Extract of Chirata 40 grains
Podophyllin 4 grains
Wahoo 8 grains
Culver's root 8 grains
Creosote 10 grains
Mix and make into twenty pills. Take one every night.
4. For the Attack.--Take calomel one-sixth grain tablets; one every
fifteen minutes until six are taken, and then follow with two to four
teaspoonfuls of epsom salts.
JAUNDICE (Icterus).--A symptom consisting in discoloration by bile pigment
of the skin, whites of the eyes, other mucous membranes and secretions.
Causes.--Obstruction of the gall ducts, from gall stones, inflammation,
tumor, strictures, from pressure by tumors, and other enlarged abdominal
organs.
Symptoms.--The skin and the conjunctiva (red membrane of the eyes) are
colored from a pale lemon yellow to a dark olive or greenish black. The
itching may be intense, especially in a chronic case. The sweat may be
yellow. The stools are a pale slate color, from the lack of bile, and are
often pasty and offensive. The pulse is slow. Recovery depends upon the
cause. Plain, simple jaundice cases recover in a few days or weeks.
MOTHERS' REMEDIES.--1. Jaundice, Sweet Cider Sure Cure for.--"New cider
before it ferments at all. Drink all you can." This is a very simple
remedy, but a sure one if taken in the early stages of jaundice. It causes
the bowels to move freely and carries off any impurities in the system.
2. Jaundice, Lemon Juice for.--"Take a tablespoonful of lemon juice
several times a day." This disease is produced by congestion of the liver,
and as lemon is excellent as a liver tonic it is known to be an excellent
remedy for jaundice.
3. Jaundice, Peach Tree Bark for.--"Take the inner bark of a peach tree,
and make a strong tea, and give a teaspoonful before each meal for five
days, then stop five days, and if the patient's indications do not warrant
a reasonable expectation that a cure is effected repeat the medicine as
above. I never knew of a case in which the above medicine failed to cure.
Keep the bowels open with sweet oil."
MOTHERS' REMEDIES for Liver Complaint. Mandrake Root for.--1. "Dry and
powder the mandrake root (often called may-apple) and take about one
teaspoonful." This dose may be repeated two or three times a day,
according to the requirements of the case. This is a stimulant, a tonic
and a laxative, and is especially good when the liver is in a torpid and
inactive condition.
[128 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
2. Liver Trouble, Dandelion Root Tea for.--"Steep dandelion root, make a
good strong tea of it; take a half glass three times a day." This is a
very good remedy as it not only acts on the liver, but the bowels as well.
This will always cure slight attacks of liver trouble.
3. Torpid Liver, Boneset Tea for.--"Drink boneset tea at any time during
the day and at night. It is also good for cleansing the blood." This is a
very good remedy, especially for people who live in a low damp region.
4. Liver Trouble, Mandrake Leaves for.--"A very good remedy to use
regularly, for several weeks, is to use from one to three grains of
may-apple (mandrake) seed, night and morning, followed occasionally by a
light purgative, as seidlitz powder or rochelle salts." This is sure to
give relief if kept up thoroughly.
5. Liver Trouble, Mullein Leaf Tea for.--"Mullein leaves steeped, and
sweetened. Drink freely." This acts very nicely upon the liver.
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Liver Trouble.--1. For the itching, hot alkaline
baths with baking soda in water, or dust on the following:--
Starch 1 ounce
Camphor, powdered l-1/2 drams
Oxide of Zinc 1/2 ounce
Mix and use as a powder, or use carbolic vaselin locally. Move the bowels
with salts and do not give much food for a few days. Use nothing but milk.
2. The following is good to move the bowels when the stool is yellow and
costive in a child one year old:
Sulphate of Magnesia 2 ounces
Cream of tartar 2 ounces
Mix and give one-half teaspoonful in water every three hours until the
bowels move freely. Phosphate of soda in one dram doses every three hours
is good.
3. Severe Type and Epidemic Form.--Give one to two drops of tincture
myrica cerifera (barberry) every two hours for an adult. This I know to be
very good.
4. The common simple kind of jaundice will get well readily by moving the
bowels freely and keeping the patient on light food.
CATARRHAL JAUNDICE. (Acute catarrhal angiocholitis).--Jaundice caused by
obstruction of the terminal portion of the common duct, by swelling of the
mucous membrane.
Causes.--This occurs mostly in young people. It follows inflammation of
the stomach or bowels, also from emotion, exposure, chronic heart disease.
It may be epidemic.
[DIGESTIVE ORGANS 129]
Symptoms.--Slight jaundice preceded by stomach and bowel trouble. Epidemic
cases may begin with chill, headache and vomiting. There may be slight
pain in the abdomen, the skin is light or bright yellow, whites of the
eyes are yellowish, pain in the back and legs, tired feeling, nausea, clay
colored stools. Pulse is rather slow, liver may be a little enlarged. It
may last from one week to one to three months.
