The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-03-27
4 PHYSICIANS PLAIN TALK.
People Who Undertake to Doctor Them
selves.
Ncw York sun.

.Ncw York sun.
"The extensive use Of patent mcdi.
cincs and the enormous quantity Of drugs
sold without prescriptions indicate how
widespread is the habit of self doctor.
ing" said a popular physician TO n !Sua
reporter. ''i'o those who know how care:
lessly aud ignorantly these drugs are
used the thought OF the harm they do j..
appalling. There is no telling how lnn.
prescription once given will be used. or
with what foolish risk it will be applied
in a case where it will not only not do
good, but is certain to work harm"
DO you think this habit of self doc.
toring decreases the practice of physi.
clans ,"
"l'y no means. The effect is rather to
increase our work. People who think to
do without the services of Il physician
will not only DO themselves harm bv the
delay, but also with the medicines which
they do not know how to use. It is like
man trying TO mend leak in q water.
pipe by soldering it with the poker. iIe
generally C'akes the hole bigger. 1t is,
OF cours", the most difficult part of the
physicians duty TO diagnose the disease,
to tell what is the real trouble with the
patient. 1t ID not uncommon for even
educated physicians to make mistakes in
this respect The science of medicine
has progressed so far that every part OF
the human body has been pretty thor.
ouEhly studied, and the treatment of the
ailments of each part is specially. II
Is impossible for one physician to know
ali these diseases rs well rs the special
lists, and it is Il common practice among
honest physicians TO refer patients to
those who have made special study OF
the diseases which niiiict them. Il is
not uncommon for a man to 90 from one
physician to another in the vain effort TO
discover his ailmcnt. Sometimes pa.
ticnt will be treated by successive physi.
clans for the wrong ailmcnt, because
some of the symptoms of different dis.
eases are similar. How unlikely is il,
therefore, that persons who have not
studied medicine can find out what aiis
them 2"
(Which, do you think do the most
self.dOctoring, women or men?"
women, decidedly, especially mo.
theirs and old women. The reckless
tcmerity of some women in this respect
is wonderful. They rush in where angels
fear to tread. Hastily judging from a
few symptoms that case resembles one
which the family doctor has treated, they
will hunt up an old prescription and ad-
minister the dose to some couiiding hus-
band or helpless child. could tell YOU
some amusing stories Of the mistake es
that are made in this way, as we'll rs
some instances where more serious conse.
Quences resulted. Take, for illustration,
headache. 1t may come from dozen
different causes-from hunger, from indi-
gestiOn, from 0ver.cxcite ment of the
brain, from eating too much, from inhal.
ing foul air. The remedy FOR head
ache varies with its cause. Yet you will
find women who have universal pana.
cea for headache, regardless of the cause
Beware of such women"
with what medicines is the most
harm done?"
"Opiates and apericnts. The needless
ness with which morphine, in various
forms, is now administered in families is
alarming. The doctor comes to attend
patient who is in pain. lie prescribes
lnorphia and directs its Use, and the
patient is relieved This is enough TO
start the average matron on course of
fell destruction with morphia. The next
patient may be of different tempcra.
ment, or sex or age, requiring either n
different kind or quantity of the opiatc,
bnt the old prescription will be used, or,
worse than all, will be revived from
memory. Some drug stores watch care
fully and refuse to dispense such drugs
without prescription in each case, but
there arc many too eager to make money
to care much whether the patient is be-
ing treated by doctor. The same is
true of the use of bromide, of chloro.
form and Of ether. The bottle that is
left partly filled in family after one
patient has been treated is pretty sure to
be used for another without the doctors
knowledge. AS for parcgoric and lauda.
mum, the amount Of stupefaction that is
practiced upon children by their use is
SO common rs almost to cease to attract
attention. Perhaps the child is natural
ly peevish, or is cutting teeth, or has
some infaatile ailment out comes thu
paregoric or soothing syrup bottle, and
before long the small dose ceases to have
effect. Then larger doses are given, un.
til the unfortunate youngsters system is
s,u-nted with the drug and totally dc
ranged. Sometimes the lazy and dishon.
est nurse, to relieve herself from trouble,
administers the anodyne on her own re.
sponsibility, and the hapless child shows
a dullness and stupidity for which no
body can account.
II met man once who was doctoring
himself for dyspepsia and indigestion.
He told me he wondered why he had
not cured himself. He was apparently
of muscular development and good con.
stitution, but he had somehow got the
idea into his head that he must exercise
vigorously after every meal in order to
promote digestion. He took long and
rapid walks after his meals Of course
bis indigestion got worse. He IVES ap.
parently a man Of ordinary intelligence,
yet he was ignorant Of the simplest law
of health. l told him that if COW
could talk she would teach him more
sense than to take any vigorous exercise
either physical or mental, im mediately
after q hearty meal. Most horses are
treated more intelligently than this man
was treating himself.
"What puzzles me is the fact people
are not afraid to meddle with such @
delicate organism as the human body
Few persons who have watches woui,
attempt 10 repair them if they should
get out Of order; yet they tackle the
delicate mechanism Of their own bodies
with the recklessness Of blacksmith
attempting to adjust cIiT0nor,eteT
The evil is widespread, and reache, nlt
| only the cases have alluded to bat
many other more difficult and dangerous
than these. have known of women
| ri ~ limo x,,ifh n ruo,a douoo bor