The National tribune., 1891-01-08
For The NArtovSL tribune
HEALTH BINTS
For Old and Young.
by FELIX T.. OSWALD. n. D..
Author Of Physical FIucation". Household
Remedies. The Bible OF Nature" eta.
For Old and Young.
CHATTER XCYII.
CHRONIC cArARRH.

acquaintance.
" Yes, madam" said the o'd doctor. " it is +
certainly an incuraba sort Of disease, % long /.
as the patient can get all the whisky be wants I
II 10 much the same with other chronic " I
disorders, socalied. They continue while their .
cause continues % operate, and on the removal /.
OF that cause would speedil cease % be chronic.
Chronic cataTrh " is merely protractsd form !
OF a common cold, but il is nevertheless a very T
serious disorder, as it may az any time develop /.
into genuine consumption. The difference be-
tween catarrh and consumption would, indeed, /
not be easy 70 define except upOn the sIgnJh-
canoe Of the circumstance that in consumption
the organism has more or less lost It's power Of
resistance 70 the progress Of the disorder thus
making the decay Of lung tissue rapid and
fatal, when the patient should aid Nature By
radical change Of habits
Chronic catarrh can generally be traced TO
one OF the three following causes: /. HIbituai /
residence IN house or room impregnated with
the seeds Of the disorder. Hundreds Of patients
who have been partially converted to the fresh
arr cure theory OF respiratory diseases follow
that doctrine Just enough to find or make time
Tor daily hour Of outdoor exercise, but upon
returning 70 their lodgings breathe in another
supply OF catarrh germs, and wonder why the
| open-atr cure IS so slow in showing lis effect.
In that way the trouble is often perpetnated
/ week after week, even in homes where an
/ abundance Of spare rooms would make 10 easy
l
| apartment ventilated by a two days airing.
Even single room could be thoroughly puri-
| fed by a crOss-draft of air at nights, and
l during the temporary absence Of the invalid
and It is, indeed question whether in defaut
/ OF such precautions, short outdoor rambles can
do more good than harm. During the daily
\ hour or outdoor exercise the lungs as 10 were,
/ open all their safety-valves and upon the
/ PATIENTS sudden rotGrn 20 his stuFy sitting
/ room the floating disease germs get q frst-class
/ chance 20 penetrate every pore Of the pulmO-
/ nary tissue. For there is no doubt that the
organism Of the human body has a faculty Of
\ preventing infection by precautions of its own
/ III eases whore the influence Of the contagious
/ principle does not operate too swift and sudden.
\ Thus, II traveller is the first 10 enter passeu-
/ ger ear Of q newly made-u up" train lat the
/ first starting station) he may take seat at a
/ distance from the stove and calmly await the
gradual spread Of the heat and the arrival of
| the crowd his lungs will adapt themselves TO
| the change, and he may escape cOntagiOn even
| If every other seat around him should get Occu-
/ pied by coughing and sneezing invalids; but If
the same traveller should have % catch his train
by an hours brisk walk through the pure air Of
/ the hills and woods and be ushered into a
| crowded and OyerheatCd car his chances of es-
cape will prove extremely small, unless bis
lungs should be so absolutely sound as to throw
off the contagious principle it would be
eliminated by the lungs Of stout animal
| say deer-hound, sharing the room Of his sick
master. For that reason care should be taken
that an invalid, upon his return from bis daily
outing. may get all the benefit of wide-open
windows aided, if possible, by the draught Of
an open fire place. Or better yet of a change
OF ROOMS, in which way an obstinate case Of
chronic cataTrh may often be cured in half
week, without the use of any medicines what
ever.
2. Frequent visits to localities infected with
the seeds Of lung diseases, a short visit to the
crowded reading Of public library, or TO
the waiting-roOm Of a railway depot infested
with iungsOre tTamps may Illustrate the most
| careful system OF home precautions, for there
Is no doubt that quarter Of an hour may give
the catarrh microbes sufficient chance to
fasten upon the lungs Of their victim. One
difficulty in tracing the result to its cause arises
from the circumstances that between the mo-
ment Of infection and the outbreak of the more
distressing symptoms there often intervenes a
period Of incubation, varying from 81 hours to
three or four days, according TO the resisting
powers OF the victims organism. That period
may remain exempt from cough and sore
throat, but Is generally characterized by feel
ing Of congestion about the chest and by It's
curious influence upon the sleep of the patient
After day Of mental and physical languOr
sleep comes on like a iainting e and without a
dream, but also without any decided feeling Of
refreshment the sick man wakes in the morn
. ing wondering WHAT mas become OF tle ulg1G.
The next day the Catarrh fend may open his
campaign by a sneezing ft, soon followed by
cough and Inflammation Of the mucous MEM
brane, sorely pulling the subjects of his at
taeks, who have, perhaps not lett their houses
for the last I5 hours.
3. Visits from luug-sick persons. In thou
sands Of eases eatarrhs are peddled from house
to house By individuals who often come upon
the idlest Of eFrands, and merely TO crafty
their propensity for gossip inAict week 3
, misery upon their hO5pitablC entertainers.
What TO do with such visitors is the most
puzzling Of problems, and can make one envy
a custom Of the Japanese city-dwellers, who.
whenever they prefer 20 be left alone, hang out
a sign, which may mean too busy to see you"
or " too sick to get up but which saves mnl-
titude of ibs and, OF all events, is respected by
every visitOr-tax- collectors and sheriffs prob
ably, excepted. Much, however would be
gained il 10 was once clearly understood that
there is such a thing as contagious catarrh, and
that the prOmIsCuOUs distribution of lung-dis-
ease germs is as great an outrage as spreading
an epidemic by letting smallpox patient LOAF
about from house to house.
Rather than risk the imputatiOn Of inhOspi-
tally many of our best fellOw-citizens would,
no doubt, face the alternative of receiving
travelling consumption in the shape of a female
gossip resolved TO stay couple of hours and
cough away till the parOr becomes an iucu-
batOr Of catarrh- germs. All that can be done
in such eases is 10 keep the room at the mini
mum temperature compatible with politeness,
to open all the windows directly after the exit
Of the visitor, and perhaps to carry politeness
to the length Of accompanying her into the out
door world, where there is no risk of cOntagiOn,
and where by good luck, the cool, pure air may
disinfeet the eongested lungs.
On returning home avoid the visiting room
till an all-nights draft through two or three
open windows has completed the work of ex-
purgaton, and give the bedroom. too the
benefit of little extra ventilatng The magic
effect Of cold pure air in cOunteracting catarrhs
may be brought home to any skeptic by simple
experiment, which may also illustrate the mis-
chievous effect of Overheated indoor air. On
the evening of Gay when cold in The head -
is at it worst bring Your stove to a glowing heat
or double the supply Of hickering fuel in your
chimney. Almost with the moment when the
heat begins TO spread through the room the
symptoms Of your trouble will undergo an ag-
gravati0n-C0ugh, sneezing fits. and congestion
Of the nasal ducts will assume an intolerabIe
degree Of maligBity in less than Il minutes.
While those Affections are still at their maxi
mum take refuge in an airy bedroom in a bed
supplied with any desired number Of warm
blankets and perhaps, besides, with foot
warmers" hot bricks wrapped in piece of
saekcloth), but placed In the full cool draug ht
OF an open window. In less than 10 minutes
all the worst symptoms will have subsidized,
breathing will become easy, and the patient