Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-07-26
HEADACHES.

nEE
Physicians attending establishments
IA which large numbers of people are
employed, tells us that headache is n
of the most frequent symptoms COM
planned of by those who come TO the
doctor for help. Especially is this I
il the establishment is one employing a
force in which there is "A considerable
proportion OF women.
Every n thinks he knows how to
treat d headache. The custom is to
take one OF more headache powders.
The a of all headache medicines Is
some coal tar remedy. Some are built
around pflenacetin or a~cetanalid. n
some around aspirin. Combined with
one of these coal tar preparations there
is sometimes ordinary cooking soda.
sometimes an e~ffervescins powder,
sometimes some drug derived from
opium. From top to bottom there is
not an entirely harmless drug in the
list. Some are very harmful-for in
stance. codein. which stands at the
head of the list-and some are almost
harmless-for instance, soda, which
stands at the foot OF the list-and in
between come others.
Every headache medicine, regardless
of it's name or what may be said on the
abel. contains n or more OF these
drugs. III you want to know what The
SVNSl ttIilcIlJ says aOOul tIiCSC
medicines send to the bureau of chem
istry. Washington. ID. c.. for bulletin
126-"The Harmful Effets of Acetana-
lid. ~Antipyrin, and Phenacetin:" also
, to the department of agriculture, Wash
lngton, ID. O., for farmers bulletin No.
3H-"Harmfulness Of Headache Mix
lures and farmers bulletin No. 393-
"Hablt-For1ning Agents. Their Indis-
crlmintte Sale and Use a Menace to the
Public Welfare" by l.. F.. Kebler.
This last bulletin, speaking OF head
ache mixtures. says: These mixtures
are advertised as cures or effective
treatments for many ills of mankind.
ranging from cholera morbus in infants
to brain tag and exhaustion, due to
drunkenness. They have been the
cause of many deaths and hundreds of
cases of poisoning.
The amount OF acetanalid, acetphe-
naltidin. a%ntipyrin, c~affein, etc, used
IN preparations of this class Of habit
forming drugs is very large. Unit re-
Gently it was claimed by some that
these agents were harmless and did
not belong to the habit forming group.
Later Investigations. however, clearly
snow that his position is unwarranted.
me medical procession for some time
fondiy believed that the depressing eff
fects of acetanalid were counteracted
by caffeln. which is present in most
headach mixtures, but pharmacologi-
cal experiments have shown that the
assumption Is erroneous. These reme-
dies in genera simply benumb or stu
pefy the senses. but do not remove the
cause OF the trouble"
Note the several statements that
headach mixtures are habit forming
drugs. They bring about the headache
habit and that in turn calls for more
headache medicine. A dose Of head
ache medicine will relieve the discom-
fort of a headache nine times out Of 10.
Inerefore, the temptation to use them.
But the man WhO has a headache and
takes headache medicine lays the foun-
cation for another headache. That day
or the next, or some time soon, a Sec
ond headache in part caused by he
medicine follows the first. In the course
OF q few years daily headaches and
daily use Of headache medicine, or
something approximating that. is the
rule. ~ >0
The reason for this is twofold. First.
the headache medicine produces GER
tain changes in the blood cells and the
brain cells. which changes bring about
a tendency to headaches. In the SEC
ond place. a headache is a warning Of
some wrong habit or some organic dis
ease. II. instead OF changing the habit
or remedying the disease. a man takes
a dose Of headache medicine. he ia GER
tain to have another headache before
long.
Be wise and take no headache nledi-
cines. Do not buy them from the drug
stores and do not permit your physi-
clan to give them to you.
The Minnesota State Pharmaceutical
association is authority for the state
ment that there are drug peddlers who
go around the country stocking up
homes with drugs on consignment.
Above all. do not take any of the head
ache mixtures peddled by these people.
What is a man with headache to do
about it? That will depend upon the
cause And that statement runs right
to the heart of things. A person hav-
ing headaches nus ask himself why
he has headaches. must not stop until
he knows why. and has remedied the
cause, II 1t can be remedied.
The most frequent form OF headache
Is hat is known as biliousness. When
we say a man is bilious we mean he
eats too MUCH for the exercise he takes
and the air he gets. A bilious head
ache Is characterized by a %throbbing
pain. some tendency to dizziness, some
confusion OF mind and. occasionally.
some loss Of appetite and some nausea.