“Modern science has shown that those drugs which are soluble in alcohol only, are, in all probability, more hurtful than useful.”
The following from Dr. Jas. R. Nichols, editor Boston Journal of Chemistry, is too good to be omitted, although it should be familiar to temperance students:—
“The facetious Dr. Holmes has said, that if the contents of our drug-stores were taken out upon the ocean and thrown overboard, it would be better for the human race, but worse for the fishes. This statement may be a little sweeping; but it is true that all the showy bottles in drug-stores which contain alcoholic decoctions and tinctures might be submerged in the ocean, and invalids would suffer no detriment. Since the active alkaloidal and resinoidal principles of roots, barks and gums have been isolated and put in better and more convenient forms, there is no longer need of alcoholic tinctures and elixirs. Laudanum, which is a tincture of opium, might be banished from the shelves of every apothecary, as it is not needed. It is now known that the valuable narcotic and hypnotic principles of opium are contained in certain crystalline bodies, which can be isolated, and used in minute and convenient forms, and that they can be held in aqueous solutions. Alcohol is no longer needed to hold the active principles of opium, Peruvian bark or other indispensable drugs. As regards the vegetable tonics so called, the best among them is the columbo (Radix columbo) and this readily yields its bitter principle to water, as does quassia, gentian, senna, rhubarb and most other valuable substances. A careful survey of the contents of a well-appointed modern pharmacy leads to the conclusion that there is no one indispensable medicinal preparation which requires alcohol as a free constituent.
“The catalogue of modern remedies is almost endless, and many of them hold alcohol in some form; but every intelligent physician knows that 90 per cent. of these alleged remedies have little or no intrinsic value. The nostrums of the quack, the bitters, elixirs, cordials, extracts, etc. nearly all contain alcohol, and this is the ingredient which aids their sale. The whole unclean list might, with advantage to mankind, be thrown to the fishes.
“The chemist, more particularly the pharmaceutical chemist, may inquire how he is to conduct his processes without alcohol. It is from the pharmaceutical laboratory we derive some of the most important substances used in medicines and the arts. Among them may be named ether, chloroform and chloral hydrate, three of the most indispensable agents known to science, and the employment of alcohol is essential to their production. Alcohol is a laboratory product; it is a chemical agent which belongs to the laboratory; it is the handmaid of the chemist, and, so long as it exists, should be retained within the walls of the laboratory. In the manufacture of most of the important products in which alcohol is either directly or indirectly used, its production may be made simultaneous with the production of the agent desired. In the manufacture of ether and chloroform, the apparatus for alcohol may be made a part of the devices from which the ultimate agents, ether and chloroform, result. Fermentation and distillation may be conducted at one end, and the anæsthetics received at the other. It is true that in a chemical laboratory alcohol is an agent very convenient in a thousand ways. But, if it were banished utterly, what would result? There are other methods of fabricating the useful products named, and many others, without the use of alcohol, but the processes would be rather inconvenient and more costly. The banishment of alcohol would not deprive us of a single one of the indispensable agents which modern civilization demands, and neither would chemical science be retarded by its loss.”
“It must be remembered that modern science has given us glycerine, naptha, bisulphide of carbon, pyroligneous products, carbolic acid and a hundred other agents which are capable of taking the place of alcohol in a very large number of appliances and processes.”
The sale of liquor in drug-stores is beginning to be deplored by the more respectable pharmacists. At the annual meeting of the Massachusetts State Pharmacists’ Association in 1895 the president said in his address:—
“One thing that every pharmacist, who has the best interests of his calling at heart, must bear in mind is that the liquor part of their business is being, and must be, slowly crowded out. Public sentiment has changed greatly in the last few years, and instead of all being classed alike, the line has been sharply drawn, and the stores that sell the least amount of liquor that they possibly can are gaining the confidence and esteem of the public, and consequently their business is growing from year to year, while the others are losing ground and dropping lower and lower.”
The Evening Record of Boston contained the following in its issue of March 7, 1896:—
“The number of flagrant offences on the part of druggists in certain no-license towns—offences not only against the liquor laws, but also against the laws of decency and humanity—brought before the board of pharmacy, would appall the public if they were known. The Looker-On has seen the record of several of these druggists as transcribed from the police courts and they are very black records. One druggist after selling liquor over and over again to one customer, and several times getting him completely intoxicated, finally deposited him one night in a snowbank, in a state of frozen stupor, where he would have frozen to death had not the wife of the druggist’s clerk threatened to complain to the police unless he was rescued.
