The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1917-02-08
ALCOHOL AS MEDICINE.
DR.. Sophia Brunson Of Sumter
Saws It Is Unnecessary.

DR.. Sophia Brunson OF Sumter
Says IL Is Unnecessary.
The following forcible article by Il
physician we'll known in Kingstree
will be read with interest:
Is alcohol necessary as a medicine!
No! Most emphatically, no! 1t is not
only not necessary. but it is highly
injurious and the patient Who takes
it ia lessening his chance of life, that
is all.
Alcohol is not true stimulant. 1t
is a depressent, narcotic poison OF
most deadly nature. It's produced
by the decay of any fruit or vegetable
containing starch. 1t is product
of death and decomposition and its
work is essentially to destroy and
tear down.
quote from a standard materia
medica, as follows: The effect Of
alcohol is to destroy the gastric juice
of the stomach, so inflame the gas
tric walls and to produce chronic
xaftritis if its use is continued"
Alcohol is classed with chloroform,
ether and acetic ether. They are all
anaesthetics. They produce sleep and
are narcotic poisons. When a small
amount of alcohol is taken the blood
pressure rises, the heart beats more
rapidly. a feeling Of warmth is ex-
perienced, because the superficial
blood vessels are dilated and the per-
son feels stimulated. Here again
quote from my text book on materia
medica which says: 1T has been
repeatedly proved that these good re-
suits are but transitory. The heart
although at first stimulated is. more
exhausted after the first exhilaration
has passed off than it was before.
This is true of all the organs of the
body stimulated by the increased cir.
culation due to alcohol"
In many campaigns and Arctic ex-
petitions it has been found that the
men who used alcohol even in small
amounts could not do as much work
and would freeze sooner than those
who were total abstainers.
We all know that the man who
takes little alcohol every day sooner
or later becomes the victim Of arte.
rio sclerosis, or hardening of the ar
teries. Many man is filing an un;
timely grave from Br.ght's disease,
sclerosis (or hardening) of the liver
and many other chronic maladies
brought on by theliquor habit. Those
who enjoy three little "nips" Of al
cohol must sooner or later pay the
penalty in crippled bodies and weak
ened minds.
We all know that the use of alco-
kol renders one particularly liable to
tuberculosis. The alcoholics stand
very little chance Of recovery from
pneumonia.
When one takes large dose of
alcohol, his wits for q time seem
sharpened, but this exaltation quick
ly passes into depression. The brain
refuses to act. The power of judg-
ment is abolished. The muscular
movements are affected because the
power of coordination is lost, and
the man staggers in his gait. If the
person should take q strong enough
dose of alcohol the heart would be
paralyzed and be would die. In 1915
the National Pharmacopaea commit
tee, consisting of 81 eminent physi-
clans and pharmacists, struck whisky
and brandy from the 1916 edition of
the United States pharmacopaea.
Ct is no longer recognized by the
tmajority of leading physicians as es-
/. sential to the practice of medicine.
In foct II is not usad at all in MANY