Chapter XIII: Part VIII: Treatment of Disease (2)

Use the "Cascade" every night for the first two weeks, then twice a week for at least two months, to get the poison out of the system, and keep the parts scrupulously clean by bathing them two or three times a day. Carefully avoid everything in the form of a stimulant, especially alcoholic drinks, also tobacco, and let the diet be largely vegetable. Use the following injection twice every day after urinating. Colored fluid hydrastis, two drachms; fluid extract canadies pinus canadensis, two drachms; bromo chiorellum, half a drachm; water, six ounces. Shake well and inject twice a day until a marked improvement can be noticed, then once a day, and, finally, every other day.

HERNIA OR RUPTURE

Is the escape of some portion of the viscera through an abnormal opening and takes its particular name from the locality in which the protrusion occurs, although the inguinal is the most common form. The dynamic force of foul gases engendered in the system is a prolific, though generally unsuspected cause; but the mechanical pressure exerted by an overloaded colon in the limited space of the abdominal cavity is responsible for seventy-five per cent, of all cases. The treatment is obvious--use the "Cascade" faithfully, and, the cause being removed, reduction is easy, and if the colon be kept clean, a properly adjusted truss will soon completely cure it.

INEBRIETY

Is responsible for many of the ills of the present generation, in the form of transmitted constitutional weakness, not to mention the functional derangements and organic destruction, of which it is a potent and direct cause.

There are two grave reasons why alcohol should not be taken into the system, or, if at all, in very minute quantities and at distant intervals. The first is the moral reason, because it undermines and destroys the finer part of man. It has the peculiar effect upon the brain of stimulating the baser qualities and blunting the finer ones. The second is the physical reason, see "The Diet Question." When alcoholism becomes a fixed habit, it must be treated as a disease, for it is one in reality. In many cases the large intestinal or tapeworm is at the root of the trouble. Now, worms cannot exist in a perfectly clean body, with every function working properly. Few, if any, animals can resist the solvent power of the gastric juice if it is secreted in normal quantity, and in full health and vigor, consequently, to cleanse the body of all superabundant filth and restore it to a sound working condition, will prevent their growth. But if they are present and developed (as they sometimes are) to an enormous size, the vital forces are unable to dislodge them, unaided, and recourse must be bad to a "vermifuge" diet. This may be found in two articles--the crusts of good, sweet wheat-meal bread and good, ripe uncooked apples. It is important that the food be hard, so that it be well masticated and that it be eaten slowly, so that the stomach is not overloaded.

TREATMENT.

First get the alcohol out of the system by flushing the colon daily. This will help you to stop drinking (which is so much easier advised than accomplished), then proceed to sweat it out by a daily Turkish bath (see end of book) or a Turkish bath one day and a wet sheet pack the next.

Second, sip a cupful of hot water not less than half an hour before each meal and use the wheat bread crusts and apple diet mentioned before for one week certain, two weeks is better (if possible). Then use the "cascade" thoroughly, to expel the worm; and for a month at least follow the diet laid down for dyspepsia, when the alcoholized blood in your veins will have been replaced with good, rich blood, and your cure practically effected.

OBESITY.

The condition of the body, to which nosologists have applied this term, is that of general engorgement, or, over-fullness, and is the result of excessive eating, or imperfect deputation, or both. Over-eating and inactivity are the chief producing causes. It is the especial prerogative of children to be fat, but when too great an accumulation comes, with advancing years, it brings discomforts, disadvantages, and oftentimes fatal diseases, among which are Apoplexy, Fatty Liver, Diabetes, Bright's Disease and Fatty Heart. The sanguine or entonic variety is distinguished by florid skin, full strong pulse, turgid veins, with firm and vigorous muscular fibres, and the serous or atonic, is denoted by a full, but frequent and feeble pulse, smooth and soft skin, plump but inexpressive figure, and general languor or debility of the vital functions.

TREATMENT.

