Word: angina
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...operation, Dr. Raney explained last week, does not remove the underlying causes of angina. There may be many victims whose hearts are too weak to withstand the shock of the merciful knife...
...addition to experimenting with alleviating drugs, doctors have long plotted various surgical operations to combat angina attacks, but they have all fallen short of the mark...
Last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Rupert Brandon Raney of the University of Southern California's medical school reported "a hitherto undescribed surgical procedure relieving attacks of angina pectoris." Eleven patients, said Dr. Raney, underwent this remarkable operation. There were "no deaths, and all ... obtained complete relief . . . from desperate attacks" sometimes occurring as often as ten times...
...nervous system, an intricate barbwire fence of delicate nerves which control such involuntary functions as digesting, blushing, sweating, weeping, vomiting. Held in dynamic balance by the restraining influence of the "parasympathetic nervous system," the sympathetic system steams up when the body signals full speed ahead. During an attack of angina, a patient shows all the outward signs of "sympathetic overactivity" except one. He perspires, his stomach expands, his heart throbs in violent tempo. But for some reason his coronary blood vessels, instead of expanding, contract. In this perverse, mysterious contraction, believes Dr. Raney, lies the key to the secret...
...column, snip free and short-circuit the four nerves of the sympathetic system (between the second and fifth vertebrae) which lead directly to the heart. With exquisite care Dr. Raney avoided damaging other surrounding tissues, left enough nerves intact so that the patient could feel the "warning signal" of angina. Thus, although free of pain, he can still take proper precautions to prolong his life...