Apoplexy.

Cromwell Argus, Volume 2, Issue 86, 4 July 1871, Page 5

Apoplexy.

Whit is apoplexy 1 From the sudden- ■ aess of the attack and the apparent carei lessness of it, the Greeks connected it in I their mind with an idei of a stroke i lightning as coming from the Almighty I Hand : it literally means " A stroke from 1 above." As instantaneous as the hurling I of a thunderbolt in a clear sky, there comes | a loss of sense, and feeling, and thought, and motion; the heart beats, the lungs i play, but soon they cease for ever. Th; i Ro.nans considered the person to bo i "thunder-struck" or " planet-struck," as it' lit were of unearthly origin. The essential i nature of apoplexy is an unnatural amount I of blood in the brain ; whatever sends too j much blood to the brain may cause apo- ! plexy—that is, the kind of apoplexy which | seems to come without any apparent adequate cause. Tying a cord tightly round | the neck, or holding the head downwards j too long, can bring on a iit of apoplexy, , by damming up the blood in the brain, j or keeping it from returning to the body. A sudden mental emotion can send too ! much blood to the brain, or too great | mental excitement can do the same thing, I It is the essential nature of all wines and spirits to send an increased amount of I blood to the brain, hence alcohol is said to I stimulate the brain. The first effect cf ; taking a glass of wine or stronger form' of | alcohol, is to send the blood there faster i than common, hence it quickens the circui lation—that gives the red face. It inI creases the activity of the brain, and it j works faster and so does the tongue. But I as the blood goes to the brain faster than common, it returns faster, and no special j permanent harm results. But suppose a ; man keeps on drinking, the blood is sent ito the brain much faster, in such large I quantities, that, in order to make room j for it, the arteries have to enlarge themI selves ; they increase in size, and in so j doing press against the yielding flaccid j veins which carry the Wood out of the | brain, and thus diminish the size of their | bores, the result being that the blood is ! not only carried to the arteries of the I brain faster than is natural or healthful, j but it is prevented from leaving it as fast : as usual ; hence a double set of causes of j death are set in operation. Hence, a man | may drink enough brandy or other spirits |in a few hours, or even minutes, to bring on a fatal attack of apoplexy. This is " literally baing dead-drunk.— l)r Hall.