Use the "Cascade" regularly, and take as much exercise as is possible without fatigue. A brisk three mile walk daily will work wonders in reducing weight, especially if you perspire freely. Drink a pint of hot water an hour before each meal and half an hour before retiring, to wash the sour ferments and bile from the stomach before eating and sleeping. Live principally on roast or broiled meat, fish, poultry or game, boiled rice, green vegetables, and brown bread. When people are unable to take the necessary amount of exercise, the dieting process, known as the "Salisbury system," is very effective. This consists of the lean part of good beef, from which every particle of fat and sinew is removed, then chopped to a pulp, made into small cakes and broiled-- then eaten hot. The reduction of adipose tissue demands a certain amount of self-sacrifice, but the above method, if faithfully followed, never fails to effect the purpose.

LOST MANHOOD

Is the term now generally employed to describe impotence, or physical inability to perform the sexual function. It is frequently due to conjugal excesses, but the principal cause is the baneful widespread practice of masturbation, or self-pollution. It manifests itself in what is known as Spermatorrhea, or involuntary emissions of the seminal fluid, and if allowed to continue unchecked, speedily depletes the vitality of the sufferer, and renders him a physical wreck. Do not be deceived by the lying advertisements of unprincipled charlatans, that any drug can help you. The treatment must be hygienic and thorough, and may necessitate a change in your whole mode of life.

TREATMENT.

Firstly, the colon must be kept clean, as the faecal accumulations there irritate the sensitive nerves. So it is advisable to use the "Cascade" every night for two weeks at least, then every second night. Secondly, practice the breathing and bodily movements described under the head of Exercise, and take all the exercise you can in the open air, as these things are important factors in strengthening the nervous system and hastening a cure. Thirdly, special attention must be paid to diet. If you can practice strict vegetarianism for a time, so much the better, choosing those articles most easily digested. Only plain roast or boiled beef should be eaten (if any meat be taken at all), shun all hot condiments, also tea, coffee, tobacco and alcohol-- especially the latter, for nothing can help you while you use these articles. Fourthly, after flushing, take a cold bath every night, or, if this is impracticable, bathe the genital organs, and the spine (up to the base of the brain) in cold water, and rub down vigorously with a crash towel. Fifthly, resolutely form cleanly habits of mind, as well as body; take up a course of good reading to occupy the mind, and divert it into healthy channels, and shun all reading of a sensational nature. Sixthly, avoid thinking impure and lascivious thoughts, and do not allow your mind to dwell upon your condition, but cultivate self- control. The above treatment has cured hundreds of bad cases, and will cure you, if steadily persevered in, but a strict abstinence from sexual indulgence, and an absolute abandonment of the pernicious vice, is an indispensable condition.

Frequently quite aged men write us, complaining of their sexual disability--to all such, we say that the restoration of lost power after fifty years of age is in the highest degree improbable, and after the grand climacteric (63) is passed--it is practically impossible.

DIABETES OR DIABETES MELLITUS

Is a peculiar and troublesome disease, characterized by an excessive discharge of urine, which is heavily charged with grape sugar, which is the saccharine principle of grapes and honey, hence the term mellitus. This substance is manufactured in excess by the body, and eliminated by the kidneys. The discharge of urine is abnormally large, sometimes reaching as high as several gallons daily. Owing to the presence of sugar in the blood and the secretions, nutrition is affected, and other disturbances manifest themselves in the system. It is a disease, which, if not taken in time, usually proves fatal, and it therefore behooves the individual to keep the body in thorough order, and to carefully watch any abnormality in the urine.

TREATMENT.

The "Cascade" should be used regularly, also the wet sheet pack, to promote the action of the skin, for that organ usually exhibits a marked dryness; and its temperature should be varied to suit that of the body. If fairly vigorous, the morning cold bath should be used, for its tonic qualities, or, if weak, then the tepid bath, followed, in either case, by a brisk rubbing, to promote circulation. Diet is most important. All sweets and starchy foods, which are converted into sugar by digestion, should be shunned, while whole wheat bread, lean beef, mutton and fish, together with salads made from herbs, should be eaten. Acid fruits, such as oranges and lemons, are beneficial. Soft boiled eggs and milk (in moderation) may be taken. All food should be eaten slowly and a little at a time. The only drink should be pure water, and that never at meal times, but a cup of hot water half an hour before meals will be found of service. Tea, coffee, cream, and especially alcoholic drinks, must be absolutely avoided.

LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA

Results from what is known as sclerosis, a hardening of the gray matter in the motor centres of the spinal cord. Its special symptom is the peculiar high-stepping gait, the power of locomotion not being properly under the control of the will, and when the eyes are closed, it seems impossible for the afflicted person to walk forward without falling. Like other diseases of its class, it is primarily due to innutrition, the result of imperfect elimination, and has hitherto defied regular medical treatment. If a cure is to be effected, it is by regular use of the "Cascade," perfect rest, strict attention to diet, and judicious massage; but if the case is well advanced, it is doubtful whether restoration to health can be affected.

NURSING MOTHERS.

Under the above heading, we class the following troublesome complaints: Inflammation of the Breast, Milk Fever, Sore Nipples, Puerperal Swelled Leg, and Puerperal Fever, or Peritonitis, all of which complaints are practically unknown, under intelligent hygienic treatment.

We would point out that a simple hygienic mode of life (including careful diet and the regular practice of the "Cascade Treatment" during pregnancy), will not only have the effect of making the labor easy, and the recovery rapid, but will almost preclude the possibility of any of the above complaints manifesting themselves.

During pregnancy the "Cascade Treatment" should be regularly used twice a week, by which means the absorption of the poisonous waste matters of the system into the circulation is completely avoided, and the future health of the infant assured. The body should be bathed daily, or, if impracticable, then a brisk rubbing from head to foot, with a towel, and exercise--more or less--taken every day. The diet should consist largely of vegetables and fruit, especially after the fourth month, avoiding farinaceous foods as much as possible, such as wheat, peas, beans, barley, and especially fine wheaten flour. These foods contain the bony constitutents, and their avoidance tends to deossify the systems of both mother and child, and make childbirth what Nature intended it to be, a comparatively painless proceeding.

Careful attention to the foregoing hygienic mode of life, during pregnancy, will effectually prevent the appearance of those distressing complaints (before mentioned), pecu1iar to Nursing Mothers.

INFLAMMATION OF THE BREAST

Would never occur, if the "Cascade" had been regularly used, and the treatment for it, when present, is to use the "Cascade" thoroughly, and apply cool wet clothes, well covered with dry ones, to the breasts. If there is a surplus of milk, draw it off with the breast pump, or the more convenient method--the mouth.

SORE NIPPLES

Do not require anything but a little cream or olive oil applied to them, with occasional applications of cold, wet cloths when they are hot and painful, and occasional fomentations when they are cracked and sore--but do not fail to "flush the colon."

MILK FEVER

Is principally due to over-heated, or ill-ventilated rooms, and should be treated by at once flushing the colon, and if the patient is not too weak, use the wet sheet pack, otherwise tepid ablutions should be frequently used.

PUERPERAL SWELLED LEG

Should be treated as an acute inflammation. The colon should be thoroughly flushed, the wet sheet pack or tepid bath used frequently, and cold wet compresses applied to the afflicted limb. The patient may drink cold water freely, and the diet should consist mainly of Indian or wheat-meal gruel.

FISTULA.

There are two distinctly recognized forms of fistula, the complete and the incomplete: the latter, having only one opening, either external or internal; if the opening is internal, it is termed, "blind fistula." The complete fistula has two openings, usually, one external and one internal, but in some cases, both openings are external. Fistula is almost invariably the sequel to a neglected abscess, therefore, any form of gathering in the buttocks, should be promptly attended to. Fistula may result from an injury; but the large majority of cases are due to a congested or diseased condition of the sigmoid flexure and rectum.

TREATMENT.

