Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-09-18
TIPS ON Ig,gO UGHS.
HOW tray ARE CAUSED AND HOW
35 THEY ARE TREATED.

- r.
they ARE TREATED.
SsAsae Are 1hreo Varieties OF This Dis
srsssans AfHsctaon, Namely, 1rritat,ve.
Hpeosao and Observation-Disclosures ncanta-
tsoas ana ssszls NJ Remedies. g."
Hfccough OF singultus (the medical
terInt 10 interrupted inspiration produced
by sudden and spasnodic diaphragm In
oaosure OF the glottis In the midst OF in
epsratson." Singultus, like all Gnul, is
divided into threo parts. All hiccoughs
may look alike 20 the uninitiated, but to
| tie learned they group themselves under
the heads OF irritasivo, specific and neu.
rotao. They all come from a disturbance
OF the nerves OF the diaphragm, but that
disturbance must be referred to some pri-
mary cause.
= Initiative hfoooughs nny be caused by
swallowing very hot substances or by any
gastric or intestinal disorder The o'clock
I'm the morning hiccoughs are an instance
Of the effects OF hot stuff. and hiccoughs
following eating can De classed as irrita-
tive and set down to digestive derango-
msnt Specific cases are the result Of
some constitutional disorder, such as govt,
diabetes or Rright's disease, and neurotio
hiocoughs have their primary causes In tho
nerve system, often accompanying a nerve
shook, hysterta or epilepsy. OF the three
Varieties the Initiative hiocough yields
nost readily to treatment, and the neurotic
Ia the moat obstinate. Almost all cases of
persistent hiocoughs arc neurotic, and
nervous hiocough has even been known to
become epidemic.
The number of remedies for hicoouRhs
Is legion. and the medical profession hasn't
o monopoly OF them. An obstinate cnse Of
hicooughs In the family must be nearly ss
exciting as fire, for as soon as the disease
assumes q serious character the newspa-
pess NOTICE 1t and comments upon It 20
out through the country. Then letters and
Kilograms begin to pour in upon the VIC
etm In every out Of the way corner Of
Sho country is some ono who has q sure
cure for hsocoughs and Is charitable enough
30 want TO relieve the sufferer. During q
recent serious case Of htccoughs near New
York hundreds Of suggestions we're re-
oeaved from unknown people, and the list
OF prescriptions was !ntenaely funny,
though the family YVES too anxious to ap-
preciats the humor. However, the remedy
that Was most often recommended, even
by those outside the medical world, was
nmyl nitrate, which Is ono OF the hicoough
medicines most valued by physicians.
of treatment for hiccoughs, and doctors
talk profoundly Of antispasmodic, empir-
1cal and physiological methods, but in an
obstinate case all three Glasses Of remedies
are tried with beautiful impartiRlity, and
even the unscientific suggestions OF old
ladies are not scorned Antispasmodic
remedies include ohloral amyl nitrate, CO.
caine and morphine. In case Of iniialn-
nation iocsl bleeding leeches and Ice ap-
piaoations arc tried, and IL the trouble is
due to gastritis, bismuth, msgnesia and
cocaine are valuable. II the hioeoughs arc
OF the fzrttative variety, tho necessity Is to
remove the cause OF irritation That is
not always go easy as 1t sounds but 1t is
safe thing to give q dose Of castor oil OH
faith
Neurctto hiccoughs, being a nervous af-
toctton, require nerve treatment. Valcrinn
and asaIetidA are given, but one OF tho
most common methods of treatment Is to
RAISE the patients arms above his head
and then bring strong pressure to bear on
the phrenio nerve, which is located near
Che collar bone 1t Is frequently the case
that where all deeply scientific treatment
fnals Some ono Of the simpler empirical
remedies will effect a cure, and one OF these
remsdies has had q long and honorable
back as the time OF Plsto.
Hfccoughs are not respecters of persons
end evidently did not hesitate to attack
even the noble Athepians, for in Plato 4
symposium one reads that the physician
Ery1imachus recommended to Aristo-
phanes, who had hiccoughs, that he should
hold his breath or gargle with cold water,
and the hocoughs would not yield to
ttlas treatment he must tickle his nose un.
al he aneezed Two sneeSes were warrant
sd 30 rouA the enemy.
Those same old remedies are still used,
and only short time ago pinch Of snuff
and the resultant sneering CURED persist
ems naae Of neurotio hiccoughs which had
ser ID days dafled oil scientific treatment
&&W whisky and hot brandy are among
chs kiooough remedies; 60 aro salt and
vanagnr, salt and lemon and red pepper
eaA which Is given on the principle that
30 lose ones breath tRtke Same thing os to
hold it
Some physicians advise "rhythm!oaI
psotruhon OF the tongue" which, being
interpreted, means repeatedly sticking out
ones tongue as far as possible and draw
Ing 1t back again. Considerable satisfuc-
ton ns well as hiccough euro might be had
from that treatment II the patient could
hnye his dearest foe In front OF him.
Continued and rapid swallowing is an
other remedy, and after holding tho breath
~ VOSuoYS u2Ao V1G IlCSU universally Know
Is swallows of water without brcathinx''
being Invariably tried In light case Of
Asccoughs mustard plaster over the
stozaach Is sometimes good for hiccoughs;
. severe fright is IL heroic remedy, and ont
eide OF the province OF medicine there arc
lamentations and spells which are infal-
Mbss.
II ono win but hold his left arm above
ais head and soy slowly: "Hiccough hic-
cough, I'm your brother. Leave me and
take another the hiccoughs chances arc
poor, and II one puts. his fingers in his ears
and ehants:' De debbn done glib me desc
hiokups, bnt de breaSed Lawd goin skeer
iem away. Come, Lawd. come snatch
'aa. the curse Will depart in haste
9hese GRO AFRO American traditions, how
ever OF cases where the evil spirit departed
IN 'tEsons'rous fits" GO there's danger In
ehas experiment.
The number Of cases Of hiccoughs end
sna fatally is not very large, and even in
Chose cases the death isn't charged up to
hiccoughs, for physicians explain seriously
that the people don't die of hiccoughs, but