Cacogeusia

CACOGEUSIA, cacogeusia (from Greek ka-kos-bad and geusis-taste), a disorder of taste in the form of unpleasant taste sensations in the mouth, appearing not only during eating, but also when no taste substances are in contact with the tongue. Such an unpleasant sensation causes the patient to refuse food, constantly resort to mouthwashes, wiping of the mouth, assuming that this depends on external causes. This symptom is observed in organic and functional (hysteria) diseases of the nervous system, as well as in various psychiatric diseases. CACOSMIA (from Greek kakos-bad and osme-smell), a perversion of the sense of smell, when the patient perceives unpleasant smells without adequate stimulation from odoriferous substances (subjective C.): the patient smells sometimes H₂S, sometimes a corpse, sometimes decay, sometimes garlic, etc. This disturbance is analogous to paresthesias of sensory nerves and belongs to the category of parosmias, when olfactory sensations are changed in quality and are perceived differently compared to healthy olfaction (olfactory hallucinations). The origin of subjective C. depends on some internal irritation along the olfactory nerve or in the cerebral cortex and centers. The cause often lies in inflammatory processes in the upper parts of the nasal cavity on the basis of infectious diseases, especially influenza. Further, C. is observed with anatomical damage to the olfactory nerve, with neoplasms in the area of lamina cribrosa, with tubercular tubercles in gyrus occipito-temporalis and gyrus hippocampi, with a gummatous process in the anterior cranial fossa, with mental disorders, e.g., in melancholia, in hysterics, neurasthenics, in pregnant women and in women in the menopausal stage. In epileptics, before an attack, the aura is sometimes expressed in hallucinations of smell, indicating the central origin of the phenomenon. Some medications, such as antipyrin, in predisposed individuals can cause C. In certain pathological processes accompanied by anatomical destruction of the pathways or centers, C. is followed by a complete loss of smell-anosmia (see).-From a clinical point of view, C. is of particular interest in that it not only aggravates the patient's condition, but also makes him fear that others may notice bad smells; in sensitive natures, a depressive state develops on this basis.-Subjective C. should be distinguished from its objective form, in which the sensation of an unpleasant smell depends on putrefactive decomposition in diseases of the paranasal sinuses (ethmoid cells, maxillary cavity), sometimes running a hidden course, from the presence of a foreign body in the nose or a sequestrum, from the decomposition of plugs in the palatine tonsils, from carious teeth, etc. In view of this, in the diagnosis of subjective C., it is necessary to carefully examine the nose and adjacent areas in order to exclude natural irritation of the olfactory nerve. Treatment consists in eliminating the underlying disease. l. Workov. CANTUS (Cactus grandiflorus, s. Cereus grandiflorus); a creeping branched plant of the Cactaceae family, growing wild in tropical America. Cultivated in gardens as a decorative flower. Introduced into medicine in the 1860s by the homeopath Rubini as a cardiac remedy. It is recommended mainly for neurogenic arrhythmias and tachycardias as a remedy that "regulates" cardiac activity. It is used mainly in the form of a liquid extract, 10-30 drops three times a day.-The active principles in pure form have not been isolated. Commercial samples of C. often contain other vegetable impurities, and various authors apparently had in their hands heterogeneous preparations. Anisimov, who used in his experiments on animals in Pavlov's laboratory Extractum fluidum Cacti grandiflori (Parke Davis), obtained when injected into a vein an increase in blood pressure due to vasoconstriction and a slowing of the heartbeat due to the direct action on the heart. In his clinical observations, C. showed some benefit in disorders of compensation, but the main indication for the use of C., in Anisimov's opinion, are heart neuroses. However, more recent works by American authors, who had at their disposal impeccable preparations in purity, completely deny pharmacological activity to cactus, and judging by the data of American authors, it in no case contains cardiac glycosides of the digitalis group.