Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-13
MEDICAL.

-
Including the
Eve, Ear and Heart,
Also all chronic diseases and diseases incl |
dent to females. successfully
treated by
Million Williams, ND. D.,M.C.P.S.O.
No. 275 North Main street,
Next to Diamond House. Los Angeles, Cal.
Graduate OF Victoria College, Toronto,
Canada, Licentiate Physician in and for the
State of Michigan. Also member of the
college of Physicians and Surgeons of On
tario; for three years associate physician of
the Chicago and Cincinnati Throat and
Lung Institute: for fifteen years, and STILL
proprietor of the Detroit Throat aud Lung
Institute: and for several years prorretor
of the Ontario Pulmonary Institute and
Health Resort at Toronto, Ontario. Over
$4,000 cases treated by us during the past
nineteen years.
ON ASTHMA.
1t is a common error to suppose every
disease which is attended by oppressed
breathing to be Asthma or Phthisic. We
| have shortness of breath in Consumption,
| Bronchitis and Pneumonia, just as we do in
| Asthma, only that in these diseases 1t is al
ways present. whereas in Asthma it occurs
| in paroxysms.
Asthma is a spasmodic disease of the
| lungs, which manifests itself in periodic at
| tacks or "fts " 1t comes on suddenly aud
Is attended with great difficulty of breath
| ing while il lasts, but when the attack is
over the patient breaths almost as well as in
| health.
The Asthmatic fit may come on at any
time, day or night, but most commonly oc-
ours after midnight and before morning
The patient is suddenly awakened by DIFF
ticulty of breathing, a feeling of weight or
construction of the chest. II feels as though
it were bound. He sits up in bed, pants or
gasps for breath, and in bad cases, calls for
the doors and windows to be thrown open.
Precipitation stands out in large drops on
the forehead, the face looks haggard, the
lips are livid, the extremities cold, and the
heart beating violently.
Persons badly afflicted with the disease
are, during the fit, insensible to everything
save the desire for air. have known them
| to rush to the open window and hang over
the sill for hours in mid winter. utterly re.
gardless of the cold. The feeling is pre-
cisely that of pending suifocation, and the
poor sufferer endures tor time all the ag-
ony of drowning or slow strangulation.
But happiy y for the patieLt his confidence
never deserts him. He ieels that it will
soon be over, and then he will get relief.
Alter longer or a shorter period, accord
irg TO the severity of the case-generally a
few hours-the Iightness al the bottom OF
deeper, the patient can speak and cough
without difficulty, and begins to expectorate
freely. At length, worn out by the intens.
ity of his sutteriues, he falls to sleep and
the attack is at all end.
Nervous, Humid aud Dry Asthma are
names given to different forms of this
disease. Emphysema is another and more
inveterate kind of Asthma. while Hay
Asthma which occurs at a certain season of
the year. Each OF these forms of disease
differs somewhat from the others in symp-
toms, but practically these distinctions are
OF very little value. IL does not matter to
the patient which form of Asthma he has
since his sutferings are the same in all. In
one case the expectoration becomes yellow,
and we call it bronchial. In another it Is
up clear water, with a white froth ON the
surface, we say he has Humoral Asthma.
In Nervous Asthma there is very little ex-
pectoration of any kind. Hay Fever always
begins as a Cry ing cold in the head or influ-
enza, and C ear water russ from the nose
and the eyes before the Asthma fit comes
oil. In Emphysema the expectoration is
eneraily thick, and continues so in the in
terval between the fits. while the shortness
of breath is increased on the slightest ex.
ertion.
There is no rule which can be said to be
uniform in hma. In one person the
disease will entirely pass off after a single
attack, aud remain well for weeks. In an
other there will be several fits in succession,
with only short intervals between them,
and then the patient escapes tor a longer
period. In some fits occur regularly at
stated times. Some athmatics breathe best
in the city, while others cannot pass a night
in town with ut suffering an attack. One
prefers low land as a place of residence,
and another can only sleep on high ground.
A particular exposure OF a room will often
make difference, and have known peo-
pie who could sleep on one side of the
street and not on the opposite. The smell
OF hay, roses, and even of the stable,
with many is sufficient to bring on a arox.
ysm. Some cannot drive behind horses, or
endure cat in the same room.
All this must seem strange and almost
absurd to those who know nothing of the
disease by experience, but those who are
afflicted wit. 1t understand the matter. So
sensitive are some people that they cannot
enter drug store where ipecacuanha is
kept without experiencing an oppression in
breathing.
Asthma depends more on atmospheric
causes than other lung diseases. The mu-
Gus membrane is morbidly sensitive to
any change in the air. in the excess or def
| cheney of its zone-in the presence Of smoke
even impresnance with the delicate frag-
rance of flowers and plants. Few people
have any idea of the powerful influence ex-
erted Tor good or i'll by what we inhale. The
air is the great source from whence we con-
tract most diseases and it is only by employ
ing 1t as the carrier of remedies that many
| of them can be cured. This is peculiarly
thee Sc with all diseases of the air passages
| and lungs, OF none more SO than asthma
1t is a foolish conceit of many people to
! believe that ii they have Asthma they can
not get Consumption. The truth is the
very opposite. They are more liable 10
| fall into Consumption because they have
Asthma. Another idea is, that Asthma it.
sell is not a dangerous disease, and yet the
published d bills of mortality for this city
prove to all who read them that great num-
| bers lose theii lives every year.
without courage and perseverance moth
| lug is curable. But with these, aided by
proper and skilful treatment, Asthma can
be cured even after the lungs are extensive
| ly diseased.
The asthmatic sufferer therefore, should
lose no time in having this tearible disease
eradtcated from the system before it is
forever "too late"
Our Eastern friends should not depen
upon climatic influences alone, for herein
lies the fatal mistake. Nearly every case
requires positive medical aid, so As to be-
come rid of the offending matter-the con-
solidated portions of the lungs--so as to give
nature an opportunity 10 heal them.