Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1894-12-27
THE DRINKING HABIT
EXCEPT IN THE LAST STAGES IT
CAN BE CURED.
MEDICAL MEN AGREE THAT INEBRTETY
Is A PHYSICAL DISEASE AND YIELDS
To TONIC TREATMENT.

Expert medical authorities agree that,
Except in its last stages, what is now
Vailed the drinking habit and classed as
/ disease can be cured and the taste for
liquor eradicated How to accomplish
;his cure has been classed by students Of
nebriety as one of the ''gravest social
problems of the times. DR. E. F. Ar
aold, member of the American Society
For the Study of Inebriety, in recent
article in The North American Review,
put the case succinctly when he said of
The result Of mere agitation:
Public interest in the subject has
been shown for years by the many tenn
perance reform organizations and more
recently by the formation of political
party whose primary idea is the sup
preston of intemperance by legislative
enactment. 1t must be admitted that
thus far these movements have been
more or less failures. The reason for
these failures is obvious. The inebriate
has been regarded as an example Of
moral depravity, and the efforts to re-
form him have been in the line Of ap-
oeals to his better nature. These waves
If public sentiment served to produce
Al emotional crisis among inebriates.
Names on pledge lists swelled to mag
aifcent proportions. Hopes waxed high,
only to wane when it was found that
he majority of these had fallen into a
worse condition than ever. This is the
natural result of any method which APP
peals only to the emotional nature of
the man and fails to relieve his physical
;ufferings,
DIR. Arnold divides inebriates into
these three classes:
Il. The steady drinker, seldom or
never becoming intoxicated.
80 The outgrowth Of class /, asso-
ciated with periods Of intoxication. An
effort to reform is made but the phys
ical deterioration so weakens the will
( that frequent excuses occur. These con-
ditions become worse, and the de-
bauehes more frequent and more pro
F longed. A general breaking down Of the
whole system follows, and the victim
dies directly from chronic alcohol poi
soning or ends his days in madhouse.
90 The true periodical or dipsoma
Mac forms separate type, in which
the law of heredity is strikingly Illus
trated. y study of family history usual
ly reveals in the ancestry either chronic
alcoholism or some grave form Of nerve
disease. A congenital weakness Of the
nervous system in the offspring results.
Once the desire for alcohol or other mar
cotic becomes developed the effect is
overpowering
The action Of alcohol on the system
is that of a narcotic poison, capable Of
producing death, with symptoms of
brain congestion and coma so closely
Stimulating apopleXy that there is hardly
a hospital in the country which does not
contain records of cases in which the
correct diagnosis was made only on the
post mortem table. -
DR.. Arnold, in a further analysis,
calls attention TO the fact that, while
alcoholic stimulant will increase the
flow of ideas, the ideas lose in concen-
tration, and that constant use of the
stimulants will produce insomnia and a
breaking down Of the mental machinery
inevitably. beside doing vast and often
irreparable harm to the stomach and di-
gestive system. OF men who drink under
the strain of business cares and want to
get rid of this habit DR. Arnold writes:
There remains a larger class, at
most times capable Of transacting bust
ness, and who, while unable to over
come the drink habit unassisted, seek
aid to enable them TO do So The ques
tions arise: How shall We best treat
them: Shall it be by the use Of narcot-
les powerful enough to overbalance an
intellect already on the border line of
insanity? To answer is to condemn.
This plan is illogical and is undeserv-
ing the sanction of any honest medical
man.
All extensive experience with these
eases has shown the writer that, if
treated intelligently on lines governing
the physician in the treatment of
chronic nervous troubles, satisfactory
results may be obtained. The admins
tration Of remedies belonging to the
tonic and restorative classes is, as a rule,
promptly followed on the part Of the
patient by a voluntary cessation from the
use Of alcohol. The majority Of the
cases will, if shown that the sudden
withdrawal Of stimulants does not pro-
duce the depression they dread, refrain
from alcohol from the beginning of the
treatment. With them the Improvement
Is almost immediate Appetite is re
stored, insomnia is replaced by restful
sleep, tremor promptly disappears, i'll
emaciated cases gain in weight is rapid,
and general improvement in health goes
ON without interruption. New York