Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-03

Lung Institute: for fifteen years, and still, 4,
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.
1t is common error to suppose every
disease which is attended by oppressed
breathing to be Asthma or Pfthisic. We
have shUr,ness of breath in Consumption,
Bronchitis and Pneumonia, just as we do in
Asthma only that in these diseases it is al
ways present, whereas in Asthma 1t occurs
in psroxysms.
Asthma is spasmodic disease of the
lungs, which manifests itself in periodic al
tacks or "fits " 1t comes on suddenly and
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 awake ned by dif.
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.
Precipitation stands out in large drops on
the forehead, the face locks haggsrd the
lips are livid, the eXtremities cold, aud the
heart beating violently.
Persons badly afflicted with the disease
are, during the fit, insensible to everything
save the desire for air l have known them
to rush to the tpen window and hang over
| the sill for hours in mid-winter, utterly re.
| gardless of the cold. The feeling is pre-
eisely that OF pending suffOcation, and the
poor sufferer endures tor time all the ag-
ony OF drowning or slow strangulation.
But happily for the patieLt his confidence
| never deserts him. He ieels that it will
soon be over, and then he will get relief.
After longer or a shorter period, accord
lug 10 the severity of the case-generally a
| few bours-the tightness at the bottom of
the chest relaxes, the breathing becomes
deeper, the patient can speak aud cough
without ifiiculty, and begins to expectora,e
freely. At length, worn out by the intens.
ity of his sutferings, he falls to sleep and
the attack Is at an end.
Nervous, Humid aud Dry Asthma are
names given to different forms of this
| disease. Emphyscma is another and more
inveterate kind OF Asthma. while Hay
| Fevei or Rose Cold is 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 it bronchial. In another it is
light and we call it dry. When he coughs
up clear water, with 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 crying cold in the head or iniu-
enZa, and ear water ruus from the nose
| and the eyes before the Asthma fit comes
OH. III 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 AS ihma In one person the
disease will entirely pass off after q single
other there will be several fits in succession,
with only short intervals between them,
and then the patti lent escapes for longer
| period. In some FITS occur regularly at
stated times. Scme athmatics breathe bet
| in the city, while others cannot pass a nj ght
| in town with ut suffering an attack. One
| prefers a 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 l have known peo-
pie who could sleep on one side of the
strC ct and not on the opposite. The small
| OF hay, IOses, 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 wit. 1t understand the matter So
sensitive are some people that they cam ot
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 III the air, in the excess or def
cheney OF its zone-in the presence OF smoke
or dust; on the temperature, humidity or
| even impresnance with the delicate irag-
| rance of flowers and plants. Few people
have any idea of the powerful influence ex-
erted for 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 II as the carrier of remedies that many
OF them can be cured. This is peculiarly
thee Sc with all diseases of the afr passages
and lungs, of none more so than asthma.
1t is a foolish conceit of many people to
believe that If they have Asthma they can +.
not ct 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 10 all who read them that great num-
bers lose theif lives every year.
Without courage and perseverance moth
ibg 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
eradlcated from the system before it is
forever "too late.
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-soas rs to give
nature an opportunity 10 heal them.