“The story is told of one of the druggists of a neighboring no-license town. A man came in and asked for a pint of whisky. He was asked what he wanted it for. His reply was that he wanted it to soak some roots in. He got it, and as he went out he dryly remarked, ‘I should have told you that it was the roots of me tongue that I want to soak.’”
The question, “What shall I take instead of wine, beer or brandy?” is frequently asked by those who have been trained to think some form of alcohol really necessary to the cure of disease, but, who, from principle would prefer other agents, if they knew of any equal in effect. This chapter deals somewhat with the answer to that question.
Alcoholic Craving:—The craving for alcohol may be present for a time after a person has commenced to abstain from all beverages containing it. Or, it may occur periodically, as a sort of irresistible impulse. For the periodical craving Dr. Higginbotham, of England, recommends that a half drachm of ipecacuanha be taken so as to produce full vomiting. He says the desire for intoxicating drinks will be immediately removed. The craving is caused by vitiated secretions of the stomach; the vomiting removes these. Dr. Higginbotham says:—
“If a patient can be persuaded to follow the emetic plan for a few times when the periodical attacks come on, he will be effectually cured.”
Some men in trying to abstain have found the use of fresh fruit, especially apples, very helpful. Nourishing and digestible food should be taken somewhat frequently. A cup of hot milk or hot coffee taken at the right moment has saved some.
Anæmia:—In this complaint there is a deficiency of the red corpuscles of the blood. It may be the result of some fever or exhausting illness; it may accompany dyspepsia, and is then due to imperfect digestion and assimilation of the food. The poverty of the blood produces shortness of breath, and often palpitation of the heart also, especially on a little exertion. There is generally more or less weariness, languor and debility, sometimes also giddiness, sickness, fainting and neuralgia.
“In the treatment of anæmia, port wine and other alcoholic liquors are worse than useless.”—Dr. J. J. Ridge, London.
“The common prescription of wine or some form of spirits for states of general exhaustion and anæmia, is a serious mistake. It assumes that the temporary increase in the action of the heart is renewed vigor, and that some power is added to the failing energies. This theory rests solely on the statement of the patient that he feels better. In reality the exhaustion is intensified, though covered up.”—Medical Pioneer.
“Deficiency of nutrition, of light and of pure air may be mentioned as common causes of anæmia. * * * * * It is evident that the first step in the treatment of this disease is to remove the cause. If the cause is dyspepsia, this must receive attention; if intestinal parasites, they must be dislodged; if prolonged nursing, nursing must be interdicted; if too little food, a larger quantity of nourishing, wholesome food must be employed. Such simple and easily digested foods as eggs, poached or boiled, boiled milk, kumyzoon, good buttermilk, purée of peas, beans or lentils, boiled rice, well-cooked gruels and other preparations of grains are suitable. Beef tea and extracts are worthless. * * * * *
“A careful course of physical training is essential to securing perfect recovery in cases of chronic anæmia due to indigestion, or any other serious disturbance of the nutritive processes.”—Dr. J. H. Kellogg.
Appetite, Loss of:—“There is often disinclination for food because it is not required. Many cannot eat much breakfast, because they have had a hearty supper. Or having had both a hearty breakfast and luncheon, they feel but little desire for a dinner of four or five courses. Generally the stomach is right and the habits wrong. What is to be done then, for such lack of appetite? Simply go without food until appetite comes.
“When ale or beer is taken regularly with meals the stomach learns to expect them, and the food is not relished without them. The appetizing power of beer and bitter ales is chiefly due to the hop or other bitter ingredients which they contain. When it seems necessary to assist the appetite temporarily, a small quantity of simple infusion of hops may be taken.
“Sometimes appetite fails because of exhaustion of body and mind. This may be nature’s warning against overwork, and cannot be neglected with impunity. Life will inevitably be shortened if it is found necessary to rely upon the aid of alcohol in any form in order to do a day’s work.
“Bouillon, or beef soup, at the beginning of a meal are incentives to appetite. Change of scene, and life in the open air are the very best aids to appetite, when aids are really required.”
Apoplexy:—“There is a popular idea that whenever a person is taken ill with giddiness, fainting or insensibility, brandy should be at once procured and poured down his throat. Nothing can be more dangerous in apoplexy. This disease is due to the bursting of some blood-vessel in the head, and the poured-out blood presses on the brain and leads to more or less insensibility. If fainting occurs, it may possibly save the patient’s life, because then the blood-vessels contract, and the flow of blood ceases immediately; time is thus given for the ruptured blood-vessel to became sealed up by a clot, which will prevent further loss of blood. If brandy is given, there is, first, great risk of choking the patient; if that danger is escaped and the brandy is swallowed and absorbed, the vessels become relaxed and the heart recovers its force; hence the ruptured vessel, if not sufficiently sealed by clot, may be started again, and fatal hemorrhage result.