It need scarcely be said, that scrupulous care and cleanliness are indispensable factors in promoting recovery, therefore, the colon must be kept absolutely clean, by the use of the "Cascade" and the parts `thoroughly bathed with warm water, at least, once daily, and the pipe of the fistula should be thoroughly cleaned three times a day, with the following solution: To half a cupful of warm water, add twenty- five drops of fluid hydrastis and one teaspoonful of finely pulverized willow charcoal. This should be mixed thoroughly and injected into the opening of the fistula, the whole of it, with a small piston syringe. If the opening is not external, then, double the quantity should be injected into the rectum. This practice should be persisted in until the discharge ceases. In some cases, operations are absolutely necessary. All stimulants should be avoided and all highly seasoned foods.

DISEASES OF CHILDREN.

The following simple methods of treating the ailments of childhood will be found remarkably efficacious, easy of application, and may be used with confidence.

CROUP.

This disease often runs in families, and is most frequently caused by sudden alterations of temperature. The symptoms are usually a harsh cough, hoarseness, sore throat, and slight fever. A croupy child needs watching. To prevent it, keep the colon clean.

The treatment cannot be too prompt. Use the "Cascade" quickly, and place the child immediately in a hot bath, and rub the lower limbs thoroughly. Wring a cloth out of cold water, and place it on the throat and chest, covering it with a thick flannel to exclude the air. Change the cloth as often as it gets dry.

SCARLET FEVER.

This is a bacillus disease. The colon being clogged, Nature is trying to cast out the impurities by way of the pores of the skin, and when these become congested we have fever. First flush the colon, then use the hot sheet pack (see end of book), if the fever is not very high, or if the child has chills. If the fever is high, use the cold sheet pack. With this treatment the rash will soon come out, and the child be easy. If fever appears again, give another injection and a sponge bath. Feed the body with water outside, and give it all it wants to drink. Give no food until Nature calls for it, then a raw egg beaten in milk. When the appetite comes back, give soft-boiled rice, or oatmeal with milk. Keep a cool head, and this treatment will save your child.

CHOLERA INFANTUM

Is a disease that can be readily cured by flushing the colon--adding a little antiseptic tonic to the water. It is purely a disease of the alimentary canal, consequently, cleansing that passage affords relief. A tepid bath, covering the legs and abdomen, is of wonderful benefit when fever is present. Be very particular with the diet. A raw egg, well beaten, in boiled milk is very nourishing.

DIPHTHERIA

Is a terribly fatal complaint, the result of a poison or germ produced in the body during the illness. The symptoms being difficult to identify, all cases of sore throat, if accompanied by fever, loss of strength, and white spots on the tonsils, should be regarded as diphtheretic.

Give full hot water flushings twice or four times every twenty-four hours. If the throat is of a grayish color, add a teaspoonful of borax to every quart of water. If it is of a dark red color, add a teaspoonful of acetic acid to every quart of water. If the child cannot retain it, place it in a hot hip bath, and then it will. After the discharge, induce perspiration with the hot sheet pack (if chilly), if not, in the cold pack, and apply a cold compress to the throat. Give the child all the cold, pure water it wants.

To treat the throat locally, take equal parts of fine salt, borax and common soda, pulverize, mix well, and by means of a quill blow well down the throat, using one quarter or half a teaspoonful.

SMALL-POX.

Is a very contagious eruptive fever, caused by a bacillus and fever, with aching of the limbs, in from nine to twelve germ peculiar to the disease. It commences with chills days after exposure.

After forty-eight hours the eruption usually appears. When rightly treated, it is not a dangerous disease.

In the case of a young person or child, the treatment is the same as for scarlet fever. Let the patient have all the water it wants in frequent drinks--a little cold water at a time.

After the eruption appears, no further treatment is necessary, except a daily flushing of the colon and a daily sponge bath in tepid water. If there is pain in the head, apply a cold compress. There is no appetite during the progress of the disease, but when the stomach demands food, great care should be exercised. Milk may be given safely. When strength returns, toasted Graham bread, mush, boiled or broiled chicken may be given.

