The Somerset reporter., 1888-04-26
PHYSICIANS WISDOM.
WHAT cHlc4 loo DOCTORS SAY ABOUT
"9oseRlne OFF,"

70 Ne n Pursued by the victims of Con.
srmsd Alcoholism - yariou. Method.
s.so"" ended.
Is there OH course better than another
for a man 70 adopt In cndeavoring TO
break himself ~ the drinking habitf
Tho Mail has sought 10 obtain from
those who should be bst Informed a
practical answer 10 IL ab,ve question. A
number Of leading phy,.icilns have been
visited and given set II questions put
10 each The result Of These interviews
is here presented
"Ah," said DR. Charles GILMAN Smith
they never do taper of hhcy can't
The way to break of drinking Is, 10 stop
and stop short In stopping shorN don
use bromides unless the reforming dr1.. T
can't sleep Use the tiuid e&tract Of coc,1q
leaves That's a sort Of siiuulant. not 20
dangerous as alcohol. perhaps. although
its continued Use impairs the heart 1t IL
hard to lay down general course Of medi-
cation. since every case Is different
physician must prescribe for patient
what he particularly needs AS to diet, 1t
should BE- Gsa al;s-l III r h-n0t Ialiy n
greasy. but Strengthening II the patient
can't sleep let him take brisk walk be
fore bedtime and get himself tired out
Regular exercise in gymnasium you can
rarely get drInkard TO take The man
who leaves off drinking had better stop
smoking, too Tobacco has a relaxing #
feet on the system Stop both together
1t will pay"
will man recover his old physical
and mental toner We'll. il he leaves of
altogether he will practically he as good a
man as he was before he began to drink ="
J Adams Allen, president of Rush Med
cal college. said blutlly If a mans
going to stop he's got to stop. and
there's an end of it. Don't let him
he ought never to try to quit with
out consulting physician. because a
steady drinker is sure to have some Or
ganic trouble of the liver or kidneys which
whisky spurs up to action. and which be
comes torpid when 1t is left. He don't
want toncs and other stimulants to stay
him up A good dose of calomel to set
his liver going right is worth more than
them all Yes, leave off tobacco. too rs
harder to break off than liquor drinking :"
DR.. n b. Delamater, the specialist in
nervous diseases. took a decidedly differ
ent view of the propositions He said
Whether the would be reformed drunk
ard shall taper of with light wines and
short rations of drinks depends entirely
on the individual lie who is anxious to
quit and is man of strong will and in
the habit of controlling himself in other
ways and Is able to withstand the pain
and suffering can do either way There
is less suffering tapering off than stopping
suddenly man who is not accustomed
to controlling himself would either have
to be put under restraint or be obliged to
taper off
Ordinarily the man will begin to feel
better in three weeks time The norma
tone ought to be restored in couple of
months unless some organic disease has
been developed Some men can regain
everything they have lost Others can
not 1t depends on the man and it de
ponds on the amount of drinking he has
INDUCED in Those men of finer quail
ity of nervous temperament are those
who are most bound by liquor and to
whom the damage is most permanent.
Coarse, brutal natures are not much af-
fected They recover as much as ever
they lost.
IAN habits of life are hard to break
off, said DR.. E. II. Pratt "A man who
the thing can only be accomplished by a
strong effort of the mind, and as long as
he weakens his body by keeping up the
irritation with even diminished doses OF
alcohol. so long will be slave to the
liquor habit. If he wants to quit, why
quit 1t lies more with the man himself
than with the drugs. You cant reform q
man unless it is thorough reform.
Therefore, in such cases do not attempt
to drive out one bad habit with worse.
| sigc a weak solution of cayenne pepper tt
relieve the burning sensation, and | give
him lots of milk Milk is, of all things,
the most necessary.
THE great thing in breaking off habit
of this kind is keeping busy. Push the
| mind and body to the utmost activity e
divert attention from the hankerings oil
the old habit Concentrate the thought
on some hobby and ride it at full speed
For mercy's sake don't think of trying tc
stop. Don't tell anybody how long it has
been since you tasted u drop Don't con
| graduate yourself that you have gone
without liquor for six weeks or SIX
months Dismiss the subject from your
mind as completely as If you had never
heard of such thing as whisky, and had
no curiosity to learn about it, If a mar
asked you how long it has been since you
stopped drinking change the subject OF
conversation without answering The
mind has the greatest part of the task at
J first. | should certainly say that a man
who wants to quit drinking should stoT
smoking, too.
"IIow long 1t will be before he begins
to feel as good as he did before he stopped
drinking depends on how badly besotted
he is, The most rapid gain will be in TIM
case of the man who has made up his
! mind in dead sincerity that he has taken
/ his last drink and that he will never look
' back with longing on the old habit Six
| months ought to restore him to complete
| health If he has no organic disease
1.-The notion that quitting suddenly is
more dangerous or more difficult than Ia
| pering off is one of whisSy's fallacies
said DR.. A J Baxter "'rapering off is
simply taking smaller doses of poison. A
man can't quit taking poison too suddenly
As for bromides and all that sort Of thing,
if his physician finds he needs bromdes
let him prescribe them, but if they are
needed II will not be because the man has
quit drinking entirely. but because liquor
+ has undermined lis health and made
tonics necessary to pull nature through in
her efforts to restore what has been lost
NJ man on the top Of earth can say how
long it viii tax, a. mako a man vel
again "-Chita 20 Mil