“The only treatment which unskilled hands can adopt is to lay the patient on his back on the floor or sofa with the head and shoulders somewhat raised; to loosen all the dress round the neck and body; to apply cold to the head and hot flannels or a hot bottle to the feet and hands, or to soak them in hot mustard and water, and to gently rub the arms and legs.”—Dr. J. J. Ridge.
Dr. Alfred Smee, surgeon to the Bank of England, says:—
“Give nothing by the mouth. Apply a stream of cold water to the head. If the feet are cold apply warm cloths. If relief is not soon obtained, apply hot fomentations to the abdomen, keeping the head erect.”
Bed-Sores:—Some object to using alcohol even as an outward application. Dr. Ridge recommends that when a patient is confined to bed the parts pressed on be well washed every day with strong salt and water or alum water, and carefully dried. Glycerine of Tannin may then be applied. If any redness appears, especially if any dusky patch is formed, collodion may be applied with a brush, and all pressure should be taken off the part by a circular air-pillow or by a cushion; or small bran or sand-bags may be made and carefully arranged. If the skin is broken, zinc or resin ointment may be applied.
Some recommend finely powdered iodoform sprinkled over the surface of the sore.
Boils and Carbuncle:—“In many cases these troubles result from an overloaded condition of the system, which is the result of taking too much food, or some error in diet. The boils are an effort of nature to be rid of offending matter. In some cases they are due to the use of impure water, or the presence of sewer gas in the house. In others, overwork, or other debilitating causes, may have produced the state of the digestive organs which usually causes the boils. Carbuncle is, essentially, an extensive boil.
“Apply iodine early or a piece of belladonna plaster. The diet should be plain and unstimulating, condiments being avoided and plenty of fresh vegetables taken, if possible. Fresh-air, exercise and proper rest should be obtained, and late hours avoided.
“Medical advice is requisite in carbuncle. The popular notion that port wine is absolutely necessary is both erroneous and mischievous.”—Ridge.
Catarrh:—Among the causes are repeated colds; errors in diet, especially excess in the use of fats and sugar, and an inactive state of the liver.
Cut off from your bill of fare all salted foods, avoid fats and condiments; drink freely of pure water; live in the open-air and sunshine as much as possible, taking much out-door exercise. Take a cold sponge or towel bath every morning, beginning at the face and finishing by plunging the feet into a foot-tub. Follow with vigorous rubbing with a crash or Turkish towel. Those subject to sore throat should hold the head over a basin of cold water and lave the neck with the water for about two minutes. The writer was formerly subject to frequent sore throats, but has had none for over two years, as she believes, because of the adoption of this measure, together with the towel bath every morning, summer and winter.
Care should be taken to avoid exposure to draughts, or any other means which will produce liability to cold. Care in diet, good ventilation and the morning cold bath are essential if a radical cure is desired. Local measures, while giving relief, will not remove the predisposing causes. Dr. Kellogg recommends saline solutions in the form of the nasal douche, a teaspoonful of salt to a pint of soft water, adding twenty to thirty drops of carbolic acid, if there is offensive odor, as a relief measure.
Sleeping in a poorly ventilated room is said to be one cause of catarrh.
Hay Fever is a form of catarrh. The vapor bath is recommended as very helpful in this trouble. Nature Cure says that two vapor baths and a two or three days’ fast will cure any case of hay fever. The use of pork and other clogging foods should be avoided by those afflicted with this trouble. The bowels should be kept in good condition. If constipated, the use of prunes, figs, grapes, apples and other such fruits will be very beneficial; walking, and massage of the bowels, being added if the fruits are not sufficient. No one able to walk should depend upon drugs to relieve a constipated condition.
Colds:—“If the bowels are constipated, the skin over-burdened and clogged with bilious matter, and the lungs weak, it is as easy to take cold as to roll off a log. If, on the contrary, the lungs are well developed, and the respiratory power large, providing abundant oxygen to keep bright the internal fires, the colon clean, the skin daily washed, and the system hardened by the cold bath, taking cold is next to impossible.
“The first remedial agent for a cold should be a copious enema. Then open the pores of the skin by a hot bath; take a glass of hot lemonade and go to bed.”—The New Hygiene.
