Antipyretic

“ Uses.—The fresh juice of the leaves is used in India as a vermifuge, according to K. L. Dey; it is also used as a bitter tonic in malarial fever, especially of children. As a tonic and antipyretic it is certainly worthy of recommendation.
Dr. Bholanauth Bose calls attention to this plant as a good substitute for Ophelia chirata, DC. as a tonic and antipyretic.
The infusion of the bruised leaves (10 grams to water 300 cc.) is given up to 200 cc. a day in 3 or 4 doses; the tincture (leaves 60 grams, alcohol 90 %, 500 cc.) is given up to 10 grams a day in 5 or 6 doses. ”

“ Pyramidon is a proprietary preparation derived from, and having the antipyretic and anodyne properties of, antipyrin. While some observers have asserted that it is more likely to cause collapse than are either antipyrin or acetphenetidin there is no positive evidence of this assertion. That the use of pyramidon has been until recently practically restricted to physicians may account for the fact that its toxic effects are not as well known as are those of antipyrin, acetphenetidin, acetanilid, etc., which for some years have been in­dis­crim­in­ate­ly used by the public. ”

“ The external use of cold water as an antipyretic in the febrile diseases is now almost universally recommended by physicians, but it still meets with opposition on the part of families, especially in the treatment of the exanthematic fevers, and the directions for its employment are therefore not apt to be fully carried out during the absence of the medical attendant. ”

“ The medical profession has long appreciated the dangers involved in the administration of various mineral remedies now so commonly employed, and the value of a safe, effective and reliable vegetable antipyretic is universally recognized. Such a remedy is Labordine. It is purely vegetable in its composition and produces none of the evil after-effects of the coal-tar derivatives.... Labordine ... is a purely vegetable cardiac stimulant.... There is nothing mysterious about Labordine or its constituents.... ”

“ Cold bath is not suitable in plague patients on account of the movement of the body which it entails, and also on account of the serious cardiac depression which accompanies the disease. Two grains of phenacetin with 1 grain of hydrobromate of quinine is a safe antipyretic. ”

“ If, on the other hand, the reaction is too strongly marked, as, for instance, in a young girl with very active thyroid gland, who in consequence of typhoid exhibits a dangerous rise of temperature or hyperpyrexia, then the physician must put on the brakes and save her life by appropriate antipyretic measures.
In view of the above deductions, it is not unjustifiable to believe that the symptoms of disease, i.e., what we designate as disease, together with many other supposed ills, in reality contribute toward the preservation of mankind. ”

“ In every case of siriasis, whether it has been deemed advisable to administer quinine or not, attention must at once be given to reduce temperature by such rapidly acting measures as the cold bath, or ice applied in various ways to the head and body. Antipyretic drugs are of very little service, even if, in consequence of their depressing action on the heart, they be not actually dangerous; in all serious cases of siriasis such drugs must be carefully avoided. ”

“ Phenacetin and similar antipyretics are also often given to bring down temperature; but the wisdom of employing depressing drugs in so chronic and asthenic a disease as undulant fever is, to say the least, questionable. Any threat of hyperpyrexia is best met as directed, namely, by early employment of sponging, the wet pack, or, if necessary, by the cold bath. Sleeplessness may demand hypnotics ”

“ Step by step experimental therapeutic investigations have proved that the whole class of coal-tar antipyretics reduce animal heat by impairing the capacity of the hemoglobin and corpuscular elements of the blood to receive and distribute free oxygen, and thereby reduce temperature by diminishing heat production, nerve sensibility and tissue metabolism. Therefore, while each dose temporarily reduces the fever, it retards the most important physiological processes on which the living system depends for resisting the effects of toxic agents ”

“ Hydracetin; Pyrodin.—Prisms, or tablets: silky luster; odorl.; tastel.—Sol. in 50 parts water; in alcohol, chloroform.—Antipyretic, Analgesic, Antiparasitic—Uses: Intern., to reduce fever generally, in rheumatism, etc.; extern., psoriasis and other skin diseases.—Dose: 1/2—3 grn.—Extern. in 10% oint.
Acid, Acetic, Merck.—Glacial.—U.S.P.—99.5%.—C.P.
Caustic (in warts or corns) and Vesicant. Not used internally.—Antidotes: Emetics, magnesia, chalk, soap, oil, etc. ”

