616 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



Active treatment should be instituted in every case 

 in which the patient is suffering an excessive loss of 

 blood, pain, or inconvenience at the menstrual period, 

 or in which a tumor is rapidly growing. 



The prolonged cool sitz (75° to 65° for ten to twenty 

 minutes), the hot douche, using a saturated solution 

 of alum, and other measures suggested for uterine 

 hemorrhage, are the proper means. 



In persistent cases, a surgical operation is required 

 for removal of the tumor or to limit its growth by 

 ligation of the nourishing arteries. These operations 

 are quite safe in the hands of a thoroughly competent 

 abdominal surgeon. 



Cancer of the Womb.— This malady is in ninety- 

 nine cases out of a hundred the result of a neglected 

 tear of the neck of the womb. It is important that 

 this fact be generally known, and it should impel per- 

 sons suffering with a tear of this sort received at child- 

 birth, to apply to a competent surgeon for the neces- 

 sary operation. Cancer is most successfully treated 

 by prevention. It is undoubtedly true, however, that 

 in many cases the disease in its early stages may be 

 long postponed, and sometimes entirely eradicated, by 

 operation. The presence of this disease is indicated 

 by local pain, a bloody and offensive discharge, great 

 and rapid failure of the general health, disturbances 

 of the digestion, etc. Death usually occurs within two 

 or three years of its commencement. Its progress may, 

 however, be greatly delayed by the use of appropriate 

 medicines; hence patients suffering in this way should 

 not be abandoned, but should receive the attention of 

 a skilled surgeon. In some cases a curative operation 

 is possible. It is highly important, however, for the 

 success of operation in these cases, that the disease be 



