The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-04
' HOME HEALTH Stub
edited by Dr.. David IL. hoeoo'
Chica2O.)

Epilepsy: During all the ages u
recorded history there has been re-
ports Of the terrifying fits OF peopie
subject to Epileptic seizures. pre-
sume that as much study, thougnt anu
earnest research has been deVoleo ~
the fearful malady as to cancer anu
until the present day the results 81
far as a. cure has been concerned
have been about equal.
DR.. VIM. Held has devoted many
wears to the study and treatment OF
the disease and of his results 1, will
Lot him tell YOU. The Interesting
feature about Dr. He1d's method,
which he offers freely to the profess
sion, lies in the fact that he ofers
to treat, free of expense, one hundreo
cases for the Home Health Club. He
does this in order to prove, to the
world that his simple, safe and sane
and harmless method is real cure
for the dreaded scourge. 1 will be
glad to hear from any SUFFERER and
extend DR.. Held's offer to any Of my
readers DR.. Held's article will ap-
pear in several installments, the nrs'
Of which follows:
sSThe interest in the subject OF
epilepsy is in many respects a social
one. The epileptic problem affects
people outside of the domain of the
medical profession and is not only i'm
portant from the standpoint of dis
ease, but it's features ramify Into the
legal, moral and social sphere more
than any other similar condition
There is for instance, a very Vita
medico7legal connection as in the re-
lation Of epilepsy to crime; there are
moral and hygienic considerations as
suggested by the fact that several
states have enacted laws prohibiting
the marriage of epileptics; then there
are the precautions taken by those
states that have established epileptics'
colonies for the. protection Of both the
epileptic and society.
Apparently in full possession OF
their physical and mental faculties
in the midst of their occupation, while
at work or at play, waking or sleep
ing, in church, in school and on the
street, sometime with and again with
out warning, the patient is suddenH
seized, bereft Of consciousness and
thrown into the epileptic state which
may vary in degree from slight
f1eeting Inconsistencies to the most
violent convulsions, spoken Of as the
epileptic fit
The epileptic problem engaged the
attention OF ancient healers and 1t
seems as if the problem were staring
at us like an oppressive memory from,
that time with the same Sphynxlike
attitude as in the misty past. Sphynx-
like, because in the light of accepted
standard theories the problem has
remained unanswered The specta-
Gle Of the convulsive fit SO impressed
the ancients as something uncanny
and weird, that their fertile imagina-
ton soon ascribed supernatural signif-
icance to the disease. They looked
upon it as a dispensation Of the gods
and termed it the "sorbus sacef' or
holy sickness. The medicine man OF
the dark age insisted that the patient
was possessed by an evil demon.
From the conception of such cause
for the disease to the inauguration of
a treatment betting this supersti-
ton, was but a short step. And SO
we find that the sorcerer, as an expe-
dent in the treatment Of the epileptic
patient, employed red hot irons and
other forms Of torture. The wall
ings OF the wretched victim were an
swered by the announcement that 1t
was the evil spirit within the patient
who was writhing and crying out in
agony and not the patient at ALL We
may now, in our much vaunted SUI
periority look back with horror upon
the past and perhaps smile pityingly
at so much superstition and ignor&
ance, but while we do. so, let us bear
in mind that everything is judged by
comparison and that the magnitude
or srnallness of a thing is only relative.
We no longer beat our patients insen-
sible with a physical club; we have ad-
vanced too far and methods have
changed with our advancement We
now employ scientific and subtle act
ing sedatives and suppressives but are
no less fettered by superstitions than
were our forerunners. The modern
treatment of epilepsy is as useless and
as disastrous for the patient as was
the torture of the ancient sorcerer.
While we no longer resort to inf1ict-
ing physical tortures, the treatment is
as maddening as was the remedy of
the dark ages The modern super
stition in the treatment Of epilepsy
is the bromide superstition. Other
drugs are also used but the chief one
and most nefarious is bromide. Bro
mide Capitalization continues despite
the fact that it has never cured, never
benefited the epileptic. The patient
and those who have given much time
to the earnest study of epilepsy, have
long ago come to the conclusion that
it was better to have epilepsy than
bromisnl. Bromism is a form Of
intoxication resulting from the pro-
longed ingestion of bromide.