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Catarrhal Jaundice.--1. Restrict the diet if the
stomach and bowels are diseased. Sodium phosphate may be given one
teaspoonful every three hours to keep the bowels open. Drink large
quantities of water and with it some baking soda one-half to one
teaspoonful in the water.
2. If you have calomel you may take one-tenth of a grain every hour for
four hours, and then follow with the sodium phosphate in one-half
teaspoonful doses every two to three hours, until the bowels have fully
moved, or epsom salts, two to four teaspoonfuls. Keep in bed if there is a
fever or a very slow pulse say of forty to fifty.
GALL STONES. (Biliary Calculi, Cholelithiasis).--Cases of gall stones are
rare under the age of twenty-five years. They are very common after
forty-five, and three-fourths of the cases occur in women. Many people
never know they have them. Sedentary habits of life, excessive eating and
constipation tend to cause them. They may number a few, several, or a
thousand, or only one.
Symptoms.--There are usually none while the stones are in the gall
bladder, but when they pass from the gall bladder down through the
(channel) duct into the bowel they often cause terrific pain, especially
when the stone is large. Chill, fever, profuse sweating and vomiting,
which comes in paroxysms or is continuous. The pain may be constant or
only come on at intervals. The region of the liver may be tender, the gall
bladder may be enlarged, especially in chronic cases and very tender. In
some cases the pain comes every few weeks and then may be scattered,
sometimes seeming to be in the stomach, and then in the bowels, or in the
region of the liver. When a person has such pains and locates them in the
stomach or bowels, and they come periodically, every week or two or more,
he ought to be suspicious about it being gall stones, especially if the
symptoms do not show any stomach trouble. If the stone is large and closes
the common duct, jaundice occurs; the stools are light colored; the urine
contains bile. The attacks of pain may cease suddenly after a few hours,
or they may last several days or recur at intervals until the stone is
passed. The stones may be found in the bowel discharges after an attack.
Death may occur from collapse during an attack.
MOTHERS' REMEDIES.--1. Gall Stones, Sweet Oil for.--"Massaging the part
over the region of the liver lightly night and morning is very good,
following by drinking a wineglassful of sweet oil at bedtime." The patient
should take some good cathartic the next morning, such as a seidlitz
powder or cream of tartar. Teaspoonful in glass of water each morning.
This treatment should be continued for several weeks and is very
effective.
[130 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
2. Gall Stones, Tried and Approved Remedy for.--"Drink about a wineglass
of olive oil at bedtime followed in the morning by a cathartic, as
seidlitz powder, or cream of tartar and phosphate of soda; teaspoonful
each morning in wineglass of water. This treatment to be pursued several
weeks. Massage the part over the liver lightly night and morning. If the
suffering is intense use an injection of thirty drops of laudanum to two
quarts of water." In many cases the cathartic may not be needed as the
olive oil will move the bowels freely. Massaging the parts over the liver
will cause it to work better and has proven successful in many cases.
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Gall Stones.--1. For the pain. Morphine must be
used and by the hypodermic method; one-fourth grain dose and repeated, if
necessary, and chloroform given before if the pain is intense, until the
morphine can act. Fomentations can be used over the liver.
2. Soda.--The bowels must be kept open by laxatives, Sodium Phosphate or
Sodium Sulphate, (Glauber's) salt.
3. Olive Oil.--Olive oil is used very extensively. I do not know whether
it does any good; some people think it does. From two to ten ounces daily,
if possible. The phosphate or sulphate of sodium should be taken daily in
one to two teaspoonfuls doses each day. Some claim these salts prevent
formation of gall stones.
4. Powder for the Itching.--For the intolerable itching you may use the
following powder, dust some of it over the skin:
Starch 1 ounce
Zinc Oxide 1/2 ounce
Camphor 1-1/2 drams
Mix into a powder.
Diet.--This must be thoroughly regulated. The patient should avoid the
starchy and sugar foods as much as possible. He or she should also take
regular exercise. If a person afflicted with gall stones keeps the stomach
and bowels in good condition, they will be better. Pure air, sunshine,
exercise, and diet are big factors in the treatment of chronic diseases. A
woman so afflicted should not wear anything tight around the stomach and
liver, corsets are an abomination in this disease; olive oil if taken must
be continued for months.
Surgery.--The operation is indicated when the patient is suffering most of
the time from pain in the liver region or when the person is failing in
health, or during an acute attack. When there are symptoms of obstruction
or when there is fever, sweating shows that there is pus in the gall
bladder. Also an operation is then necessary, and in most cases it results
satisfactorily.
[DIGESTIVE ORGANS 131]
CANCER OF THE GALL BLADDER, AND BILE DUCTS. Causes.--It usually occurs
between forty and seventy years of age. The cases that originate here show
no percentage in either sex; but those that appear here as secondary
cancers are three times as frequent in women as in men. Chronic irritation
by gall stones is an important cause. They are hard to diagnose and, of
course, fatal in the secondary kind. For the primary kind early complete
removal may cure if you can get at them.
