Delirium tremens : its nature and treatment / by Charles S. Tripler.

  • Tripler, Chas. S. (Charles Stuart), 1806-1866.
Date:
[1857?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Delirium tremens : its nature and treatment / by Charles S. Tripler. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the effect of producing a sound sleep for 12 hours. The next day some cathartic medicine was administered, and he rapid- ly recovered. The practice of giving opium in this disease, is as old as the description of the disease itself; but the credit of having brought it to its present perfection, is unquestionably due to Dr. Brown, whose writings on this subject we have so often referred to. The great leading object, he remarks, in the treatment of this disease, is to procure sleep. This effect is most certainly obtained by the exhibition of opium. It must, however, be given with an unsparing and judicious hand. In some cases, it is no easy matter to persuade the patient to take his medicine. In these, I have often succeeded by smuggling the laudanum or black drop into a glass of brandy and water, and then inviting the patient to take a glass of grog. By this means the idea of medicine is not presented to the mind, and the dose is swallowed without difficulty. The other diffusible stimulants, which will occasionally be found useful in this disease, are beer, porter, gin, and brandy. If they can be given warm, or in the form of toddy, they will produce a better effect than when given cold. I once suc- ceeded, in a very desperate case, in procuring sleep, by per- suading the patient to take ahout a pint of warm gin aud por- ter. These liquors also afford an excellent vehicle for the ad- ministration of the preparations of opium. With respect to the further exhibition of these stimulants, during convales- cence, it appears to me entirely unnecessary, and may have some effect in leading to a re-indulgence in their use. If the debility be very great, a mild course of tonics, with an occa- sional laxative, will be found far more advantageous. Theory of the Disease. Health consists in the harmonious performance of all the functions. Some of these functions are essential to life, and hence have been called vital. Of these, the most prominent are the nervous, the va?cu^r, and the respiratory. These functions are severally capable of act- ing and re-acting upon each other. The natural stimulus of the heart and arteries is the nervous energy; the natural stimulus of the brain is the arterial blood; and neither of these could exist without the function of respiration. When all these functions are strictly balanced, the other functions of the human body are generally performed as they should be, and health is the result of this harmony. But when, by the action of morbid influences, the vital functions are de-