“ Dose: 3—8 grn.—Max. D.: 10 grn. single; 30 grn. daily.
Naphtol, Beta-, Benzoate, Merck.—Pure.
Benzo-naphtol.—Whitish powd.; darkens with age.—Sol. in alcohol, chloroform.—Intestinal Disinfectant.—Uses: Diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid fever, cholera, etc.—Dose: 5—15 grn.
Narceine-sodium and Sodium Salicylate,—see Antispasmin.
Neurodin.
Acetyl-para-oxyphenyl-urethane. Merck.—Colorl., inodorous cryst.—Sol. slightly in water.—Antineuralgic, Antipyretic.—Uses: Sciatica, rheumatic pains, migraine, various forms of fever.—Dose: 15—25 grn. as antineuralgic; 5—10 grn. as antipyretic. ”

“ In many cases antipyretics given by the mouth and cold applied to the skin are most useful.
When the irritation which is the cause of fever is a specific one, either in the form of bacteria (living organisms) , as in glanders, tuberculosis, influenza, septicemia, etc., or in the form of a foreign element, as in rheumatism, gout, hemaglobinuria, and other so-called diseases of nutrition, we employ remedies which have been found to have a direct specific action on them. ”

“ In short, we trust nature instead of defying her, coöperate with her in place of fighting her,—and we have cut down the death-rate of most fevers fifty to seventy-five per cent already. Plenty of pure, cool water internally, externally, and eternally, rest, fresh air, and careful feeding, are the best febrifuges and antipyretics known to modern medicine. All others are frauds and simply smother a symptom without relieving its cause, with the exception of quinine in malaria, mercury, and the various antitoxins in their appropriate diseases, which act directly upon the invading organism. ”

“ Thalline Sulphate.
Thermodin.
Thymol.
Tribromphenol.
Triphenin.
Turpentine Oil: at end of the second week, 10 minims every two hours, and every three hours in the night; specific if the diarrhea continues during convalescence.
Veratrum Viride.
Xeroform.
Zinc Sulphocarbolate.
Typhus Fever.—See also, Delirium, Typhoid Fever.
Acid, Phosphoric: agreeable drink.
Acid, Salicylic: antipyretic.
Aconite.
Alcohol: where failure of the vital powers threatens.
Antimony with Opium: in pulmonary congestion, wakefulness, and delirium.
Antipyrine.
Arnica: antipyretic. ”

“ If it be deemed advisable to attempt to lower the temperature, sponging of the body every hour with warm water is a much safer measure than the employment of such antipyretics as antipyrin and similar drugs. ”

“ If the patient does not sleep, he must be made to sleep. The whole body and the nervous system must have periods of rest. If the heart is very weak, small closes of morphin may be used. If the heart is not weak, bromids or chloral may be given. If the blood pressure is high, such hypnotics will lower it, or if the heart is strong and the condition does not contraindicate it, aconite may be used in small doses, for a day or two, unless the fever is high and it seems advisable to use one of the coal-tar antipyretics, which reduce the blood tension and the heart activity. ”

“ White, odorless, slightly bitter, crystalline scales or powder. Very slightly soluble in water (1:1310) , soluble in alcohol (1:15) and in chloroform (1:14) .
Action and Uses: Analgesic, antipyretic and, in excessive doses, a cardiac depressant. Used particularly for the relief of headache and neuralgic pains and in the treatment of mild fevers. A habit-forming drug. If used for a long period of time, it may produce a severe anemia.
Dosage: 0.3 Gm. or 5 grains (U.S.P.) , in powders or capsules. If small doses fail to relieve headache, larger doses are also usually ineffective. ”

“ If one consults some of his associates he will find remedies recommended ad nauseam. One declares the fever does no 217harm, while another is not satisfied unless one of the chemical antipyretics keeps the temperature near the normal standard. ”

“ As less dangerous than the coal tar antipyretics, we may fall back on such agents as sodium salicylate, 1⁄2 to 1 oz., or sulphate of quinia, 20 grs.
Elimination of toxins and waste products is to be secured and this is more safely conducted by the kidneys or skin than by the irritable alimentary canal. Plenty of pure cold water is one of the best and simplest resorts. Aside from this, where there is much hyperthermia, bicarbonate of potash or soda will serve the various purposes of an antidote to the acid blood, an eliminant and an antithermic. ”

