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It is in keeping with this that clinically we note how frequently spasmophilia and rickets occur in the same child. In some families the condition recurs through many generations. For our present purpose the examination of some common neuroses of nursery life it would be out of place to enter into a detailed consideration of this disorder of spasmophilia as a whole.
To control or prevent it we must direct attention not only to the condition of spasmophilia, but also to the management of the children who are always excitable and emotional.
The ætiology of spasmophilia is still a matter for dispute, but the evidence which we possess is in favour of the view that we have here to deal with a disturbance of calcium metabolism. The calcium content both of the blood and of the central nervous system has been shown to be much lowered.
At the same time we must endeavour in every way possible to keep the child calm, by paying close attention to nursery management. The child with spasmophilia is as a rule excitable and easily upset, and although calcium bromide is a drug which offers powerful aid it is not able to achieve its effect unless we are able at the same time to guarantee a reasonable immunity from emotional upsets.
Of this heightened irritability of the nervous system, to which the name "spasmophilia" has been given in America and on the Continent, the most striking symptom is a liability alike to tetany or carpo-pedal spasm, to generalised convulsions, and to laryngismus stridulus. In addition, in most cases it is generally possible to demonstrate the presence of Chvostek's sign and of Trousseau's sign.
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