Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why Part 17

"Blumenau says: 'On the whole, alcohol manifests a decidedly unfavorable influence on the course of normal digestion even when ingested in relatively small quant.i.ties, and impairs the normal digestive functions.'

"Dr. Chittenden, professor of physiologic chemistry in Yale College, as a result of some investigations made by himself and Dr. Mendel, states in the _American Journal of Medical Sciences_, that he finds that as small a quant.i.ty as three per cent. of sherry, porter, or beer lessens the activity of the digestive powers."--_Bulletin of A. M. T. A._

"It should be observed that doses of alcohol which have no appreciable effect in delaying digestion, are so small as to be practically useless for any beneficial action."--_Medical Pioneer._

One doctor writes:--

"What makes dyspepsia so hard to cure? This very alcohol taking.

The best cure is to refuse all alcoholic drinks, at meals and all other times, and drink nothing but water."

The causes of dyspepsia are various; errors of diet being the most common. Others are mental worry, care and anxiety, and the use of drugs.

An eminent writer upon this disease says:

"My main object in the treatment is to prevent the sufferers from resorting to drugs, which in such cases, not only produce their own morbid conditions, but also confirm those already existing.

"The extensive and often habitual use of alkalies for acidity, of purgatives for constipation, nervines and opiates for sleeplessness, and after-dinner pills to goad into action the lagging stomach, has been a potent factor in the production of a large cla.s.s of most inveterate dyspepsias."

Underdone bread, cake, and pie, are unfit for any stomach, yet are seen upon many tables. "Breakfast foods," cooked for ten or twenty minutes, are also dyspepsia producers. All breads, cakes, pies and cereals, require thorough cooking to fit them for digestion. Most cereals are better for supper than for breakfast, as they should be cooked in a double boiler for several hours. A young man, troubled with dyspepsia, learned to his amazement that the oatmeal, which he supposed was his best food, had much to do with the giddiness which often overcame him.

He was advised to use dry foods, such as toast, zwieback and shredded wheat. This diet, together with the abandonment of nostrums, led to a cure. Zwieback is bread sliced, and dried in a moderate oven until light brown. Whole wheat bread is best. It is very delicious and is quite easily digested. In the case of the young man, it is probable that the difficulty with the oatmeal was the lack of sufficient cooking. Oatmeal made into gruel, well cooked, and diluted with a large quant.i.ty of scalded milk is easy of digestion.

Eating between meals, and excess in eating, lead to stomach derangement.

"The best remedy for acidity of the stomach is hot-water drinking. Two or three gla.s.ses should be taken as hot as can be sipped, one hour before each meal, and half an hour before going to bed. The effect of the hot water is to wash out the stomach, and so remove any fermenting remains of the previous meal.

Heartburn may be treated the same as acidity."

Persons troubled with slow digestion are better to eat only two meals a day. The writer has personal knowledge of a goodly number of women who have been benefited wonderfully by adopting the two meal a day plan.

Some persons, much troubled with dyspepsia, have adopted the plan of prolonged fasting advocated by Dr. Dewey, and testify to a cure by this method. While heroic, it is certainly more rational than drug treatment.

For acute dyspepsia a fast is requisite.

All that alcoholics can do for dyspepsia is to allay the uneasy sensations for a time, while adding to the trouble. It has been abundantly proved that alcohol must pa.s.s from the stomach before digestion can begin.

Dr. Ridge says:--

"Many cases which seem to be relieved by the use of beer are really benefited by the hop, or other bitter, which the ale or beer contains. _Hop tea_ is a useful stomachic, and a quarter of a pint, or half that quant.i.ty, may be taken cold. It is made in the same way as tea, using a handful of hops to a pint of boiling water. Make fresh every day."

Dr. Kellogg says:--

"In cases of chronic dyspepsia the use of alcohol seems to be particularly deleterious, although not infrequently prescribed, if not in the form of alcohol or ordinary alcoholic liquors, in the form of some so-called 'bitters,' 'elixir' or 'cordial.'

Nothing could be further removed from the truth than the popular notion that alcohol, at least in the form of certain wines, is helpful to digestion. Roberts showed, years ago, that alcohol even in small doses, diminishes the activity of the stomach in the digestion of proteids. Gluzinski showed, ten years ago, that alcohol causes an arrest in the secretion of pepsin, and also of its action upon food. Wolff showed that the habitual use of alcohol produces disorder of the stomach to such a degree as to render it incapable of responding to the normal excitation of the food. Hugounencq found that all wines, without exception, prevent the action of pepsin upon proteids. The most harmful are those which contain large quant.i.ties of alcohol, cream of tartar or coloring matter. Wines often contain coloring matters which at once completely arrest digestion, such as methylin blue and fuchsin.