Chills:—For chill, take a hot foot and hand bath, with mustard in the water, ¼ pound to a gallon; then go to bed in a well ventilated room. Drink freely of hot lemonade or hot water. Catarrh, colds and hay fever may all be effectually relieved by hot baths. Relief may be gained also from inhaling the vapor from pine needles or hemlock leaves. Put them in a bowl, pour boiling water over them, hold the face down over the bowl, the head being covered, and inhale the vapor well up into the nostrils and head. A few drops of hemlock oil in the hot water will do as well.
Coughs and Hoarseness:—Boil flaxseed in 1 pint water, strain, add two teaspoons honey, 1 ounce rock candy, and juice 3 lemons. Drink hot. Also; roast a lemon till hot, cut, and squeeze on 3 ounces powdered sugar.
Colic:—This may arise from cold, or from error in diet. If the latter it is desirable to induce vomiting. For the pain, apply hot flannels or fomentations; drink hot water. In severe cases, sprinkle a little turpentine on flannel, wrung from hot water, and apply to abdomen. Colic resulting from the accumulation of fecal matter should be treated with hot enemas until relieved. A hot hip-bath is sometimes necessary to relief.
The colic of children and infants should never be treated with alcoholics. In infants it generally arises from excessive or improper feeding; care should be taken that the milk provided them is not sour.
In severe cases the babe should be immersed in warm water, keeping the head above water, of course. This is also the best remedy in convulsions. The hot bath, with a copious enema of warm water, has saved the lives of many babes.
For adults, hot water, with a pinch of red pepper added, will do all that brandy can do, and more.
Cholera:—Brandy has been considered by many a really necessary medicine in cholera. The following is a discussion upon Alcohol in Cholera which was held at the annual meeting of the British Medical Temperance Association, in May, 1893, and is taken from the Medical Pioneer of June, 1893:—
“Dr. Richardson opened a discussion on Cholera in relation to Alcohol. He said he would bring forward five points on the subject.
1. The negligence among the people at large produced by alcohol in the presence of a cholera epidemic. There was no doubt on the part of any who had seen an epidemic of cholera as to the mischief done by alcohol, apart from its action as a remedy. People rush to the public houses and take it to ward off the danger, or to relieve them when they begin to feel ill, and the result is very bad morally. He had seen this in different epidemics. Or people got in spirits to face the danger, and many became intoxicated and less able to resist.
2. Its misuse by those affected. It was often given to cheer them up and remove their fear and nervousness. In his opinion it invariably produced mischief.
3. He was unable to find any physiological reason for giving it. There was a constant drain of fluid, causing spasms and cramp, both of the muscles and blood-vessels, and difficult circulation through the lungs. Spasm may be relaxed by alcohol, but, on the other hand, alcohol is exceedingly greedy of water, and so increases the flux. But it also reduces animal temperature, which is a strong feature of cholera, so much so that he could almost diagnose cholera blindfold in the stage of collapse, by the icy coldness.
4. Its uselessness as a remedy during the acute stage. He had seen a great deal of cholera and never saw alcohol do any good whatever. There was a temporary glow which passed away in a few minutes, and then the evil it does in other ways was brought out. Water was far better, even if cold. The College of Physicians had given some instructions and ordered great care in the administration of alcohol; this was not far enough, but good as far as it went. The recoveries were best where the treatment was simplest, such as external warmth with plenty of diluents. He had given creasote largely.
5. Its injuriousness during the stage of reaction. The reactive fever following collapse caused a great number of deaths. In this stage alcohol was absolutely poisonous. He could recall many such cases in which he had given alcohol through ignorance, and always with disaster.
“Brigade-Surgeon Pringle said that when he went out to India he thought alcohol was something to stand by, but he had soon found out his mistake; he had himself suffered from it. He could confirm what Dr. Richardson had said as to the demoralization produced by alcohol to which men resort to keep up their spirits, and men seized under these circumstances were in the greatest danger. Nature effects a cure in many cases without assistance, and often with wonderful rapidity. People apparently dead and about to be buried, he had known to get up and recover. When alcohol is given during collapse there is often no absorption until reaction occurs, and then the quantity accumulated speedily produces intoxication. It was the same with opium: he had found pills unchanged in the stomach for hours. He recommended hot drinks; he had tried every kind of medicine and had little faith in it. The nursing was very important, and it was important that the nurses should abstain.
“Dr. Morton said it was easy to see that on physiological grounds alone, alcohol, with its strong affinity for water and its tendency to lower temperature, could not be a useful drug in the treatment of cholera collapse, and with its powers of paralyzing vascular inhibition and checking elimination of effete matter, could not be otherwise than harmful in the stage of reaction. As these conclusions were corroborated by practical experience he did not think members would hesitate to banish it from their equipment against cholera.
