New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-03-12
DR.. HUNTER ON ASTHMA.

sp,srlodic Occurrin. only in parOx SIMS, and last
ing only during the attack. During the attack or
tit tais oppressed breathing is never absent, and
at all times the patient is or les, liable to
duce it on any extra cXertiOn. To lose ODe'5
such is the Ou-repe atcd experiment of the asth
matte patient.
Asthma, phthisc. has long been considered by
physicians and patients as an incurable disease
and yet in its pathology essential nature there
is moth hing to render it incurable. 1t is true that
plly sicians in general practice have failed to cure
it. Eut that does not decide the possibility of its
being zone.
If our experience was similar to theirs we world
in all cantOr, admit that asthma was not durable
by any means known to u.s. but with evidence be
fore us that there is nothing in the cause pathology
OF progress Of asthma to render it incurable
can not but deem it the greatest presumption in
any physician to pronounce 1t to be So or to limit
the possible in medicine to the extent OF his
When we call to mind the many OF invete-
rate asthma which have come under our care, We
are more than ever impressed with the Importance
of the great work in which we are engaged. We
have amply proved that as hma Is not only durable
but, with ordinary perseverance In the right direc
ton, easily cured.
The views which we have so largely published
are Lot mere theory. They practical Their
correctness i, attestcd amply by facts in this city
and throughout the whole United States. Were it
otherwise our theories would be of little conse
ourncr to the invalid. and the writing and reading
Of these letters would be waste OF time. Success
is the proper test of all medical theory. By that
test our views have been severely tried for years
aud the result has been their plete vindication
to say no other medical practice has ever equaled.
While cavilers have been tiyln. to prove that
asthma is ineurable, we have fully demonstrated
its durability by numerous living examples.
With these preliminary remarks we come now
to consider the nature, causes and treatment of
asthma
asthma is spas,nodic disease of the lungs, which
manifests itse'f in periodic attacks or fits 1t
comes on suddenly aud is attended with great dith
Guilty OF breathing while it lasts, but when the at
tack is over the patient breathes almost AS well
i'll health.
The astlmatc fit may at any time. dav
night. but most commonly occurs after midnish lit
and before morning. The patient is suddenly
awakened by difficulty OF breathing, feeling of
weight construction OF the chest. Il feels
though it were bound He sits up III bed, pants or
gasps breath and i'll bad calls for the doors
and windows TO be thrown open. Perspiration
stands out in large drops on the forehead the face
looks haggard. the lips are liyi1, the extremites
cold. and he heart beating Violently
Persons badly file ted with this disease dur
ing he fit, nsen,ible to everything save the desire
fOI air. We have known them to rush to the open
winter. utterly regardless of the cold. The ceiling
is precisely that OF impending sufocation. and the
poor sufferer end,res for "a time all the asony OF
drowning or slow strangulatOn.
But happily Tor the patient his contil nee never
deserts him. He feels that it will soon be over
and then he will get relief. After IA longer Or
shorter period according to the severity Of the
case-generally few hOurs-tle tightness at Tho
bottom OF the chest relaxes the breathing becomes
deeper, the patient can speak and cough without
difficulty, and begins to expectorate freely. At
length, worn out by the intensity OF his sutferinss,
Il
Nervous humid and dry asthma are names given
to different forms OF this disease. Emphy soma 3
another and more inveterate kind of asthma,
while hay fever rose cold is peculiar variety
of asthma which occurs al IA certain season of the
year. Each of these forms of disease differs some
what from the others i'll symptoms, but practically
these distinctions of very little value. It does
not matter with the patient which form of asthma
he has since his sufferngs the same in ali. In
one case the eXpectOratiOn becomes yellow, and
call it bronchial. In another it is slight, and
we call it dry. When he coughs up clear water
Immoral asthma. In nervous asthma. there is
very little expectOratiOn of any kind Hav fever
always begins as u crying cold in the head, in
huenza. and a clear water runs from the and
eyes for some time before the asthmatic tit comes
on. In empty sema the expectoration is generally
thick, and continues SO in the interval between
the ts while the shOrtnesS OF breath is increased
on the siig htest eXertion.
