Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-09-17
SEES OF COCAINE.
rap IDLY Increasing Demand For
What Ii Effeefa.

a nap IDLY Increasing Demand For It
What 1t Effects.
Ihe use of cocaine as an anasthetic
and a therapeutic has been taken up
| rapidly by the medical profession and
its application has been made in a re-
markable variety of forms of disease
DIR. Knapp, Professor OF Ophthalmol-
ogy in the medical department of the
University of the city of New York. in
a recent work ION Cocaine and Its Use
in Ophthalmic and General Surgery"
says: mo modern remedy has been
received by the profession with such
general enthusiasm, none has become
so rapidly popular. and scarcely any
one has shown SO extensive a field of
useful application as cocaine" The
author states his belief that its proper
ties will be the subject of scientific re-
searches anc chemic al observations all
over the world for many years to come.
DIR. Koler's original paper on the
subject was read before the Medical
Society of Vienna in October, 1884, and
was devoted principally to a considera-
ton Of the use of cocaine in anasthetiz-
ing the eye Two weeks before this
paper was published the attention of
oculists in this country was attracted
to the subject through a communica-
taon sent to the Medical Record by
physician of this city who had
heard the paper read. Cocaine
was at once put into use in
the treatment of various diseases of
the eye. Experiments were rapidly
made on the effect of cocaine as an
alcth ntia Sy,f ha
ear. the mouth. the nose. the trachea
and the larynx 1t was learned that
the tongue and the soft palate became
numbed with its use either as "a spray
or when applied by a soft brush; the
faculty of taste was temporarily de-
stroyed by the drug. and also the sense
of smell. The spraying of the larynX,
IN case of bronchitis, allayed irritation
and gave relief. Cocaine was applied
in probing the tear ducts. in removing
tumors and ingrowing toe-nails. in ear
ache. throat troubles, the removal of
bullets and the removal of superfiuous
hairs from the upper lip of a female pa
tient in dental surgery, in excisions,
neuralgia. hypodermic injections for
pa n and headache through treatment
of the eyes.
All these uses were discovered and
applied by American practitioners
within two months, that is, up to De-
cember "a. 1884. The English physl-
clans were "cool at first. but more APP
preciat;ve afterward." says DR.. Knapp,
and they .'were walked up to the re-
markable advantage of a new remedy
fully six weeks later than their Ameri-
can brethren, whereas &.
they ought to have been two
weeks before them" The general ad
vantages of the use of the drug were
found to be that its action was tran
sient and it did away with reflex ex-
citablity in the patient its useful
fields were found to be in ophthalmol-
ogy. GEOLOGY rhinology. laryngology
and pharyngology, geniteurinary sur
gerry gynecology and general sur
gerry.
A well-known physician of this
city, who probably uses as much CO.
caine as any other practitioner here
$50 or $50 worth a month-considers
it one of the most. if not the most. val
liable drug as a local therapeutic
agent. He has experimental largely
in the upper air-passages. In the nasal
passages the drug is applied on a small |
pledget of cotton saturated with the
solution. bent probe is employed in
applying the pledget to the pharynx.
The highest value of the drug seems to |
be in its use in the larynx, which is |
apt to close spasmodically as soon as
touched.
The secret of the value Of cocaine in
its application to the mucous surfaces |
is that it penetratss the exterior coat |
of the membrane aud produces rigid
of the muscular ,fibres, |
causing thereby a striking .diminution |
of the calibre of the blood-vessels |
themselves.
One important disease which cocaine |
has been found to reach. in conse- |
quence of the property just stated, is |
hay-fever. The diseased condition of |
the mucuos membrane of the nose in a |
case of hay-feveris marked |
with a swelling of the veins and blood |
vessels generally. This is due to |
lack of action of the nerves of the |
coats of the mucous membrane. Co. |
oaine causes a contraction of the mus
cular coat. thereby expelling the blood,
while the extreme dilatatjen does not |
In several mild eases of this
kind. complete rel eff has been obtained
from the use of the drug. Cases of |
bronchitis have been cured. the ex-
pknation lying in the action of the
drug in controlling the blood supply,
the calibre of the blood
vessels and thereby 1essening the
secretions and cell-prolifera-
ton" A case of spasmodic asthma
has been successfully treated. /
The physician referred to above says
that there is hardly local agent so
or so sure in its action as CO.
caine. He has been unable to find that
the action of the drug is more than
local, and he has observed no reaction
following its local use. There is no
Danger of "a cocaine habit being
formed, in. his opinion.-M Y Tribune.
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