentation of tetanus symptoms and does not depend upon isolation of the bacteria, which is recovered from the wound in only 30% of cases and can be isolated from patients who do not have tetanus. Laboratory identification of C. tetani can only be demonstrated by production of tetanospasmin in mice. The "spatula test" is a clinical test for tetanus that involves touching the posterior pharyngeal wall with a sterile, soft-tipped instrument, and observing the effect. A positive test result is the involuntary contraction of the jaw (biting down on the "spatula"), and a negative test result would normally be a gag reflex attempting to expel the foreign object. A short report in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene states that in a patient research study, the spatula test had a high specificity (zero false-positive test results) and a high sensitivity (94% of infected patients produced a positive test result). In Homoeopathy Tatanus is treated without any harmful side effects.In this way of treatment also Prophylaxis which can prevent Tetanus.
HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES:-
CICUTA 200:
• Convulsion.
• Loss of consciousness.
• Face dark red. Mouth frothing.
• Spasm of masiticatory muscels.
• Raised temperature, headache and sweating.
• Oppressed breathing.
• From injury inflicted upon head and spinal coloumn.
HYPERICUM 200:
• Tetanus feared after punctured wound. Pain shoots up ine the wound along the nerves.
• After development of tetanus.
• To follow ledum in early stages. In later stages only Hypericum.
LEDUM 200:
• First remedy when tetanus is feared. As soon as a wound has been inflicted. Prevents tetanus.
NUX VOMICA 200:
• Violent convulsions of the whole body. Extreme rigidity of the limbs.
• Eyes destroyed, face red.
• Chest drawn in, causing difficulty in breathing.
• Spasm preceded by violent chills and shuddering.
PASSIFLORIA INC (Mother tincture. Thirty drops dose every hour):
• Extreme rigidity of muscles of the neck and of shoulders.
• Difficulty in swallowing.
• Tetanus from punctured wounds.
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