“Dr. Ridge said it should be remembered that Doyen had made experiments on guinea-pigs and had found they were proof against cholera, unless they had previously had a dose of alcohol. This explained why drunkards and hard drinkers were so much more liable to have cholera, and have it badly as all observers declared to be the case. Another reason might be that small quantities of alcohol, such as would be found circulating in the blood, favored the growth and multiplication of bacteria, certainly those of decomposition, and probably those of cholera. Hence, other things being equal, the abstainer had a great advantage.
“Dr. Norman Kerr said that he had observed both in America and Glasgow that not only notorious drunkards but free drinkers suffered; abstainers were less liable unless they took contaminated water, and the less liquid taken the less chance of taking cholera; beer-drinkers often took more than abstainers. The alcohol-drinker uses up more water from his blood and so has less to flush out the system. Alcohol, given to a patient, disguised his condition so that he might seem better though really worse. Hence it is better and safer not to give any. The doctors and nurses ought to be abstainers. A doctor after dinner was more likely to take a roseate view of a case, looking at it through an alcoholic pair of spectacles. Alcohol was not really a stimulant, but a depressant, and this is a very depressing disease; it was important to have our vital resisting power as vigorous as possible. Hot water both relaxes and stimulates, and the whole cry of the sufferer is for water. Many persons who died in cholera did not die of the disease, but of the drugs such as alcohol and opium. Acid drinks should be given, as the bacilli could not live in acid mixtures. Cholera might come, but he believed we were better prepared to meet it and to treat it.
“Surgeon-General Francis sent a communication which was read by the Honorable Secretary. He said: ‘Having had many opportunities of treating cholera in various parts of India and amongst all classes, I have no hesitation in affirming that alcohol in any shape is one of the very worst remedies. Life is, so to speak, paralyzed, and we give a remedy which, apparently stimulating, is in reality, a paralyzer and therefore mischievous; the death-rate might be considerably reduced provided alcohol were rigidly excluded.’”
Dr. Norman Kerr in a valuable paper upon Cholera says:—
“The first thing is to get rid of the poison. How? By assisting it out; but alcohol keeps it in by blocking the doors, just as the doors were blocked in the terrible calamity at Sunderland not long ago. The alcohol makes the heart and circulation labor more. Alcohol not only retains the cholera poison, but retards the action of the heart. Brandy and opium used to be employed, but the records show that if the object had been to make cholera as fatal as possible, that object was achieved by the indiscriminate administration of brandy and opium. Better leave the victim alone, and his chances of recovery will be greater than if he have a thousand doctors, and as many nurses, administering to him brandy and opium. Alcohol is especially dangerous in the third stage, that of reactive fever, because it adds to the fever. Then, alcohol is not only unsafe in the three stages of genuine cholera, but especially unsafe in the premonitory diarrhœa stage, which gives nearly every one warning before they are attacked by genuine cholera. Brandy is taken simply because it puts away the pain. If there are only the pain and slight diarrhœa, speaking medically, it is all right, but if there is anything behind the pain, it is all wrong. After the alcohol, the mischief is going on, only the patient does not know it, and valuable time is lost. All the alcohol does is to deaden sensation. * * * * * Here I can thoroughly recommend ice and iced water. I have always treated cholera patients with these. Let them drink iced water to their hearts’ content; they can never drink too much; and this opinion is fortified by that of Professor Maclean, of Netley. There is no need of a substitute for brandy in cholera, because in ordinary circumstances in that disease the action of a stimulant is bad. Flushing of the blood is required, and water will do it. Milk will not do it, because it is too thick—nothing but pure, cold water, all the better if iced.”
In 1893 Dr. Ernest Hart, editor of the British Medical Journal, read an able paper upon Cholera before the American Medical Association. His argument was that the introduction of such a substance as alcohol, itself being a product of germ action, into a system already suffering from the toxic influence of a ptomaine, could not be otherwise than pernicious.
Cholera Morbus:—Dr. Kellogg says: “The stomach should be washed by means of the stomach-tube when possible. A large hot enema should be given after each evacuation of the bowels. The addition of tannin, one drachm to a quart of water, is serviceable. When the vomited matter no longer shows signs of food, efforts should be made to stop the vomiting. Give the patient bits of ice the size of a bean to swallow every few minutes. At the same time apply hot fomentations over the stomach and bowels. If the patient suffer much from cramp, put him into a warm bath. The first food taken should be farinaceous. Oatmeal gruel, well boiled and strained, is useful.”