TO PREVENT POCKMARKS.

The marking is caused by exposure to dry air and light, therefore paint the hands and face with a mixture of glycerine and charcoal--the glycerine keeps the skin soft, and the charcoal shuts out the light. It should be washed off every morning, and re-applied. Under no circumstances must the patient be allowed to scratch off the pocks.

MEASLES

Is an eruptive disease peculiar to children, slightly contagious, but not dangerous. It may commence with a slight chill, or not. The fever is usually attended with a slight cold, swollen watery eyes, and sneezing.

The first thing to be done is to bring out the rash, which is quickly done, by flushing the colon, followed by a wet sheet pack, as in scarlet fever. When the eruption is out, nothing is needed but to keep the colon clean, and wash down daily with tepid water. In all eruptive diseases guard against taking cold--for a cold closes the pores of the skin, shutting up Nature's vent through which she is expelling the disease germs.

WORMS IN THE INTESTINES.

This exceedingly prevalent and troublesome complaint may be quickly and effectually relieved by colon injections, coupled with the J. B. L. antiseptic tonic. It should be retained until the preparation has time to destroy or loosen the hold of the worms. Its action may be greatly accelerated by rubbing and churning the bowels.

INFANTILE CONVULSIONS OR FITS.

These spasms sometimes indicate the approach of one of the eruptive fevers, but usually the cause is the irritation of teething, or worms in the intestines. Although the appearance of a child under such conditions is painful, yet the danger is much less than appears.

Get the little sufferer into a hot bath as quickly as possible, and draw the blood to the skin, which will afford relief. Next, direct your attention to the bowels. If, as is exceedingly likely, worms are the cause, treat as for worms.

GALL STONES

Are the result of arrested secretion of bile, usually through congestion of the liver. Then the substances that form bile accumulate and solidify in granules. Hundreds of these continually pass off through the bowels unnoticed; but prolonged congestion causes them to cohere and form larger masses, that, in passing through the bile duct, cause intense pain, which is sometimes mistaken for appendicitis.

TREATMENT.

It is only in passing, that their presence becomes known, when all that can be done is, to favor their passage by copious fomentations of hot water and diligent use of the "Cascade." Sometimes it is impossible for the stone to pass, when it has to be removed surgically. The regular use of the "Cascade" will prevent their formation. At the first symptoms of pain in the region of the liver, follow the directions for treatment of that organ, especially the exercises, and drink freely of olive oil.

MASSAGE, SHEET-PACKS, ETC.

MASSAGE,

Which is the application of motion and pressure to the body, is a most important factor in preserving or restoring health. It affords a sick person all the benefit to be obtained from exercise without the physical effort, which he is unable to exert. The sweat glands, capillaries, and lymph channels, which constitute thousands of miles of tubing, in the body of a grown person, are, by carefully and systematically applied massage, stimulated to action. The currents in these vessels are a necessity of life. When they are obstructed, weakness is the result; when they cease, decay and death ensue.

When we rub our hands or feet, we say the friction warms them; in reality it is the inner vessels which are stimulated, and bring more warm blood to the parts. If this process is extended over the whole available surface of the body, the most beneficial results will follow.

There are three recognized methods of application. First--Rubbing, to stimulate the skin to action. Second--Rolling, and pinching gently, also a kneading movement, used principally to stimulate. the stomach, bowels, and muscular tissues. Third--Percussion, or tapping with the ends of the fingers, softly-most effiacious in stimulating the action of the lungs.

Rub the surface first with a little palm oil, or vaseline. Use the tapping movement for the chest and back, the rubbing movement for the stomach and bowels, and the pinching or kneading movement for the limbs. In dyspepsia and constipation, great benefit is derived from massage treatment of the stomach and colon--starting the movements in the right groin, where the colon commences, and following its course to its rectal extremity, (consult diagram). For rheumatism, sprains, etc., commence with hot oily applications.

Most people find massage treatment to have a gentle, soothing effect. Nearly all find their appetite increased.

THE STOMACH BATH.

