Text Book Of Medical Diagnosis Classic Reprint PDF Download

Excerpt from A Textbook of Clinical Medicine: Principles of Diagnosis IN presenting a review of practical medicine, one may proceed in one of two ways. He may adopt the method in vogue for many years, that of describing the clinical pictures of the various diseases, presenting details as to their etiology, symptomatology, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Or, he may approach the subject from the Opposite standpoint, describing the various symptoms which go to demonstrate that a person is ill, and give details as to their clinical relations and diagnostic significance. Inasmuch as the latter plan follows the lines of argument one employs when exam ining a case, it may be called the clinical method. The old or established system of teaching medicine has its advantages otherwise it would not have preserved its popularity even unto the present time. But it has its disadvantages, which become more and more obvious as we have forced upon us the truth of the axiom, We must treat the patient, not his disease. To label a given case of illness with the name of one or the other diseases described in the standard works on medicine is not making a diagnosis, because the standard clinical types as described in such works are the exception, and not the rule. We must, therefore, be able to proceed still further in our conclusion, and obtain an adequate conception of all the pathological changes taking place in the patient in whose case we happen to be interested, even though we are unable to pre sent our conclusion in the shape of some set title. All of these associated changes cannot be studied practically according to the old system of ex pounding the principles of medical practice. Approaching the subject from the reverse side, - the clinical, - the study of cases becomes interesting and easier. The problem is solved, not by matching the case in hand with the type as described in a standard text book, but by a process of reasoning. This method of study is, in reality, the only one possible in unravelling the mysteries of the majority of cases of chronic disease. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.