"A few years ago I made a series of experiments in which I administered alcohol in various forms with a test meal, noting the effect upon the stomach fluid as determined by the accurate chemic examination of the method of Hayem and Winter. The result of these experiments I reported at the 1893 meeting of the American Medical Temperance a.s.sociation. The subject of experiment was a healthy young man whose stomach was doing a slight excess of work, the amount of combined chlorin being nearly fifty per cent. above normal, although the amount of free hydrochloric acid was normal in quant.i.ty. Four ounces of claret with the ordinary test meal reduced the free hydrochloric acid from 28 milligrams per 100 c. c. of stomach fluid to zero, and the combined chlorin from .270 to .125. In the same case the administration of two ounces of brandy with the ordinary test meal reduced the combined chlorin to .035, scarcely more than one eighth of the original amount, the free hydrochloric acid remaining at zero. Thus it appears that four ounces of claret produced marked hypopepsia in a case of moderate hyperpepsia, whereas two ounces of brandy produced practically apepsia."

FAINTING OR SYNCOPE:--The following letter from the late Sir B. W.

Richardson was addressed to a lady who had sought the great physician's advice on the subject:--

"25 Manchester Square, W., July 18, 1896.

"DEAR MADAM: There is no substance which acts as a subst.i.tute for alcohol, nor is anything like it wanted. The human body is a water engine, as I have often described it, and alcohol plays no part in its natural motion. The idea that when it begins to fail, a stimulant has to be called for, springs merely from habit, and if, whenever any of the symptoms of fainting you speak of occur, the person merely lies down on the side or back and drinks a gla.s.s of hot water, or hot milk and water, all that can be done is done. In the London Temperance Hospital I have been treating the sick for diseases of all kinds and during all stages, and have never administered a minim of alcohol, or any subst.i.tute for it, and we have got on better than when I--feeling it at all times at command--made use of it in the ordinary way.

"I am, dear Madam, faithfully yours, "B. W. RICHARDSON."

TREATMENT:--"Lay the patient down in a current of air with the feet raised higher than the head, preferably on one side in case of sickness occurring, or bend the head down to the knees, to restore the flow of blood to the brain. Loosen all clothing. Rub the limbs, chest and over the heart with the hand or a rough towel. Sprinkle cold water on the head and face. Smell ammonia, strong vinegar, smelling salts or any pungent odor. Put hot bottles to the feet, and in severe cases a mustard plaster over the heart. Sip hot milk, hot water, hot tea, hot black coffee, beef tea or a meat essence. Crowding round the patient and all excitement should be avoided. In 999 cases out of 1,000, no medicine is necessary.

"Faintness often proceeds from indigestion, flatulence inducing pressure on the heart."

FAINTNESS, WEAKNESS, EXHAUSTION, FATIGUE:--"The truth is that for simple weakness, faintness, exhaustion, fatigue, cold or wet, the best remedies are simple fresh air, pure water, digestible food and rest. These are nature's restoratives, and the sooner both physicians and people learn to rely upon them instead of upon drugs the better it will be for all parties. And as the effect of alcoholic liquors are directly depressing to the strength and activity of all the natural functions and processes of life, as shown by the most varied and scientific investigations, it is important that this fact be taught to both doctors and people everywhere."--DR. N. S. DAVIS.

FITS:--"Whether the fit be apoplexy or epilepsy all alcoholics are extremely bad, both at the time and afterwards. Alcohol, the 'genius of degeneration,' is the chief cause of apoplexy, and also a cause of epilepsy, especially when taken in the form of beer. It diminishes the tone of the arteries and blood-vessels, and thus tends to cause, aggravate and maintain a congested state of the capillaries throughout the whole body. In the treatment of epilepsy, therefore, neither alcohol nor any so-called subst.i.tute should be given. * * * * *

"In the convulsions of children alcohol is equally injurious."--DR. RIDGE.

FLATULENCE:--"Many uneasy sensations or pains, even in distant parts of the body, are due to wind in the bowels, resulting from indigestion. Asthma, cramps, depression of spirits, faintness, giddiness, hiccough, prostration, sinking sensations and sleeplessness, are all frequently due to the same cause. The diet needs careful attention where there is much flatulence; tea is often a cause. Charcoal biscuits are useful in some cases; lemon juice in others. Fluid Magnesia may be taken. Watch for the cause and remove it."

HEADACHE:--_The New Hygiene_ says: "This is the manifestation of a deeper-seated trouble, usually in the stomach. The use of stimulants is a sure promoter of headache. All users of alcoholic liquors are, I believe, subject to headache, and it is also a sure result of overindulgence in tea and coffee.

"To prevent the attacks, live regularly, avoid late hours and excessive brain work; avoid tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages, also sweets of all kinds, including sauces and pastries, and anything fried in fat. Eat plenty of good, plain food, including fruit, especially oranges. Eat none late at night. Exercise regularly in such a way as to bring all the muscles into play, at least once a day.

"To relieve an attack flush the colon.

"Headaches, which so largely result from the retention of impure matter in the body, will be cured if a good quant.i.ty, say two or three gla.s.ses, of hot water be drank in the morning or at night, and then the next regular meal omitted, so that an interval of house-cleaning can be had before other material is moved in."--_Life and Health._

"Avoid pills and powders. Persons suffering from headache need to be warned against taking remedies that contain opium and alcohol, and also against the use of a recent popular remedy, usually called a 'white powder' or 'white tablet.' They take the latter readily because the druggist or physician says it contains no opium. This is true, but it is one of the lately discovered coal tar preparations (anti-febrine, acetanilid, etc.) and is very depressing to the human system. Headache is usually a symptom of trouble somewhere else, often in the alimentary ca.n.a.l, an overloaded stomach, constipation, or tight clothing. Learn the cause and remove that, and the headache will disappear."--DR. H. J. HALL, Franklin, Ind.

"Gentle ma.s.sage is helpful and the use of cold compresses. Lack of sufficient sleep will cause headache. Women often bring on nervous headache by overwork and worry."

HEMORRHAGE:--"Never give alcohol in a case of profuse hemorrhage. The faint feeling, or irresistible inclination to lie down is nature's own method of circ.u.mventing the danger, by quieting the circulation and lessening the expulsive force of the heart, thus favoring the formation of clot at the site of the injury."--_Clinique._

"For uterine hemorrhage an emetic to induce vomiting is the best cure."--Dr. Higginbotham in _British Medical Journal_.

"If the faint is dispelled too quickly, and the blood-vessels are relaxed by alcohol, or the heart aroused to energetic action by any remedy, the hemorrhage may recommence, and may prove fatal. Quiet, the application of cold, pressure, the elevation of the wound where possible, and the absence of stimulants, are the cardinal points of treatment in most cases."--DR. RIDGE.

"If then, it seems absolutely necessary to rouse a person out of a dead faint, what can be done? Swallowing is out of the question, lest the patient choke. The head must be laid low, and the face and chest flapped with a cold wet cloth, or alternately with hot wet cloths; smelling salts (not too strong) may be applied to the nose.

"When the faint has been recovered from, but the hemorrhage continues so much that it is feared another faint may occur, and, perhaps, be fatal, it may be warded off by drinking any hot liquid; if Liebig's extract of meat, or strong beef tea, is at hand and can be given hot, there is nothing better."

HEART DISEASE:--Dr. Ridge says: "I trench here on a delicate subject, because, when there is real disease of the heart, medical advice will of course have been obtained, and very probably a doctor may have said that some alcoholic liquor is essential. There are, also, several different forms of heart disease which require altogether different treatment, and only a physician can tell the difference, or appreciate the necessity for the particular treatment required. But it may be pointed out that alcohol is utterly unable to 'strengthen' the heart, or give tone to the blood-vessels, or to the system at large.

"The alteration in the pulse due to alcohol is chiefly owing to its paralyzing action on the blood-vessels, and when they are too contracted, and thereby cause the weakened heart to labor too much, the alcohol will give relief for the time. But we have in nitrite of amyl, a fluid which will act more quickly and more powerfully; but this must not be employed without medical direction. It is very useful in cases of _angina pectoris_, or _breast pang_, but is rarely required in the majority of cases in which the valves of the heart are diseased. The paralyzing action of alcohol is not generally produced by less than half a wine-gla.s.sful of brandy or whisky, or twice that quant.i.ty of wine, and often much more is required. The relief to uneasy sensations which much smaller quant.i.ties sometimes produce is due to their anaesthetic or benumbing action, by which the nerves of the patient are rendered less sensible, although the danger is by no means diminished. * * * *

"The only sensible way to avert the evil consequences of heart disease is to strengthen the heart, and that is to be done by strengthening the body generally. The amount of exercise, the kind of baths, etc., which should be taken, have to be modified in accordance with the nature of the case. If these natural health-giving measures cannot be employed nothing is an effectual subst.i.tute.

"_Weak_ or _feeble heart_ is a common complaint, and is as ordinary an excuse for resorting to alcoholic liquors as 'Timothy's stomach.' If there is no organic disease; if the valves of the heart are healthy and act properly, all anxiety on this point may be entirely banished. The slow pulse, the feeble pulse, the cold feet, the want of energy, these are not to be got rid of by such a mere temporary agent as alcohol, even if relief can be thus obtained from day to day. The constant application of alcohol to the tissues of the body alters them gradually by its chemical action. In addition to this, the balance of the nervous system is altered, an unnatural condition is produced, and the unhappy patient becomes more liable to disease and more easily succ.u.mbs when attacked.

"Many of these 'feeble hearts' mean too little exercise, very often also, too much or improper food and drink.

"The best remedies are cold sponging (according to the season); avoidance of coddling; plain, wholesome food; abstinence from tea, hot drinks and condiments; regular out-of-doors exercise and all similar true _tonic_ measures."