Cholera Infantum:—“Iced water may be given in very small quantities every few minutes. Give the stomach entire rest for at least twenty-four hours. There will be no suffering for want of food as long as the stomach is in such a condition. Withhold milk until nature has had time to rid the alimentary canal of the poison-producing germs. White of egg dissolved in water is an excellent preparation in these cases. Egg enemata may also be advantageously used.
“Warm baths, the hot blanket pack when the surface is cold, and the hot enema are all useful. Keep the child wrapped warmly.
“Great care should be taken in returning to the milk diet. The milk should be thoroughly sterilized by boiling for half an hour, and should be mixed with some barley water so as to avoid the formation of large curds in the stomach. Cream, diluted with water, may be used instead of milk.”
Dr. Koch, the celebrated German microscopist, pronounces consumption contagious, because during its progress a very minute bacterium is developed which may be transmitted from one person to another.
It is said that a person with healthy lungs might daily breathe millions of tubercle bacilli without any danger, and that the best preventive of this disease is to live much in the open air, or if this is impossible to spend ten or fifteen minutes a day in deep breathing exercises in the open air. “Fresh-air and disease-germs are antagonistic.”
Alcohol, chiefly in the form of whisky, was for many years considered of great value in the treatment of consumption of the lungs. Indeed, it was looked upon not only as a curative, but also as a prophylactic, or preventive, of great service to those predisposed to this disease by reason of narrow chest and weak lungs.
Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson was the first medical scientist who showed plainly that alcohol, instead of being a preventive of consumption, is really the sole cause of one type of this disease, the type now classed under the head of “alcoholic phthisis.” For this kind of phthisis there is no hope of cure.
French physicians some years ago came to the conclusion that alcohol was a prolific cause of tuberculosis and that the administration of alcoholic liquors in tubercular troubles was a great error, and in the International Anti-Tuberculosis Congress held in Paris in 1905, about 2000 medical scientists being present, they presented the following resolution, which was adopted: “In view of the close connection between alcoholism and tuberculosis, this Congress strongly emphasizes the importance of combining the fight against tuberculosis with the struggle against alcoholism.”
Since that time a great crusade against tuberculosis has been carried on by means of exhibits and lectures, and in connection with these, almost invariably the people are warned against intemperance. For example, a pamphlet sent out by the Boston Association for the Relief and Control of Tuberculosis says: “Do not spend money for beer or other liquors, or for quack medicines or ‘cures.’ Self-indulgence and intemperance are very bad. Vice which weakens the strong kills the weak.” The New York State Charities Aid Association, working with the State Board of Health, says in a pamphlet: “Patent medicines do not cure consumption. They are usually alcoholic drinks in disguise, and the use of alcoholic drinks is dangerous to the consumptive.” At the great exhibit in Washington in September, 1908, in connection with the International Anti-Tuberculosis Congress different warnings against alcohol were upon the walls. Among these was a large poster of white cloth on which was printed the opinions on alcohol, in brief, of some of the best-known authorities on consumption. The opinions as given on that poster are given here, with others, in order to show the great change of sentiment regarding alcohol and consumption which has come about within a few years:—
“Alcohol has never cured and never will cure tuberculosis. It will either prevent or retard recovery. It is like a two-edged weapon; on one side it poisons the system, and on the other it ruins the stomach and thus prevents this organ from properly digesting the necessary food.”—S. A. Knopf, M. D., New York, Honorary Vice-President of the British Congress on Tuberculosis.
Dr. Knopf in his prize essay on “Tuberculosis and How to Combat It,” says in several places: “Avoid all alcoholic beverages.” He says also, “Alcohol should never be given to children even in the smallest quantities.”
“It is a recognized fact in the medical profession that the habitual use of alcoholic drinks predisposes to tubercular infection. It is also recognized, I think, by most physicians that alcohol as a medicine is harmful to the tubercular invalid.”—Frank Billings, M. D., Chicago, Ill., Former President American Medical Association.
“Alcoholic liquors are of damage to consumptives because they tend to impair nutrition, disturb the action of the stomach, and give a false strength to the invalid on which he is sure to presume. Besides, we know that in countries where drinking prevails most, the ravages of tuberculosis are most marked.”—Edward L. Trudeau, M. D., Adirondacks Sanitarium for Consumptives, Saranac Lake, N. Y.
“In my judgment whisky should not be used by people who have consumption, and in my practice I prohibit its use absolutely. At the White Haven Sanitarium and Henry Phipps Institute we do not use alcohol in any form in the treatment of our patients.”—Lawrence F. Flick, M. D., Vice-President of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, Philadelphia, Pa.