There is rule which can he said to be uniform
in asthma. In person the disease will entirely
pass OFT after Single attack, and remain well for
weeks. In another there will be several fits III
them, and then the patient escapes for a Longer
period. In some The fits regularly at stated
times. Some ESTIMATES breathe best in the city
suffering attack. One prefers the low lands as
place Of residence, and another only sleep
on the high gro',1d. particular exposure, of a
known people who could sleep side of 4.
street aud not on the opposite The smell of hay.
roses, and even of the stable, with many is sUtfi
cient to bring on parOxy SIN. Some not drive
behind horses, endure a cat in the same room
"A
those who know nothing of the disease by experi
ence but those who afflicted with it under
stand the matter. So sensitive are some people
that they can not enter a drug store where ipecac
uatIa is kept without experiencing an oppress.O Oh
in breathing.
Asthma depends more on atmospheric causes
than any other lung disease. Tie mucous mem
brane is morbdly sensitive to every change in tho
in the excess or deficiency OF its OzOne in the
presence OF smoke or dust in its temperature
humidity, or even impregnaton with the delICa
fragrance of flowers and plants. Few people have
or iii by what We inhale. The air is the great
source from whence contract most diseases
and it is only by employing it the carrier OF
remedies that many OF them can be cured. This
is peculiarly the with all diseases of the air
passages and lungs-of none more than OF
asthma.
1t is foolish conceit of many people to believe
that if they have asthma they can not get con
sumption. The truth is the very opposite. They
more liable to fall into sumption because
they have asthma. Another idea is that asthma
itself is not dangerous disease and yet the pub
hshed bills OF mortality for this city prove to all
who re ad them that great numbers lose their lives
every year from this malady.
The treatment of asthma has hitherto been
marked by uniform failure. 1t has been "a disgrace
to medical practice. 1t is to at this moment
astounding to contemplate the fact that medical
men through ages past, should have trified they
have done in treating this disease. There nothing
malignant i'll asthma. There is nothing more than
an irritable condition Of the mucous membrane
the air tubes 1t comes from the same causes as
simple cold. or chronic bronchitis. 1t is clearly
local disease, and to be treated successfully,
must be treated locally, and in q direct manner.
Physicians find they can cure irrta bity in
nammatiOn OF the mucous membrane OF the eye,
the throat this stomach. or the bowels. by local
application to the parts affected Yet the moment
they came to the lungs they have been wild,
Trajectory and uncertain in their ideas of treat
ment Instead OF consistently adhering to the
rules of practice so enectually applied in other
diseases, they have utterly abandoned their own
we'll established theories and sought to cure loca.
anections OF the air passages by constitutional!
remedies taken into the stomach, and which could
never reach the diseased part III any well defined
FORM
What We contend for is not a departure from any
well known rule of medical practice. On the con
trary, We insist upon its consistency. The quacks
III medicine those who undertake to effect
curative results. without using adequate means;
and there is no 0uackery of the present day more
outrageous than that which still pretends to treat
asthma or any other chrome affection Of the lungs
by medicines administered through the stomach
it is to act effectually upon the lungs or air pas
sages except do it through the air We breathe.
We have pointed out also the ease and power with
1t is only in this way asthma can be effectualiy
treated Nothing You can swallow will ever reach
it. Bv means "a Inhalation alone a cure be
But many physicians in these days. and particu-
larry since cur extensive discussion of the subject
Give. their patients some form OF nha}arOn and
Vet do not cure them They burn nitre paper or
smoke stramonium, inhale ether or chforoform
or blow salt aud water down their threats. These
are but slight concessions made to new and pro-
gressive ideas. Even they made grudginsly.
Medical men have said that asthma is incurabe
and it seems to lis they don't want to see it cured
even through inhalation. Hence they still con,
tnue merely to palliate; to give a moments relief
Even this however is u notable concession to the
claims OF inhalation as a method of trea tment But
something more is required tor the cure of asthma
than merely to relax the spasm and afford relief
To effect the cure we must restore the mucous
membrane to healthy action, and subdue that
morbid sensiDlllty on which the attack depends.
" a sinin nf