“ Judging from published reports, the treatment of influenza during the present epidemic has been mainly symptomatic, simple remedies being employed in place of the powerful antipyretics and analgesics that were so extensively used three years ago, and this may account in part for the reduced mortality. ”

“ Sol. in water, alcohol.—Antiseptic, Antiscorbutic, and Refrigerant.—Uses: Extern., post-partum hemorrhage; pruritus; agreeable application in diphtheria, angina or gangrenous sore mouth; intern., cooling beverage to assuage fever, and remedy in scurvy.—Dose: 10—30 grn.—Preparation: Syr. (1%) .—Extern., for painting throat, 5—10% solut. in glycerin; gargle, 1—2%; cooling drink, 80 grn. to 1 quart.
Acid, Cresotic, Para-, Merck.—Pure.
White needles.—Sol. in alcohol, ether, chloroform.—Children's Antipyretic, Intestinal Antiseptic.—Uses: Febrile affections, gastro-intestinal catarrh. ”

“ Antipyretics are remedies to reduce the temperature. This may be accomplished by depressing the center in the brain that controls heat production. Some coal-tar products are very effective in this way, but they have the disadvantage of depressing the heart, which should always be kept as strong as possible. If they are used it must be with knowledge of this fact, and it is well to give heart tonics or stimulants with them. The temperature of the body may be lowered by cold packs or by showering with cold water. ”

“ Underneath all this storm and stress of the fever paroxysm, nature is quietly at work elaborating her antidote. In some marvelous fashion, which we do not even yet fully understand, the cells of the body are producing in ever-increasing quantities an anti-body, or antitoxin, which will unite with the toxin or poison produced by the hostile germs and render it entirely harmless. By a curious paradox of the process, it does not kill the germs themselves. It may not even stop their further multiplication. Indeed, it utilizes part of their products in the formation of the antitoxin ”

“ Why and how does one attack of a certain disease protect against another? When a person is taken sick with one of these diseases, the cells of his body immediately begin to make a substance called antitoxin. We learned something about antitoxin when we were studying diphtheria. In diseases like scarlet fever, measles, and smallpox, in which one attack protects against another, the antitoxin that is formed in the body when you are sick stays there for a long time, in some cases as long as you live. While this antitoxin is present in the blood, the cause of the disease cannot live in the body ”

“ Dr. Maclagan, professor of medical jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh, was then called to give the result of the chemical examination of the various organs of the body of Mrs. Pritchard, which had been retained for analysis. Antimony, corresponding to one-fourth of a grain of tartar emetic, was found in the urine, in small quantities in the bile and blood, and as much as four grains in the whole liver. Evidence of the presence of antimony was also found in the spleen, kidney, muscular substance of the heart, coats of the stomach and rectum, the brain and uterus. ”

“ Large doses of ammonia preparations cause burning pain in the throat and abdomen, vomiting, purging, and collapse.
Antipyrin.—This drug has about the same action and uses as acetanilid, and may be given in the same dose.
Antitoxin of Diphtheria.—This is obtained from healthy horses which have been rendered artificially immune to diphtheria from having received a prolonged course of treatment with diphtheria toxin in doses gradually increased. The immunity is due to the formation in the blood of a substance which in some way counteracts the poison or toxin of the disease. ”

“ At the same time hot drinks should be given, such as weak tea, in order to promote [209] perspiration and cut short the hot stage, and at this stage, i.e., at the outset of the fever, 10 grains of Antipyrin, or 10 grains of Phenacetin, may be found useful for inducing perspiration, or four tablets of Warburg’s Tincture, which contains some quinine, may be substituted for them. Antipyrin and Phenacetin should not be given except in the earliest stages of the fever. ”

“ At the end of twenty days’ injections they found they could obtain such a large quantity of anti-rabic substance in the serum of an animal, that even 1 part of serum to 25,000 of the body weight would protect an animal. This process differs from that of Pasteur in so far as that in place of promoting the formation of the antidote within the body of the patient, by a process of vaccination with progressively stronger and stronger virus, this part of the process is carried on in an animal, Babes using the dog and Centanni the sheep, the blood serum of which is injected. ”