“I do not feel that I can emphasize strongly enough the harm that can be done by the use of alcohol in tuberculosis, and the indiscriminate use of it certainly borders on the criminal. I do not believe that any legitimate reason can be given for the routine employment of alcohol in the treatment of tuberculosis. I furthermore know of no emergency in which it is indispensable. My experience with patients who have been accustomed to the use of alcohol, especially moderately, is very unsatisfactory. They seem to show an abnormally low resisting power to the tubercle bacillus. The fact has been established that alcoholism is a very potent factor in the causation of tuberculosis. I find it not only unnecessary in treatment but believe it to be contraindicated.”—F. M. Pottenger, M. D., Superintendent the Pottenger Sanitarium for Diseases of the Lungs and Throat, Monrovia, California.
“I have met with a small class of consumptive patients who could take alcoholic liquors freely for a length of time, without deranging either the stomach or the brain, and with a decided amelioration of the pulmonary symptoms, and an arrest of the emaciation. Some of these have actually increased in embonpoint, and for three to six months were highly elated with the hope that they were recovering. But truth compels me to say that I have never seen a case in which this apparent improvement under the influence of alcoholic drink was permanent. On the contrary, even in those cases in which the emaciation seems at first arrested, and the general symptoms ameliorated, the physical signs do not undergo a corresponding improvement; and after a few months the digestive function becomes impaired; the emaciation begins to increase rapidly; and in a short time the patient is fatally prostrated.”—Dr. Nathan S. Davis, Sr., of Chicago.
“The use of whisky in this disease positively interferes with digestion which must under all circumstances be kept as perfect as possible in order that the patient may assimilate the food which is so necessary to the upbuilding of the system and to gain strength to fight the onslaught of the disease.
“Its constant use would not only interfere with digestion but would have a tendency to create disease in other organs of the body so that we therefore consider the use of whisky in tuberculosis positively contraindicated.
“Wishing you success in your laudable campaign.”—Dr. M. Collins, Superintendent National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver, Colorado.
“It is difficult for many people to adapt themselves to a methodical plan of life long enough to establish a permanent cure in consumption. I have known many a young fellow with only a slight trouble in his lungs to die in the Adirondacks more from the effects of whisky than from the disease itself.”—Dr. Henry P. Loomis, of New York City, in a Lecture on Consumption. (See page 232, of Handbook, on the Prevention of Tuberculosis.)
“The majority of our patients receive no medication whatsoever. The stomach is rarely in condition to bear excessive medication, and the promiscuous use of creosote and similar preparations is to be condemned. Milk and raw eggs are the best articles of diet in addition to a regular diet of simple food.”—James Alexander Miller, M. D., of the Vanderbilt Clinic, New York. (From Medical Record.)
“In my specialty, the treatment of pulmonary diseases, I rarely prescribe alcohol in any form, and in the sanitaria with which I have been connected it is the exception where alcohol in any form is prescribed. I have advised against its use where such has been the custom, believing that as a rule alcoholic liquors do more harm than good in the treatment of this disease.”—Prof. Vincent Y. Bowditch, M. D., Harvard Medical School, Boston.
“From personal experience in handling pulmonary tuberculosis, not only at the Nordrach Ranch Sanitorium, for the past five years, but in an active practice of thirteen years, I am more than convinced that whisky and liquor, in any form, are absolutely poisonous to the consumptive.
“Whenever we admit a patient to the Nordrach Ranch Sanitorium, we ascertain whether the individual is an alcoholic or not; and we invariably find that such an individual is lacking in vitality enough to combat the disease. They may look fat and strong, pulmonary tuberculosis usually makes quick work of them.
“It is also a noticeable fact, proven by various statistics, that a very large percentage of alcoholics become tubercular; and if we ever stamp out tuberculosis, we will also have to stamp out intemperance.
“Trying to cure consumption with whisky is like trying to put out a fire with kerosene. This is very easy to understand when we stop to consider the nature of this disease. In the first place, we have a very rapid heart’s action, dating from the very earliest manifestations of the disease. The pulse is often in excess of 100, even in incipient cases, and if the stimulation of alcohol is added, we have what might be called a ‘runaway heart’; and if there is one thing needed in the long combat against tuberculosis, it is a good heart.”—John E. White, M. D., Medical Director Nordrach Ranch Sanitorium, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
“You ask me my opinion as to the use of whisky in the treatment of consumption. In reply permit me to say that I regard its use in this disease as most universally pernicious.”—Prof. Charles G. Stockton, M. D., Buffalo Medical College, Buffalo, N. Y.
