The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-02-21
Indianapolis Is a Healthy City
and the Death Rate Is Low
Few Die and Study of Their Ailments Unfods Interesting
Facts. Causes of Hear Disease

with them and dosing themselves with
headache powders, nerve tonics and all
sorts of nostrums without in the least
knowing OF or taking the trouble TO IN
quire into the character of the drugs of
which these are composed.
The moment a man or woman has a
headache or a neuralgia pain, or feels tired
and depressed, in nine cases out of ten IL
is the custom TO go 10 the nearest drug
store and ask the druggist for something
Tor II. In every case the druggist VIII hand
out some patent-medicine preparation, the
basis of which is phenacetin sulphonal, tri-
onal, antlpyrln, or some narcotic heart
stimulant or depressant If the first dose
does not succeed in removing the trouble,
though all that is needed is quiet and rest
TO set ii right, the patient will double the
dose. \ headache once removed by this
heroic treatment leads inevitably TO a rep
etition of the treatment the next time the
person feels the need Of it. And there you
have the drug habit acquired.
Now, properly used" the officer went on
not one of these drugs | have mentioned
is harmful TO anyone. Taken habitually or
in excess, everyone of them has a tendency
to weaken and paralyZe the heart And
right there you have, to my thinking. a
very important contributory cause of the
by the record in the last few years OF
course, the number of inhabitants is in
creasing in this city, but 1 don't think
that this has great deal to do with the
increase of heart disease.
u will venture TO say" he continued,
that In 80 per cent. of the cases of this
least idea what he is swallowing or the
druggist what he is selling. The stuff is
patent compound, purporting TO be a mix
ture or this, that and the other drug, but
which may very well be a compound of
wholly different and cheaper substitutes.
Even If ii isn't, suppose that the man with
the headache knows just what drug or
drugs he is taking how is he to know his
own capacity? How does he know that any
such drug is needed in the particular state
he is in? How is the druggist to know?
He isn't a physician, but merely man
trained 10 mix drugs TO the extent of not
attempting incompatibles. He can't be ex-
pected to prescribe, and particularly, as is
often the case, for a stranger about whose
constitutional peculiarities he knows moth
ing at all.
"But the druggist is there to sell the
drugs, and SO, though ii is not his business
to prescribe for anybody, he is quite willing
to do so as an incident of a sale. And out
comes the bottle of patent headache pills,
containing little of everything dangerous
to the weak heart, a headache powder
of ten times the tit dose for anything more
susceptible than an elephant, and away
| goes the patient with a slight headache
| blown out of him if by dynamite, and
| having taken step nearer the time when
his WORKOUT heart will refuse to serve him
any longer, and he will be another digit in
| the columns of the sudden deaths in the
Health Department records
This might be thought TO be an extreme
| opinion. OF half a dozen health officials
| and practicing physicians interviewed on
| the subject however, not one disagreed
| the probability that the increasingly reck-
| less use Of drugs is en- important factor in
| the large number Of heart disease cases.
| FEW KILL THEMSELVES.
Another interesting fact brought out in
| going through these statistics was that
there are not as many people who become
| tired of life and commit suicide as is gem
| orally supposed. There has been an in
| crease in suicide, but not nearly so great
as the other causes of death. Last year
there were twenty-five death returns of
people who took their own life The favor
lite route of these by poison, sixteen
of them dying from this. The poison that
is mostly used is morphine. 1t is a we'll
known fact that the majority of persons
who commit suicide are women. and they
all end their lives by taking their 10 cents
worth or morphine. The year before there
were twelve people who took poison. which
| shows that this way of taking life is be-
| coming more popular. for there has been
| an increase of four in year. Those who
took their own lives by firearms have not
| increased nor decreased in the last two
years. for there were seven who died in
| this manner last year and seven the year
| before. The suicides due 10 other causes
which are not stated on the health record,
/ but which are generally of a unique nature
| were two last year ard the year before one
| The number of suicides however seems TO
| vary from one year 10 another, for during
| 1901 there were twenty-seven.
| Diseases of the respiratory apparatus
| caused $40 deaths. Included i'm this cassifi-
| cation is pneumonia. The majority of peo-
! pie are under the impression that this dis
| ease is increasing from year to year. but
| II is not There WAS a slight increase I'm
/ the number of deaths from pneumonia last
| year over the year before. but during the
| last two years there has been decided de-
| crease in the number of deaths from this
! disease. In 1901 there were recorded pa
deaths, in 1902, 1S9, and last year there
were 2l7, which is slight increase over the
year befOrer. Asthma which is a common
complaint all through Indiana and the sur
rounding States, seldom proves fatal, as
| there were only fifteen deaths caused from
| TINS, and the year before there were thir-
teen ApopIeXy, which is another we'll
| known disease, caused thirty deaths last
! year, which is a small increase over the
| year before, for during that time there
were twenty-five deaths from this cause
Under the head OF diseases of the diges-
! tive apparatus were 81 deaths. Under this
| comes the much dreaded appendicitis The
| average person thinks as soon he is
| stricken with this il is sure death and vet
! there are fewer deaths caused by il in pro-
| portion to the number OF operations ner-
| formed than by almost any other disease
! In the last three years there have only been
| twenty-five deaths from IL. II fact the
number Of deaths is decreasing each year
| and the number of operations is increasing
| II is said, however. that the reason for
| the falling of in the number of deaths from
! appendicitis is that the physicians are ali
/ the time learning better how 10 handle op-
| erauons or this kind; and il is confended
! that the fatalities will grow less each year
| and that an operation for appendicitis will
| in few years not be looked upon with
| such dread as IL has been in the past I'm
| 1901 there were nine deaths from this Attic
| ton; In 1902, ten, and last year only six
| which Is great decrease. Enteritis was
| the means Of 145 deaths. while peritonitis
| caused the death of twenty-eight people.
| This latter disease has been at a standstill
| Tor the last two years, Tor in 1902 il caused
| twenty-eight deaths.
OF the contagious diseases, measles has
| the lead so far as the number OF cases re-
ported last year Is concerned. Smallpox
| however, leads in the number OF deaths
| as there were 565 cases OF this disease re-
! ported and ninety-six deaths resulted SO
| far this winter there have only been four
! cases in this city. The general decrease
| is said TO be due 10 the thorough vaccina-
| tion which was carried on last winter The
number of cases of measles reported was
| 2.SI5. and the majority OF these existed he
| tween September and December. and from
| this number only eight deaths resulted. The
epidemic OF measles here has been broken
| for since the first OF the year very few
cases have been reported. The authorities
| think that they Will have no more trouble
with this disease.