Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-10
MEDICAL.

dent to females successfully
treated by
M. Hilton Williams, N. D., ,M.C.P.S.0.
No. s75 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; Tor three years associate physician of
the Chicago and Cincinnati Throat and
Lung Institute; for fifteen years, and still,
proprietor OF a the ne Detroit Throat and Lung
of the ontario Pulmonary Institute and
Health Resort at Toronto, Ontario. Over
| 10000 cases treated by us during the past
| nineteen years.
ON ASTHMA.
1t lisa common error to suppose every
disease which is attended by oppressed
breathing to be Asthma or Phthisic We
have shVrtness of breath in Consumption.
Bronchitis and Pneumonia, just as we do in
Asthma. only that in these diseases 1t ID ell
ways present. whereas in Asthma 1t occurs
in paroxysms.
Asthma is q 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 II 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 awake ned by q dif-
fculty of breathing. feeling of weight or
construction of the chest. IL feels as though
it were bound. He sits up in bed, pants or
gasps for breath, and in bad cases, calls for
the doors aud windows to be thrown open.
Precipitation stands out in large drops on
the forehead, the face looks haggard, the
llrE arQl VII he trn Qni md ftrn
heart beating violently.
Persons badly afflicted with the disease
are, during the fit, insensible to everything
save the desiie for air. l have known them
to rush to the open window and hang over
the sill for hours in idwinter, utterly re-
gardless of the cold. The feeling is pre-
cisely that of pending sufocation, and the
poor sufferer endures tor time all the ag-
ony OF drowning or slow strangulation.
But happily for the patient his confidence
never deserts him. He ieels that 1t will
soon be over, and then he will get relief.
After a longer or a shorter period, accord
ing 10 the severity of the case-generally q
few hours-the tightness al 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-
ity 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
inveterate 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 sufferings are the same IN all; In
one case the expectoration becomes yellow,
and we call 1t bronchial. In another 1t is
light and we call il dry. When he coughs
up clear water, with white froth on the
surface, we say ne has Humorai Asthma.
pectoration of any kind. Hay Fever always
begins as crying cold in the head or infiu-
enza, and a Gear water runs from the nose
and the eyes before the Asthma 1T comes
eneraIly thick, and continues so in the in
terval between the fits. while the shortness
of breath is increased on the slightestsex-
ertiOn.
There is no rule which can be said to be
uniform in Asthma. In one person the
disease will 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 best
in the city, while others cannot pass night
in town without suffering an attack. One
prefers low land rs place OF residence,
and another can only sleep on high ground.
A particular exposure OF a 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 a cat in the same room.
All this must seem strange ana almost
absurd to those who know nothing OF the
disease by experience, but those VINO are
afflicted with it understand the matter. 30
Sanciti a q npOnlp that tleV cannot
enter drug store where 1pecacuanha is
kept without experiencing an oppression IN
breathing.
causes than other lung diseases. The mu-
Gus membrane is morbidly sensitive to
any change in the air, in the excess or deh-
cheney of its zone-in the presence OF smoke
or dust; on the temperature, humiolty, or
even impregnance with the delicate frag-
rance OF flowers and plants. Few people
have any idea OF the powerful influence ex-
erted for good or i'll by what we fnhale. The
air Is the great source from whence we con-
tract most diseasesa and 1t is only BY employ
ing 1t as the carrier of remedies that many
of Them can be cured. This is peculiarly
the Sc with all diseases OF the air passages
and lungs, of none more so than asthma.
II is a foolish conyceit of many people to
believe that if they have Asthma they can
not get Consumption. The truth Is the
very opposite. They are more liable to
fall into Consumption because they have
Asthma. Another idea Is, that Asthma IT.
self is not dangerous disease, and yet the
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
ipg 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
eradicated from the system before it Is
forever "too late.'
Our Eastern friends should not depend
upon climatic influences alone, for herein
lies 6he feAal 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.
CONSULTATION FREE.
Those who desire to consult me in regard
to their cases had better call at my Office for