“It was formerly thought that alcohol was in some way antagonistic to tuberculous disease, but the observations of late years indicate clearly that the reverse is the case, and that chronic drinkers are more liable to both acute and pulmonary tuberculosis. It is probably altogether a question of altered tissue soil, the alcohol lowering the vitality and enabling the bacilli more readily to develop and grow.”—Dr. Osler, formerly Professor of Medicine in Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., now of Oxford University, England.
“Upon investigation I found 38 per cent. of our male tubercular patients were excessive users of alcohol, 56 per cent. moderate users. From my study of the cases I am led to believe that in a vast majority of these cases drink has been a large factor in producing the disease, by exposure, lowering of vitality, etc. I believe that alcohol has no place in the treatment of tuberculosis. Many patients are deceived by the false strength it gives them.”—O. C. Willhite, M. D., Superintendent of Cook County Hospital for Consumptives, Dunning, Ill.
“In tuberculosis there is a state of over-stimulation of the circulatory system due to the toxins. The use of alcoholics simply makes the condition worse. It reduces resistance and makes the person more susceptible to the disease.”—H. J. Blankmeyer, M. D., Sanatorium Gabriels, in the Adirondacks, N. Y.
“The practice of taking alcoholics of any sort, and in any quantity, over a considerable length of time, is certain to produce more or less injury to a tubercular patient, and their use by tubercular people cannot be too strongly condemned.”—H. S. Goodall, M. D., Lake Kushaqua, N. Y.
Most of these opinions were written for the author of this book in response to letters of inquiry. Are they not indicative of a day when the medical profession will lay aside alcoholic liquors in the treatment of all diseases? It is acknowledged that the past usage of giving whisky and cod-liver oil to consumptives was an error; some day, it may be not far distant, a larger acknowledgment may be made, and the medical use of alcoholic liquors will be entirely a thing of the past.
Rev. J. M. Buckley, D.D., editor of The Christian Advocate, was in early manhood considered an incurable consumptive. Being a man of great will power and indomitable perseverance, he resolved to try the open-air cure, together with the use of an inspirator. The result was perfect restoration to health, so that, as is well known, he can be easily heard by audiences of thousands at Chautauqua and other places where he is greatly in request for lectures. He has written a pamphlet giving a full history of his case. It can be obtained from Eaton & Mains, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, for fifty cents, and should be read by all consumptives who have any “grit” in their composition.
Dr. Forrest, a hygienic physician, says:—
“What is to be done if the germs have already obtained lodgement in the lungs? Increase the general nutrition of the body in every way, and then the lungs can resist the inroads of the disease. The first thing necessary to improve the nutrition of the body is to stimulate the digestive and absorbent functions of the stomach and intestines. Naturally then, you must throw the so-called cough medicines out of the window. The drugs used to stop a cough are sedatives. Now, no sedative or nauseant is known that does not lock up the natural secretions and thus lessen the digestive powers. The cough is nature’s method of expelling offending matter from the lungs and bronchial tubes. It is infinitely better to have this stuff thrown out of the lungs than retained there.”
Keep the bowels clean is this physician’s next recommendation.
Sweet cream is preferable to cod-liver oil as it is not so likely to derange the stomach. Easily digested food is necessary, as the organs of digestion are in weakened condition.
Again Dr. Forrest says:—
“The consumptive should live as much as possible in the open air.
“Dr. Trudeau inoculated twelve rabbits with tubercle or consumptive germs. Six of these he turned loose on an island where they ran wild. The other six were kept confined in hutches such as rabbits are usually kept in. Results—All the six rabbits in the open air recovered from the inoculation and remained well. Five of the confined rabbits died of tubercles in the lungs and different parts of the body. The sixth was still lingering, badly diseased, when the experiment was brought to a close. Fresh air and exercise enabled the first six to overcome the disease germs. Confinement gave full play to the disease in the others.
“Now, you house lovers, sleepers in close bedrooms, people afraid of cold air, you are the rabbits in the hutches. Beware, lest the verdict be in your case, ‘Died of tubercles in the lungs.’ If you are not able to leave your home, live with open windows, day and night, summer and winter.
“Exercise systematically, especially those exercises, accompanied by deep breathing, that open and strengthen the lungs—exercises without fatigue.
“If you are hoping that some wonderful, mysterious drug has been or will be discovered, a drug that will cure consumption without your help, you are hoping against hope. Improved nutrition is your salvation, and that must come through exercise, diet and fresh air.”
Dr. J. H. Kellogg, in his Home Hand-Book of Hygiene and Medicine, recommends a salt sponge bath upon retiring, to arrest night sweats, or sponging with hot water. He adds:—