Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-09
MEDICAL.
M. Hilton Williams, d., M.C.P.S.G,

treated by
Hilton Williams, Md, M.C.P.S.G,
No. e75 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
tario; for three years asso ciate physician Of
/ the Chicago and Cincinnati Throat and
Lung Institute: for fifteen years, and still,
proprietor OF the Detroit Throat and Lung
Institute; and for several years proprietor
of the Ontario Pulmonary Institute and
Health Resort at Toronto, Ontario. Over
10000 cases treated by us during the past
nineteen years.
ON ASTHMA.
II is a common error to suppose every
disease which is attended by oppressed
breathing to be Asthma or Phthisic We
have shurtness of breath in CONSUMPTION.
Bronchitis and Pneumonia, just as we dol
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 fits . 1t comes on suddenly and
is attended with great difficulty OF breath
ing while it lasts, but when the attack Is
over the patient breaths almost as well as in
health.
The Asthmatie f.. may come on at any
time, day or night, but most commonly oc-
ours after midnight and before morning.
The patient is suddenly awake ned by DIFF
ficulty OF breathing, feeling of weight or
construction of the chest. 1t 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.
Perspiration 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
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 suffocation, and the
poor sufferer endures tor a time all the ag-
ony OF drowning or slow strangulation.
But happily for the patient his confidence
never deserts him. He feels that it will
soon be over, and then he will get relief.
ir G 10 the severity of the case-generally a
few hours-the tightness at the bottom of
the chest relaxes, the breathing becomes
deeper, the patient can speak and cough
without difficulty, and begins to expeciorate
freely. At length, worn out by the intens-
fly OF his sufferings, he falls to sleep and
the attack Is at an end.
Nervous, Humid and Dry Asthma are
names given to different forms OF this
disease. Emphysema is another and more
inyeterate kind of Asthma, while Hay
Fever or Rose Cold is a peculiar variety Of
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 suferings are the same in all. In
one case the expectoration becomes yellow,
and we call 1t bronchial. In another 1t Ii
light and we call it dry. When he coughs
up clear water, with "a. white @ is9tn s,h on the
In Nervous Asthma there is very little ex-
pectoration of any kind. Hay Fever always
begins as a crying cold in the head or infiu-
enza, and Gear water ruus from the nose
OH. In Emphysema the expectoration Is
generally 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 viii entirely pass of after single
attack, and 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 for longer
period. In some fits occur regularly at
stated times. Some athmatics breathe bett
in the city, while others cannot pass night
in town without suffering an attack. Ono
prefers low land as place OF residence,
and another can only sleep on high ground.
A particular exposure OF room VIII 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 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 witn it understand the matter. 30
sensitive are some people that they cannot
enter drug store where 1pecacuanha 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
or dust; ON the temperature, humidity, or
even impregnance with the delicate frag-
rance OF flowers and plants. Few people
erted for good or i'll by what we inhale. The
air is the great source from whence we con-
tract most diseases and 1t is only by employ
ing IL as the carrier OF remedies that many
the c Sc with all diseases of the air passages
and lungs, of none more so than asthma
1t is a foolish conceft OF many people to-
believe that If they have st Asthma natl they can an
very opposite. They are more liable to.
fall into Consumption because they have
Asthma. Another idea is, that Asthma it.
published bills Of mortality for this city
prove to all who read them that great num-
bers lose their lives every year.
Without courage and perseverance, moth
iug is curable. But with these, aided by
proper and stilful 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
eradicated from the system before 1t is
forever "too late"
Our Eastern friends should not depend
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 to heal them.