The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1868-12-02
DR.LIGHTHILL
ON CATARRH.

Among civilized communities there Is no dis.
ease more prevalent, more universally offensive
more productive of discomfort, or more liable
TO give rise to variety of distressing and dan
gerous complications than Catarrh. In its pro.
grsssive stages Of development, the senses OF
smell and taste are frequently lost, hearing and
sight often suffer severe injury. Throat Alice
tions, Asthma and Bronchial Complaints are
successfully introduced, and Consumption Is
almost its inevitable result.
CataIrh usually manifests itself ut first in the
cavity of the nose, but spreading beyond its
primary seat IL soon penetrates into every coll,
crevice and cavity OF the head with which the
nasal passages communicate, and at length be-
comes diffused over the entire extent Of the
mucopulmonary tract.
The earliest most prominent and character
istic features of Catarrh is discharge from the
head consisting sometimes of a clear acrid fluid,
but oftener of thick purIlent yellow Of green
ish yellow matter, which is usually secreted in
excessive abundance, and assumes very fetid
odor. This purulent substance is discharged
as thick offensive fluid, or in hard flakes
through the nostrils or throat and frequently
by both channels.
In many instances the discharge is of a very
tenacious or gummy character, adhering 10 the
diseased membrane with glue-like tenacity, and
is removable only with great difficulty. This
fact is more particularly noticed on rising in
the morning, because during sleep the purulent
secretion hardens and accumulates with greater
facility.
The efforts to relieve the head, at those times
by hawking or blowing the nose, are, therefore,
frequently most distressing to the one affected,
! and most disagTeeable to those around him.
Often they have TO be so violent and persistent
that the lungs and chest become strained and
sore, nausea, retching, and even vomiting en-
sues, and severe headache or dizziness not unu.
sually follows, and augmoTts tho gAnaral dis.
| tress. In some cases even the most powerful
efforts may fail to clear the head, until some
food or stimulant is swallowed, and after which
| the yisCd secretion becomes somewhat s0ftened,
and is then discharged more readily.
| Again, the offensive matter concerts into dry,
| hard masses or crusts, which Obstruct breath.
ing, and are very difficult to detach, their dis.
| Judgment often requiring the most dolent
| efforts. Sometimes these inCrustatiOns come
away in small hard Jumps, or fragments Of a
deep green tint, but occasionally broad and nat
casts of notable size are expelled, on which
tr ices of blood may at times be Observed. This
condition il very liable 10 run on to serious
liberation, involving a loss Of the bOny struc.
ture of the nose, and a subsequent fattening Of
that organ.
In cases where the discharge is copious, and
| of loose and fluid character IL frequently dis.
turbs the sufferers rest by the necessity of fire.
! quent expectOration, because the purulent fluid
| is naturally more apt to run into the throat
when, as during sleep, the head is thrown back.
| Should eIpectOratiOn be neglected, as may occa-
siOnally happen during heavy sleep, the invalid
is startled from his rest by n sensation Of chOk.
ing, caused by the filling up Of the throat with
the accumulated secretion from the head.
The nasal membrane is usually very much
tbickened and cOngested, causing the Eose TO be
| stopped up sometimes one side, and some
| times on the other, and often on both, giving
rise TO a disagrees BILE stuffy sensation in the
head, and occasionally to violent paroIysms Of
/ sneeZing.
The thickened condition Of tho mucous mem.
! brane and the collection of the purulent matter
| in the nasal canals interfsres with respiration
through the nose, and oblge persons 80 affected
! TO breathe through the open mouth, a practice
very deletsiiou at all times but more particu.
| larly so during sleep, which, under such circum.
stances, IL always restless and accompanied by
a heavy snoring sound.
feeling of fnllness, heat, irritation, soreness
or pain IL generally experienced in the nostrils
near the root Of the nose rs well a. in the upper
part Of the throat, above and behind the soft
palate and headache is rarely altogether absent.
A distressing sensation Of heavy weight or com
preston Is usually complained Of over the fore
! head, and especially in the rt gion Immediately
above and between the eyes. Sometimes pain
| is ebstinately fixed In some particular part a.
/ in the temple on the top OF the head, at the
| back Of the neck or behind the orbits and coca
sionally pain manifests itself In the face Of 70
severe q character that 1t is frequently mistaken
for neuralgia.
The voice IL generally affected and become e.
| hoarse mufied weak or uneven, and assumes a
nasal character, unpleasant shifting quail.
| ity. Cough Of variable severity Is not unfre-
| quenuy one Of the symptoms and results Of
/ CatarTh.
The breath is usually tainted. and assumes
at times, an exceedingly fetid and sickening
odor. In some cases IL becomes 20 revOltingly
offensive as 10 render the sufferer an object OF
disgust 20 himself a. well a. 20 Others.
The sense Of smell Is usually blunted or ez.
| tirely lost in Catarrh and a similar effect on
taste may be occasionally observed. The eyes
are apt TO become irritable aud disposed
10 water excessively on exposure 70 the cold or
wind and q sense Of WEAKNESS Of sight 4. usu.
ally experienced after slight eIertiOns. Hear
ing not unfrequently becomes more or less i'm
paired, and noises in the head very often add
The stomach generally suffers more or less,
and becomes weak and irritable; the zppetits
Is eaPncious and is nearly always bad In the
morning.
The patients generally complain Of lAssitsde
and fatigue, an ineapaefty for either physical or
mental eIertious, feeling Of weight and dis
comfort in the region Of the stomach, and
constant disposition 70 drOwsiRess and sleep.
The mental faculties are also sometimes slightly
affected, loss Of memory being mere or less
present.
Catarrh may prove fatal, either by deoilitsttng
the system and wearing out the patient, Or "
travelling downward, and producing eonsnlLaS
ten This fact has been 20 repeatedly nO '.e-
that all experienced practitioners nov 90 -
Catarrh az one OF the most frequent Ane imPor- |
ta1t causes Of this complaint, bat 49, .Ss
cur extensive observation, il sboula ES1Jb DC I
rsy,rds5 a. = n-e1onItion and one Of the very /
earliest manifestations Of Consumption
A systematic, judieious and vel directed |
eo1rse ~ t-eatnent, such - we have for yezn /