The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1884-04-04
sLEErLRssxEss.
ITS causes.'.lsemsdIes sagRestcd-..Thing'
60 Be Avoided,

!, mental worry ., a disordotei stom-
ach J 3, excessive muscular exertion
4, functional or organic disease. Loss
Of sleep is, when rightly understood, ,
one Of natures premonitory warnings
that some other physical la W. have been
violated. When we are troublsd with
sleeplessne% It becomes requisite TO
discover the primary cause, and then to
adopt suitable means for its removal.
When insomnia or sieeplessness arises
from mental worry, 1t is indeed most
difficult 10 remove. Tho best, and per-
haps only ctectual plan nnder such cir
cumstanses, says a writer ia Chrmjers
Journal, is a spare diet combined with
plenty Of outdoor exercises, thus to
draw the blood from the brain for IL
is as impossible for tho brain to continue
active without due circulation Of blood
as IL is for an engine 20 move without
steam.
When suffering from mental distress,
hot soap bath befJre retiring to rest
is an invaluable agent for obtaining
sleep, as by its means a more equable
blood pressure becomes established pro-
noting decrease OF the hearts action
and relaxation Of tho blood vessels.
Many sleepless night owes its origin
TO the body's temperature being un-
equal Ia mental worry, the head il
often hot aud the fses cold, the blood
being driven TO the brain. Tho whole
body should be well washed over with
carbollc soap and sponged with very
hot water. The blood then becomes
diverted from the brain, owing TO an
adequate diffusion Of circulation. Tea
and coffee should not be taken Of an
evening when persons suffer from in
somnia, AS they directly induce sleePIess-
neas, being nervine stinr A
sharp walk OF about twenty minutes is
also very serviceahIe before gsirg To
bed.
SIeeplessness is sometimes engender-
ed by u disordercd stomach. When
ever this organ is overloaded, its pow
ers ace disordered, and wakefulness or n
restless night Is It's usual aecompani--
tnent. De. O. J. b. Williams, FRS,
remarks that no food should be taken
At least within one hour OF bed time
Il can not be too generally realized that
tho presence of undigested food ia the
stomach "a one of the most prevailing
causes Of sleeplessness.
Persons suffering from either func-
tional or organic disease are peculiarly
liable to sleeplessnsss. When inability
to sleep persistcntly occurs, and can not
be traced to any other perverted mode
Of life or nutrition, there is good rea-
son for surmising that some latent u:al'
ady gives rise to so truly a distressing
condition. Under these circumstances
instead OF making bad worse, by swal-
lowing deadly sleeping drugs, scien'
tific physician shoald be without delay
consulted. Finctioaal disorders Of the
stomach, liver aud heart are often the
primary source OF otherwise unaccO unit
able wakefulness.
Recently, the dangerous aud Ia.
mentable habit of promiscnously taking
sleeping draughts has unfortunately be-
come very prevalent, entaliiag misery
aud ill-health to terrible degree. Mos
persons addicted to this destructive
practice enormously think it is better Il
take sleeping draught than lie awake
A greater mistake could hardly exist
All opiates more or less occasion mis-
chief, and even the state Of stupefactioI
they induce utterly falls to bring about
the revitsl;zation resulting from natura
sleep. The physiological effect Of hyp
notes, of sleeping draughts, upon thu
system, is briefly as follows (l) The!
paralyzs the nerve centers and disorder
the stomach, rendering it unfit for it
duties witness the sickness and loss o
appetite consequent upon debauch
Chloral, chloroform, opium, ETC., ac
upon the system much in the same way
as inebriation. (2) One and all anaes
thetics introduced into the body have
life-destroying properties in a low de
gree-proved by an overdose beinl
fatal. (3) The condition they produc
Is not sleep, but counterfeit state Q
Inconsistencies. (4) They directl.
poison the blood, consequent upon it
carbonization, resulting from their &C
ton. While speaking of sedatives, W
cannot omit drawing special attention
to chloral. This powerful drug is pop
ularly supposed to give quiet night
rest without any of the after effect
| (headacbe, etc., produced by variou
preparations of morphia. Now, chlora
is what is termed cumulative in its &C
tion, which implies that even the sam
dose persisted in for certain length Q
time may cause death. OF all hypon
tics, choral is by far the most deadly
and should never, under any eircum
stances, be taken except under medica