OCR Text |
Show Diseases That Are Fashionable. THE London Lancet, an eminent medical authority, is forced to acknowledge ac-knowledge that there are fashions or fads in remedies for sickness, just as there are in dress. It says that only a few years ago physicians relied mainly main-ly upon antipyretics. These were gradually grad-ually abandoned and succeeded by anti-toxics and animal extracts. If the Lancet is to be believed, these have had their day, and another set of antis will take their place, but it does not inform us what they will be. The Philadelphia Record, commenting comment-ing upon these changes, shrewdly suggests sug-gests that the changing fashions in remedies may be the result of rapidly changing fashions in diseases, and the frequent appearance of new diseases, which may, after all, in some cases,- be only old diseases with new and more formidable names. If man, during his long stay on this planet, with his tendency ten-dency to take disease and the opportunities oppor-tunities presented for doing so, has not tried them all, he has been singularly singu-larly negligent. It will be remembered that half a century ago the liver was the chief seat of all diseases, and the blue pill was the favorite remedy for nearly every ailment. A little later fever and ague was shaking everybody, and Peruvian bark was in universal demand. But we hear nowadays as little about biliousness or the break bone fever as we do about merc ury or quinine. Who that has come to years of discretion does not recall how he was dosed every spring in his childhood with sulphur and cream of tartar, through the summer with heroic doses of thoroughwort, through the fall with paregoric, and through the winter with that diabolical compound, senna and salts? Who now hears of any one of these medicines? What child of spirit would consent to take them? What parent would have the courage to suggest sug-gest them? As a matter of fact, says the Chicago Tribune, the good old diseases under which our forbears used to stagger and still live to an unreasonable old age are'rapidly disappearing.- It is possible that in the back' districts cases of "rheumatiz" and "shocks" may be found among old men, and old ladies may still have "neurology" and "lum-bager," "lum-bager," and both may raise their favorite fa-vorite herbs for remedies in their kitchen gardens. But the good old fashions in diseases and remedies have mostly passed away. Since the discovery discov-ery of the microbe the world has given up most of its old diseases and taken on new ones with roIysyllablie names, more fitting to the intellectual advancement advance-ment of the day. King Edward has much to answer for in giving appendicitis appen-dicitis royal approval. English journals jour-nals already affirm it is rapidly on the increase since his operation, and there are few Englishmen so disloyal as not to admit they have it when so notified by their physicians. It naturally follows fol-lows that a change of diseases requires a change in methods and remedies. It re.quires considerable celerity even for ah up to date doctor to keep up with the changes. |