The first method is simplicity itself, and consists in drinking from half to a pint of hot water, as hot as can be drank with comfort, in the morning after rising, or half an hour before breakfast. It loosens up the mucus in the stomach, and in half an hour it will have passed out.

The second consists in drinking tepid water until nauseated, then the stomach will throw it back, with its contents. This thoroughly empties and cleanses the stomach. From a pint to a quart is usually sufficient, although two quarts will do no harm. If the stomach does not reject it readily, thrust the forefinger down the throat to the end of the glottis.

The third method is by the stomach tube.

THE TURKISH BATH.

Provide a wooden bottomed Chair, and having stripped the patient of all Clothing, except a pair of woolen drawers to protect his legs from the heat, let him sit on it, with his feet ankle deep in a hot foot bath, just as hot as he can bear. Wrap him about first with a blanket, tucking it close around the neck, but letting it hang loose over the chair and vessel containing the foot bath, but so arranged as to exclude the air from his person. Over the blanket wrap one or two heavy comfortables, the object being to prevent the escape of the heat and exclude the outside air from the body. Raising one side of the comfortables and blanket, place under the chair an old tea cup half full of alcohol. Set it on fire and again close the opening. Give him a drink of cold water, and if the head feels oppressed, apply a wet towel wrung from cold water. Add more hot water to the foot bath once or twice, keeping it as hot as he can bear it during the continuance of the bath. Keep him in the bath until the alcohol is all burned out. Then wash him down with soap and tepid water, sponge off with cool water, rubbing the flesh and working the muscles vigorously the meanwhile. Then dry off by patting the skin with the towel (not rubbing it), leaving a little moisture on it; dress quickly and let him lie down for an hour or put him to bed.

It should not be taken either immediately before or after a meal. There are excellent bath cabinets to be obtained, but in their absence the above will be found excellent.

THE WET SHEET-PACK.

Spread over the bed or cot two or more heavy cornfortables, over these a pair of blankets, then, if for a person of strong vitality, wring a sheet out of cold water just dry enough not to drip, and spread it over the blanket; lay the patient stripped of all clothing on the sheet with his arms by his sides, tuck the sheet around him, then the blankets and comfortables, leaving his head out but tucking it close around the neck and over his feet--making a mummy of him, so to say. If the head is hot or aches, apply a towel wrung from cold water and renew it as often as it gets warm. To the feet apply a jug of hot water. Let him lie in the pack from twenty to forty minutes, or even longer if he is comfortable. He will soon get warm and sweat freely. This is the end desired. If he goes to sleep, as is often the case, don't be in a hurry to wake him up. He will take no harm so long as he keeps warm. See that there is plenty of fresh air in the room. When he has been in the pack a sufficient length of time close the windows, then take him out and wash him down thoroughly with soap and soft, tepid water, then sponge off with cooler water, rubbing him down vigorously and working the flesh the meanwhile. If not too weak he should assist in this operation. Then dry off by patting the skin with the towel (not rubbing it), leaving a little moisture on the skin. Then, if in the day time, and the weather is not too cold, a little exercise in the open air will be beneficial. If he is too weak to exercise put him to bed again.

Before and during the pack let him have all the cold water he wants to drink, in small quantities at a time. If the patient has but little vitality, wring the sheet out of tepid water instead of cold water.

The hot sheet-pack is used in the same manner, the only difference being that the sheet is wrung out of water as hot as can be borne.

CARE OF THE "CASCADE."

What is worth having is worth taking care of; and the "Cascade" is so likely to be called into emergency service, that it should be always in order--hence the following suggestions:

After using it, hang it up by the eyelet, until it ceases to drip; then put in the stopper. The small amount of moisture left in will help to keep it flexible. It should be kept hanging, if possible, as folds in the rubber predispose it to crack. It should be kept in an even temperature, neither too hot nor too cold.

Never pour boiling, or very hot water into it--it is not designed to withstand such a degree of heat, and do not let grease, in any form, come in contact with it, as grease decomposes rubber.