Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-05
No. e75 North Main street,
Next to DiamorR House. Los Angeles, Cal.

Health Easesst at Toronto, Ontario. Over
10000 en- yseated by us during the past
ON ASTHMA.
1t las eommon error to suppose every
disa q which is attended by oppressed
breathing to be Asthma or Phthisic. We
hare shurtness of breath in Consumption,
bronchitis and Pneumonia, Just as we doin
Asthma, only hat in these diseases it is al
ways present, whereas in Asthma it occurs
in paroxysms.
lungs, which manifests itself in periodic at.
tacks or "fits " 1t comes on suddenly aud
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 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 diff
construction of the chest. 1t feels as though
it were bound. He sits up in bed, pants or
gasps Tor 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
heart beating violently.
Persons badly afflicted with the disease
are, during the ft, insensible to everything
save the desire for air. have known them
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 time all the ag-
But happily for the patient his confidence
never deserts him. He feels that 1t will
soon be over, and then he will get relief
After longer or a shorter period, accord
ipg TO the severity of the case-generally a
few bours--the tightness al the bottom of
ha ralayps the breathing hppOmp
DEEPER the patient can speak and cough
without difficulty, and begins to expectoraie
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 peculiar variety OF
Asthma which occurs at 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 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 influ-
enza, and ear water runs from the nose
and the eyes before the Asthma fit comes
OIL. 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 Asthma. In one person the
disease will entirely pass off 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 ior a longer
Stated times. Some athmatics breathe beat
in the city, while others cannot pass a III yht
in town without suffering an attack. One
prefers low land as place of residence,
and another can only sleep on high ground.
A particular exposure of a room will often
make a difference, aud l have known peo-
Pile 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 and almost
absurd to those who know nothing of the
afflicted witt 1t understand the matter. So
sensitive ere 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
or dust; on the temperature, humidity, 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 inhale. The
air Is the great source from whence we con-
tract most diseases and 1t is only by employ.
ing it 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.
1t is q foolish conceit of many people to
believe that II they have Asthma they can
very opposite. they are more liable to
fall into Consumption because they have
Asthma Another idea Is, that Asthma it.
self Is not a 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
ing 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 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.