The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-11-29
TEMPERANCE NOTES.
RUNS EVIL EFFECTS.
Terrible Results of Alcoholic Indulgence
in the Vital Organs.

1t may not be generally known that
the evil effects of drinking are far more
pronounced in the case of the steady"
drinksr than in that of the man who
goes on periodical excuses. By a
STEADY" drinker is meant one who
drinks regularly, every day. He may
never become fully intoxicated, but he
keeps the system saturated with alco-
col all the time. The other mantle
periodical drunkard-takes spree"
gets drunk all through, and remains
so for number of hours, or for day
or two; but between these he drinks
nothing, and the body has time to get
rid of the poison. Hence such man
is less likely to suffer from severe or
ganic troubles due to alcohol than the
steady drinl,er, who keeps his body
full of the poison all the time. We
propose to briefly indicate the effects
of alcohol as a poison upon the great
organs of the body.
Those most subject to fatal disease
as the result of alcoholic indulgence
are the liver, kidneys and heart. We
place the liver first. because it is the
one most liable. Most of the liquids
we swallow are carried directly from
the stomach and digestive tract into
the liver through the portal vein;
hence the alcohol imbibed reaches
that organ first, in full quantity, and
must pass through its tissues before it
can possibly get into the general cir
culation and reach other portions of
the body. The result of this stream of
alcohol pouring through the liver is to
induce inflammation of that organ,
and lead the way to large number of
grave complications. The liver is the
main source of sugar and uric acid in
the system. Alcohol increases the
amount Of these products, and hence
leads to and aggravates diabetes
which is characterized by sugar being
found in the urinary products-and
govt which is caused by an excess of
uric acid, Besides these effects of the
inflammation induced by drink, it often
results in cirrhosis, in which the liver
becomes contracted, hard and irregu-
lar in shape; and in enlargement or
fatty degeneration of the organ. In
both these cases it fails to perform its
functions properly, and death eventu-
ally results.
AS soon as the alcohol imbibed passes
through the liver and gets into the
general circulation, the lungs and the
skin begin to get rid of it. At every
breath the expired air is loaded with
its vapor: it is thrown off in the insen-
sible perspiration from the skin. Hence
the kidneys do not receive the full
amount drank, as does the liver;
but enough passes through them to
cause the gravest disorders, and all of
them fatal. Drinking is a fruitful
source of Bright's disease, which is a
degeneration of their structure. The
kidneys aid in the task of Kidding the
ystem of the alcoholic poison; they
are easily OverwOrked, and the extra
labor imposed upon them causes this
degeneration. Other disea of these
organs are caused by drink Spirit
uous liquors are the more apt to cause
granular kidney" while beer drink
ing brings on fatty degeneration. Al
buminuria, in its most troublesome
forms, also results from steady drink
ing.
The effects of alcohol upon the
hearts action are peculiar. The lat
est view is that it acts on the nerve
centers like various other poisons-
atropia, for eXample-paralyzi to
some extent the vagus nerve, which
has checking or retarding effect on
cardiac action Released partially from
this control, the heart starts off like a
wild horse. Its action is quickened,
the blood is driven through the arteries
with increased force, the face is flushed,
and other familiar phenomena of accel-
Grated circulation follow. If the dose
of alcohol becomes largely increased its
paralyZing effect reaches the acceler-
ating as well as retarding nerves, and
the hearts action becomes slow and
weak, the mans breathing stertorous,
and death even may supervene. For
the be1etit of medical readers, we will
say that the above explanation of the
mode of action of alcohol on the heart
is that of the London Lancet-well
known to be the medical journal of the
highest authority in Great Britain.
So much for the immediate action of
alcohol on the heart; now for its effects
resulting from steady drinking. 1t is
the universal testimony of the medical
profession that intemperance is a most
fruitful cause of all forms of heart dis
ease. Among those most frequently
met with, due to this cause, are hyper
trophy, dilatation, valvular disease,
and fatty degeneration-all of them
fatal eventually. These precious eff
fects extend to the entire circulating
system, inducing fatty granular (ath-
eromatous) degeneration of the walls
of the arteries, a weakening of the
coats of the capillaries, causing their
permanent distension (the cause of the
chronic redness of the nose and face
from drink; and these largely increase
the liability to apoplexy, which is sim
ply the rupture of blood-vessel in the
brain.
The London Lancet recently gave a
series of tables, showing the death
rate, between the ages of % and 65, of
men engaged in occupations that put
before them constant temptation to
drink, and those who were not thus
exposed. These showed that for every
297 deaths from liver diseases in the