CIRCULATORY DISTURBANCES OF THE LIVER. (Acute Hyperemia or
Congestion).--This occurs normally after meals, and in acute infections,
diseases, etc.
CHRONIC CONGESTION OR NUTMEG LIVER.--This is due to an obstruction of the
blood circulation in the liver by chronic valvular heart disease with
failure of heart action. Lung obstruction in the trouble called Emphysema,
Chronic Pneumonia, etc., may cause it. The cut section of a liver shows an
appearance like a nutmeg, due to a deeply congested central vein and
capillaries. In a later stage the liver is contracted, central liver cells
are shrunk and the connective tissue is increased.
ACUTE YELLOW ATROPHY. (Malignant Jaundice).--This is fortunately a rare
disease. There is rapid progress, and it is fatal in nearly all cases. The
liver is very small and flabby. The symptoms are many and are hard to
differentiate. You must depend upon your physician. The only thing for him
to do is to meet the symptoms and relieve them if possible.
CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER. (Sclerosis of the Liver, Hobnail Liver, Gin
Drinkers Liver, Hard Liver).--This occurs most often in men from forty to
sixty years old. It is not uncommon in children.
Cause.--It is usually due to drinking of alcohol to excess, especially
whisky, brandy, rum or gin. The liver is small and thin; hard, granular,
white bands run through it and press on the liver cells and destroy them.
Symptoms.--These are few as long as proper circulation in the heart is
maintained. Fatty cirrhosis is often found in post-mortems. The first
symptoms are the same as those accompanying chronic gastritis, dyspepsia,
They are:--Appetite is poor, nausea, retching and vomiting, especially in
the morning; distress in the region of the stomach, constipation or
diarrhea. These increase and vomiting of blood from the stomach may occur
early and late. Bleeding from the stomach and bowels, etc., cause the
stools to look like tar. Nosebleed and piles are common and profuse;
bleeding may cause severe lack of blood. The epigastric and mammary veins
are enlarged. Ascites (dropsy in the abdomen) usually occurs sooner or
later and may be very marked, and it recurs soon after each tapping. The
feet and genital organs may be oedematous (watery swelling), jaundice is
slight and does not occur until late. During the late stage the patient is
much shrunken, face is hollow, the blood vessels of the nose and cheeks
are dilated, abdomen is greatly distended. Delirium, stupor, coma or
convulsions may occur at any time.
[132 MOTHERS' REMEDIES]
PHYSICIANS' TREATMENT for Cirrhosis of the Liver.--It is usually fatal;
sometimes even after temporary improvements. No coffee or alcohol; simple
diet, bitter tonics, keep bowels open, A physician must handle such a
case.
ABSCESS OF THE LIVER. Hepatic Abscess: Suppurative Hepatitis.--This is a
circumscribed collection of pus in the liver tissue. If there is only one
abscess it is in the larger lobe in seventy per cent of the cases. The
amount of fluid contained in such an abscess may be two or three quarts
and its color varies from a grayish white to a creamy reddish-brown; when
the abscess is caused by a type (amebic) of dysentery, there is generally
only one abscess, occurring more often in the right lobe, whereas other
forms due to septic infection give rise to many abscesses.
Causes.--This disease is rare even in tropical climates. When it is
excited by gall stones, it is invariably septic in character and the
infecting material reaches the interior through the liver vessels or bile
passages. Stomach ulcers, typhoid fever, appendicitis, may bring on such
an abscess. Pus wounds of the head are sometimes followed by a liver
abscess. The most common method of infection is through the portal vein.
Other causes that may be mentioned are foreign bodies traveling up the
ducts, as round-worms and parasites.
Symptoms.--Hectic temperature, pain, tenderness, and an enlarged liver,
and often slight jaundice. In acute cases the fever rises rapidly,
reaching 103 or 104 in twenty-four hours. It is irregular and
intermittent, and it may be hectic, that is, like the fever of
consumption. Shakings or decided chills frequently are present with the
rise of fever and when the fever declines there may be profuse sweating.
The skin is pale and shows a slight jaundice, the conjunctiva being
yellowish. Progressive loss of strength with disturbance of the stomach
and bowels is present. The bowels are variable and constipated and loose.
Dropsy of the abdomen (Ascites) may develop, on account of pressure on the
big vein, inferior vena-cava. Lung symptoms, severe cough, reddish-brown
expectoration are often present.
THE ABSCESS.--May break into the pleural cavity, bronchial tubes, lungs
and stomach, bowels, peritoneum or through the abdominal wall.
Recovery.--The result is unfavorable as it generally goes on to a rapid
termination. The abscess should be opened and evacuated when its location
can be detected. The death rates ranges from fifty to sixty per cent.
Treatment.--Open it if you can, Sponge liver region with cool water. For
the pain, mustard poultices, turpentine stupe or hot fomentations prove
beneficial. Keep up strength by stimulation and quinine.
[DIGESTIVE ORGANS 133]
Diet in Liver Troubles sent us from Providence Hospital (Catholic),
Sandusky, Ohio: