Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why - What Medical Writers Say

Martha Meir Allen

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• Publié par: thewyar
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 17
• Langue: English

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Medicine, How and Why, by Martha M. Allen
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Title: Alcohol: A Dangerous and Unnecessary Medicine, How and Why
What Medical Writers Say
Author: Martha M. Allen
Release Date: October 4, 2008 [EBook #26774]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
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ALCOHOL
A DANGEROUS AND UNNECESSARY MEDICINE
HOW AND WHY
What Medical Writers Say
BYMRS. MARTHA M. ALLEN
Superintendent of the Department of Medical Temperance for the
National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
Published by the
DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL TEMPERANCE
OF THE
NATIONAL WOMAN’S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION
Marcellus, New York
COPYRIGHT, 1900.
[Pg iii]CONTENTS.
Introduction 5
Preface to Second Edition 7
CHAPTER I.
History of the Study of Alcohol.
Discovery of distillation--First American
investigator of effects of alcohol--Medical
Declarations--Sir B. W. Richardson's
researches--Scientific Temperance
Instruction in American Schools--Committee
of Fifty 9
CHAPTER II.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union
in Opposition to Alcohol as Medicine.
How the Opposition began—Memorial to
International Medical Congress—Origin of
Medical Temperance Department—Objects
of the department—Public agitation against
patent medicines originated by the
department—Laws of Georgia, Alabama
and Kansas on Medical prescription of
alcohol 21
CHAPTER III.
Alcohol as a Producer of Disease.
Alcohol a poison—Sudden deaths from
brandy—Changes in liver, kidneys, heart,
blood-vessels and nerves caused by
alcohol—Beer and wine as harmful as thestronger drinks—Alcohol causes indigestion
—Other diseases caused by alcohol—
Deaths from alcoholism in Switzerland 28
CHAPTER IV.
Temperance Hospitals.
The London Temperance Hospital—
Methods of treatment—The Frances E.
Willard Temperance Hospital, Chicago
—“As a beverage" in the pledge—Address
by Miss Frances E. Willard at opening of
[Pg iv]hospital—The Red Cross Hospital—Clara
Barton and non-alcoholic medication—
Reports of treatment in Red Cross Hospital
—Use of Alcohol declining in other hospitals 37
CHAPTER V.
The Effects of Alcohol Upon the Human Body.
The body composed of cells—Effect of
alcohol on cells—Alcohol and Digestion—
Effects on the blood—The heart—The liver
—The kidneys—Incipient Bright’s disease
recovered from by total abstinence—
Retards oxidation and elimination of waste
matters—Lengthens duration of sickness
and increases mortality 58
CHAPTER VI.
Alcohol as Medicine.
Medical use of alcohol a bulwark of the
liquor traffic—Alcohol not a Food—Alcohol
reduces temperature—Food principle of
grains and fruits destroyed by fermentation
—Alcohol not a Stimulant—Experiments
proving this—Alcohol not a tonic—Professor
Atwater on Alcohol as Food 96
CHAPTER VII.
Alcohol in Pharmacy.
Strong tinctures rouse desire for drink in
reformed inebriates—Glycerine and acetic
acid to preserve drugs—Non-alcohol
tinctures in use at London Temperance
Hospital—Sale of liquor in drug-stores
condemned by pharmacists 131
CHAPTER VIII.
Diseases, and Their Treatment Without Alcohol.
Alcoholic Craving—Anæmia—Apoplexy—
Boils and Carbuncle—Catarrh—Hay-Fever—Colds—Colic—Cholera—Cholera
Infantum—Consumption—Displacements—
Debility—Diarrhœa—Dysentery—
Dyspepsia—Fainting—Fits—Flatulence—
Headache—Hemorrhage—Heart Disease—
Heart Failure—Insomnia—La Grippe—
Measles—Malaria—Neuralgia—Nausea—
Pneumonia—Pain After Food—Snake-bite
—Rheumatism—Spasms—Shock—Sudden
Illness—Sunstroke—Typhoid Fever—
Vomiting 140
CHAPTER IX.
Alcohol and Nursing Mothers.
Beer not good for nursing mothers—Helpful
diet—Opinions of medical men—Analysis of
[Pg v]milk of a temperate woman—Of a drinking
woman—Advice of Dr. James Edmunds, of
the Lying-In Hospital, London—How to feed
the baby—Case of a young mother who
used beer—Nathan S. Davis on beer and
gin 234
CHAPTER X.
Comparative Death-Rates With and Without the Use
of Alcohol.
Fewer deaths in smallpox hospitals without
alcohol—200 cases of scarlet fever without
alcohol—Non-alcoholic treatment of fevers
with less than 5 per cent. death-rate—
Report of cases in English and Scotch
hospitals—340 cases of typhus—London
Lancet articles on typhoid—Mercy Hospital,
Chicago—Death-rates in pneumonia and
typhoid in large hospitals—Sir B. W.
Richardson’s report of practice 247
CHAPTER XI.
Reasons Why Alcohol is Dangerous as Medicine.
Researches of Abbott—Vital Resistance
lowered by alcohol—Experiments upon
Urinary Toxicity—Effect of alcohol upon the
guardian-cells of the body—Dr. Sims
Woodhead on immunity—Deléarde’s
experiments at the Pasteur Institute—Dr. A.
Pearce Gould on alcohol and cancer—
Delirium in illness caused by alcohol 262
CHAPTER XII.
Why Doctors Still Prescribe Alcoholics.
Public often demand it—Lack of knowledgeof true nature of alcohol—Alcohol given
undeserved credit for recoveries—Use of
alcohol results from custom—Education of
the people in teachings of non-alcoholic
physicians necessary—Prescription of
alcohol a matter of routine—Two examples 291
CHAPTER XIII.
Alcoholic Proprietary or “Patent" Medicines.
The Pure Food Law—The guarantee—
Newspaper opposition to the law—
Headache remedies—Fake testimonials—
Dangers of soothing syrups and morphine
cough syrups—Fraud orders issued by
Post-Office Department—Internal Revenue
[Pg vi]Department and Patent Medicines—
Proprietary “Foods" strongly alcoholic—
Alcoholic Cod-Liver Oil preparations—
Australia’s Royal Commission on Patent
Medicines—Committee on Pharmacy
analyses—Malt extracts—Coca Wines—
Advertising, the strength of the Nostrum
business—An effectual remedy 299
CHAPTER XIV.
Drugging.
Drugs do not cure disease—Nature cures—
Opinions of drug medication of prominent
physicians—La grippe caused by drug
taking—Coal-tar drugs—Quinine—Sir
Frederick Treves on disuse of drugs—
People demand drugs of physicians—
Mothers make drug victims of their children
—Habit-producing drugs—Causes of drug-
taking—How to be well 335
CHAPTER XV.
Testimonies of Physicians Against Alcoholic
Medication.
No need for substitutes for alcohol—Alcohol
hides symptoms of disease—Responsibility
of physicians—Opinions of many teachers
in medical colleges—Hot milk better than
alcohol—Journal of the American Medical
Association on researches of Abbott and
Laitinen—Resolution against alcohol of
West Virginia Medical Society—Dr. Knox
Bond on Scarlet Fever—Metchnikoff on
white blood-cells—Kassowitz describes his
treatment of fevers—Sims Woodhead’s
opinions—Opinions of German Physicians
—Dr. Harvey blames medical profession forcareless use of alcohol and opium—Use of
Alcohol declining rapidly in medical practice 356
CHAPTER XVI.
Recent Researches Upon Alcohol.
Experiments of Laitinen—Resistance of
blood-cells to disease lowered by alcohol—
International Congress on Alcoholism,
London, 1909—Alcohol and Immunity—
Effect of Alcohol Drinking on Human Off-
spring—Researches of Kraepelin and
Aschaffenberg—Economic losses by
reduced work through beer and wine
drinking—Researches of Dr. Reid Hunt—
[Pg vii]Mice given alcohol killed by small doses of
poison—Difference in effect of alcohol and
starch foods—Chittenden on food theory of
alcohol—Researches of Dr. S. P. Beebe—
Liver impaired by alcohol—Dr. Winfield S.
Hall’s interpretation of the research