Wichita eagle., 1889-04-20
ALL ABOUT PARESIS.
An Insidious Disease Which De-
stroys Many Brain-Wor kers.
Tho Theories of Some Noted Physicians-
Once Afflicted with the Brain-Destroy.
or, the Patients Only Hope is
tho Grave-Prominen Victims.

| ern growth. Americans are us VlcLlMS
more than any other people OF earth. 1t
| loves brilliant mark, and the best and
brainiest of our land become its prey. 1t Is
incurable. When once within its clutches
the subject undergoes ivinga death;
slow, tortuous, deceptive one, but still the
| dark river is inevitably reached.
There are many causes which induce
paresis-overwork, overindulgence in alco-
holic beverages, tobacco or narcotics or
other excuses.
People of small mental caliber need not
fear paresis, provided they do not cripple
their brains by overindulgence in liquor.
Statistics show that but one per cent OF
the cases reported are women.
From the time when the first traces Of
the disease are apparent but three years are
required to consign the patient to the grave.
| There are cases where the victim fingers on
for twelve Or fourteen years. This only oc-
ours where the subject is given to alcoholic
and narcotic excuses and possesses in ad-
dition great physical powers. For three
! quarters of that period he is a pitiable sight.
His frame is without the slightest spark Of
! life, his eyes are lusterless, his muscles
habby and flesh like that of a corpse. In a
word, he is a helpless idiot, tortured by
dark hallucinations, tormented by physical
! fears, and death finally comes as glad re-
| lease.
Brilliant men are the first to fall beneath
! its lnsidious advances. Bankers, lawyers,
editors, actors, playwrights and even doc
tors compose the greater part OF the roll OF
| its victims. In the very fact that its prog
ress is insidious the danger lies. When
the symptoms are discovered the patient
has gone beyond hope of recovery. Once
the work of mental disinteragtion begun,
the only end is the grave.
The striking popularity of paresis, para
doxical as the statement may seem, is its
apparent suddenness. A strong, vigorous
man, in the prime of life-the president of
a railroad, If you please-a man endowed
with physical and mental attributes to an
extraordinary degree, is suddenly stricken
down and compelled to take long rest. He
| goes to Europe, visits the land OF the Cid,
Wanders about the catacombs and inhales
the breezes of the Mediterranean at Monte
! Carlo. He finally returns to work, but is
! incapable of effort. He leaves his desk.
! The process of mental disinteragtion goes
on and the inevitable end is calmly waited.
This case is like thousands of others.
| When the victim shows the first symptoms
his ''breaking down" is thought to be due to
! ONcTWOTh. urge tldL d. DTltl IcSI
will restore him to his usual condition. 1t
! does not. The mind grows weaker. The
| body, strange to say, seems to develop.
| Finally the mind becomes warped, dark
pictures come before it, and the body fails.
/ The patient can not sleep, has excruciating
pains in the head, eats abnornally, but
without preserving the physical powers, and
finally the body, like the mind, wastes away
/ IN mora clalat0u Then comes death
/ Sometimes the victim rallies bit. He
seems to regain in a measure his mental
| control, and is permitted to test his strength
! of intellect again in business professional
/ pursuits. Then the reaction comes quick
/ and sudden. The mind resumes it's defect
i've condition; the same phantasmagorla
afflict it; the same painful hallucinations
! terrify it. Then comes the end.
| DIR. Allan McLane Hamilton, the famous
| specialist and recognized authority upon
mental diseases, gave New York Star re-
porter few facts about the remarkable
disease:
"Paresis," said DR.. Hamilton, "is fire.
quently misunderstood by many people. It
is generally supposed to be insanlty-pure
and simple-with a new name. 1t is the
/ fashion nowadays to call all forms Of men
tai disturbance paresis. 1t is a paralyZing
| of the nerve fioers. The disease has in
/ creased alarmingly in this country within
/ the last eight or ten years, and from what
can learn is dependent directly upon vice
/ and not upon the overworking Of the brain.
/ Alcoholism frequently induces it.
"Ihave seen innumerable cases Of paress
/ in the asylums. and many in my private
! practice, and find, as rule, that the disease
/ attacks persons who are primarily dissipat-
ed and who are addicted to great or irreg-
ular amount Of mental work. Generally the
| first symptoms begin with feelings of de-
spondency or depression, which is followed
/ after time by wonderfully extravagant
| ideas. Some subjects believe that they can
make enormous wealth by carrying out
scheme or idea they cherish Others be-
lieve they have heaven born mission to do
something good and great for their fellow
man, such as the establishment Of new
faiths or doctrines. The schemes are al
ways colossal. The victim of paresis never
entertains any thing small. When under
] the domination of these decisions the SUD-
/ jectis likely to treat with violence any one
who questions his powers or belief
after this period has passed away,
there may be a cessation OF the symptoms
of paresis, and his friends begin to hope
that the patient may recover. This period
may last FIVE or six months, but with the
certainty of fate the apparent soundness Of
mind vanishes, and the wild mental pict-
ures return with greater force than before.
The disease then makes It's way, with prob
ably recurring periods of sanity, but they
are always shorter, and the inevitable end
comes.
"With the progress of the disease the
oyyr0r- h<a c%va, rv-h l01,-
the patient, the muscles become fabby and
general paralysis sets in. at the last stage
of his illness the patient becomes devoid of
consciousness, incapable of motion, his eyes
are lusterless, saliva oozes from his mouth
and he fades away from earth.
men are almost always the victims Of
paresis, and they generally vary in age
from forty to forty-fve years. Only one
per cent. or thereabout of known cases OF
paresis are women. Alcohol and overwork
| in an irregular way and in irregular hours
are the causes OF paresls.
Excessive mental work, with recourse
TO narcotics, alcohol or other stimulauts,
frequently causes paresls. This is fire.
! Quently exemplified in the case of bankers,
lawyers, journalists and others who insist
on working sixteen hours day, and who
employ stimulants TO keepup their strength
instead of getting natural rest
Among the distinguished people Of this
great and busy land who have died from
paresis caused by intoxicating their mental
! strength are WILDER F. Storey. proprietor
Of the Chicago Times, John Mccullough and
BARLEY Campbell
Remember She Is Old
| Laugh not, o maiden. 7 pray vou.
AT the one who so slowly goeshy