ADVICE TO SMOKERS
TOBACCO AS MEDICINE FOR HEART TROUBLE DOCTOR’S OBSERVATIONS ' The sudden cessation of. tobaccosmokfng may cause as violent a reaction in the body of a heavy smoker as the abrupt Withdrawal of supplies from a morphia—taker. This was strikingly exemplified in a case which was recently brought to my notice, Writes a London Doctor.
A heavy pipe—smoker was ordered to give up tobacco on the ground that it was irritating his mouth. His heart was already unsound. He ceased smoking—and in a fortnight showed signs of heart disease.
Nicotine is a. drug, and a very potent one. One or two drops would kill most people But its action on the heart is to slow it down. precisely what is wanted in the vast majority of diseased hearts.
It Works almost exactly like digi~ talis, the heart specialist’s greatest stand-by. It changes hysterical, hurried flutterings into a slower but steady and regular beat.
Tobacco therefore may well have a definite medicinal value in cases of this kind, and its sudden withdrawal can be as dangerous as the stoppage of any other medicine.
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Bibliographic details
Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 720, 20 July 1929, Page 6
Word Count
183ADVICE TO SMOKERS Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 720, 20 July 1929, Page 6
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