Minutus

Provings from 'A Cyclopaedia of Drug Patogenesy -
Hughes'
*******
Absinthium
**********

Dear Minutus members,

As you will see, most of our knowledge of Absinthium
esp in convulsions are result of toxicological
findings. Following are sources of our present data:
I. Provings. – I. dr. H. P. GATCHEL gave unknown
quantity to a lady of good health but nervous
temperament. She reports great tranquillity, felt
soothed as if going into a beautiful dream, followed
by apathy, foolish look, idiotic manner; tremor, then
thumping of heart, felt towards back, feet very cold;
eructations, distension of stomach and abdomen; great
lassitude, wants to lie with head low; eyelids heavy,
stomach feels cold; nausea; tongue protrudes and feels
thick, so that she cannot speak distinctly; pain above
eyes, which itch; dizziness on rising up; constant
desire to urinate; food lies heavy; darting pain in r.
Ovary. In e. very much bloated; uncomfortable
irritated feeling of stomach. Next d. Still bloated;
very weak; no appetite, loathes food; scalded feeling
in throat; urine of deep orange colour and strong
horse-like smell. (U. States Med. And Surg. Journ.,
v., 293.)

II. Poisonings. – I. a. The accidents which arise from
intoxication with absinthe are above all derangements
of motility. They are convulsive phenomena. Foremost
among them is epilepsy, which, unlike that incident to
alcoholism, belongs to the debut, that is to say, may
manifest itself after the first excesses, at the end
of a relatively short time. The epilepsy of absinthe
differs also from that of alcohol in its form. Whilst
the latter most frequently manifests itself at a very
advanced stage, and generally presents only an analogy
more or less close to a true attack of epilepsy, the
absinthic epilepsy, on the contrary, has all the
characters of a genuine and complete attack. The
patient becomes pale, loses consciousness, falls
sometimes with a cry, the face is contorted; this is
followed by tonic convulsions, with tetanic rigidity
of the limb and trunk, which is raised up; then clonic
convulsions of the limbs, the face becomes violet and
cyanotic, respiration rapid, irregular, stertorous,
froth from the lips sometimes bloody if the tongue is
bitten, at last a comatose state, with stertorous
respiration, which lasts a longer or a shorter time.
After the person recovers consciousness he seems
stupid, dazed, and recollects nothing of what has
passed. Sensibility is very obtuse, and during the
attack anaesthesia is complete. Sometimes the epilepsy
of A. is not complete, but consists only in vertigo or
temporary absence of mind, - as is seen in true
epilepsy. The third characteristic of the epilepsy of
A. is its short duration. It comes on violently after
great excesses, and ceases completely as long as the
patient remains sober, but as soon as he recommences
drinking it makes its appearance afresh. There may be
one attack only, or several during the d. or following

Days; but usually there are three or four.

b. Is this epilepsy of A. the effect of acute or
chronic intoxication? We believe that it is an acute
symptom which manifests itself at the outset of
chronic intoxication, found more often in those who
drink to excess habitually ; its appearance is never
long delayed after the person has begun to drink A. to
excess. After drinking for six months or a year, some
d. the person drinks to excess and the attacks come
on. Acute alcoholic mania or delirium tremens is
equally an acute symptom during chronic alcoholism;
they also may come on in a relatively short time,
while the epileptiform attacks of alcoholism show
themselves only at a very advanced period.

Persons who are attacked by the epilepsy of A. drink
8, 12, or even 20 glasses of A.

a d. Others drink but 3 or 4, and yet have the
paroxysms.

c. A circumstance of great importance is the
predisposition. We find a large number of drinkers who
have never had attacks or only slight ones. There are
others, on the contrary, who are attacked from their
first excesses.

d. A large number of persons, habitually sober, on
drinking occasionally a glass of A. become affected
with a kind of intoxication, with pains in the head
and sensation of constriction in the temples. Such
persons tolerate, without trouble, larger quantity of
alcohol, and experience no symptom from it.

e. Dr Voisin says that the epilepsy produced by
alcohol is usually characterised by long intervals
between the attacks; the epilepsy of A. by the very
large number of attacks in a very short space of time.
I have reported a case in which there were from 150 to
200 attacks in 24 h. drs. Marce and Magnan have
observed the same thing. (CHALLAND, Etude sur l.
Abbinthisme, § c., 1871.)

2. Cl. –Luis, aet. 32, came to Bicetre, 3rd Oct. 1863.
This man, who was in excellent health, had lived
soberly until the beginning of 1861, at which time he
became a wine-seller. He contracted, about this time,
the habit of drinking. At first he took wine and
brandy; then a little absinthe. The alcoholic
phenomena were not slow to make their appearance.
Giddiness also occurred at times. During1863 Cl-, to
give himself more strength, partook more largely of
the absinthe.

The fits of giddiness became frequent, and, at some
days’ intervals, there came on two attacks with sudden
loss of consciousness, falling, grimacing, convulsions
of the arms and legs, bloody foam on the lips, and
biting of the tongue. One of these attacks took place
in church during a funeral; the other occurred on the
stairs; in both cases in a most unexpected manner.
Delirium with terrifying hallucinations soon
distressed the patient, and made it necessary to put
him under supervision at Bicetre. He arrived there
31st oct. 1863, presenting symptoms of acute
alcoholism. He recovered fairly quickly, and at the
end of a month he was allowed to leave. On returning
home he quickly betook himself to his former habits;
on the other side the alcoholic effects were not slow
in making their appearance. A little later, after a
fresh abuse of absinthe, there occurred an epileptic
fir exactly like the preceding ones. The patient was
again sent to bicetre 28th Aprill, 1864, where he
stayed, to recover himself, until the beginning of
June. Let out again, he for some time forswore the
absinthe, but he recommenced at the close of each d.
to take a little wine and brandy,. His sleep became
bad; hallucinations showed themselves in their usual
distressing manner; the appetite went, masses of
phlegm were expectorated each m., and the limbs
trembled and shook. This state lasted 2 months; but
Cl-. Finding himself so weak, has resource once more
to his favourite liqueur. The absinthe soon brought on
new fits of epilepsy. Cl – entered Bicetre for the
third time 5th Dec., 1864. At the time of his entry he
still bore upon his tongue the marks of his teeth, a
striking token of his last fit.

Such in this observation, not to call it an
experiment. The subject was a strong man, a stranger
up to then to all effects of alcohol and to all
convulsive phenomena. He began by an excess of wine
and brandy and became alcoholic; then he applied
himself to absinthe and became epileptic. With the
first residence at the asylum the alcoholic effects
returned; he took absinthe- a new attack of epilepsy.
Again at the hospital, cessation of effects. For the
third time, excess in wine and brandy, alcoholism;
excess in absinthe, epileptic fits added. The hospital
again and sobriety, cessation of effects. Could the
effect be more intimately connected with the cause?
Can one not divide the two poisonings, that by the
alcohol and that by the abstinate? (Journ. Du Disp.
Hahn., viii, 116.)

3. A druggist’s shopman was found early one m. lying
on floor, perfectly insensible, convulsed, and foaming
at mouth. I was sent for, and found him no longer
violently convulsed, but insensible; jaws clenched,
pupils dilated, pulse weak, slow, and compressible.
From time to time he uttered incoherent expressions,
and attempted to vomit. Under emetics, stimulants, and
internal warmth he gradually recovered. He was found
to have swallowed 3 ss of oil of wormwood. On
recovering, he had totally forgotten all circumstances
connected with the case. (WM. SMITH, Med., Chirr.
Tranz., xivi, 23.)

III. Experiments on animals. – I. Essence of absinthe
produces in animals characterised attacks of epilepsy,
with precursory phenomena, and often accompanied by
physical disorders of a very remarkable kind.
(CHALLAND, op. cit.)

2. Messrs. Magnan and Bonchereau found out by simple
and decisive experiments that the effects caused by
the use of absinthe drunk as a liqueur, epilepsy in
particular, were determined, not by the alcohol
itself, but chiefly by the absinthe have proved
themselves harmless in experiments on animals. It has
not been the same with absinthe, as one can see by the
following experiments: - In a large glass bell is put
a saucer filled with essence of absinthe, of which the
vapours are exhaled in the confined air of the bell.
Introduce an animal, for example, a guinea-pig, and
examine it while it is there under the influence of
the absinthe. The poor brute, at first surprised by
the smell, stretches out in all directions its little
pink nose. The first moments of the new order of
things do not appear to it to be so very disagreeable;
but the pleasure, it exists, is not of long duration.
The guinea-pig, after having repeatedly perambulated
its glass cage, begins to grow impatient; it runs with
furious leaps, trying to find a way of escape. It has
had enough of the absinthe. But the way out does not
exist. The animal ends by falling on its side; you see
it draw up its little paws, which become stiff and
motionless. Then all at once it shakes with convulsive
shocks. The pointed nails of the guinea-pig glide over
the glass; a frothy slime covers its snout; then the
epileptic attack ceases, and the animal falls again
inert. Absinthe causes the same epileptic attacks in
cats, dogs, and rabbits. In a few minutes the mischief
is done; the absinthe has exerted its poisonous
influence.

And the alcohol? What part does it play under similar
circumstances? One can judge by the following: -
Another guinea-pig was, in its turn, confined under a
glass bell, in which had been perviously placed a
saucer filled with alcohol. At first the alcohol fumes
excited the animal; then the beast staggered like a
drunken man; inactivity followed; and it ended by
lying down in a state of the most profound
indifference. The guinea-pig was simply intoxicated;
it was not in the least epileptic.

After these experiments, then, no one can refuse to
admit the convulsive properties of absinthe poisoning.
9L’Hom. Mlit., feb., 1880, p. 65. Boehm and Kobert,
Centralbl. F. med. Wissensch., 1879, No. 37, have
since obtained similar results.)

3. Necropsies of animals poisoned slowly by absinthe
reveal strong congestion of brain and cord, with their
meninges. The hyperemia of the medulla oblongata was
excessive. There were on places small ecchymoses on
the gastro-intestinal membrane and on the peri- and
endo-cardium. (Journ. Of. Psych. Med., ix., 525.)
Good Luck,

Ardavan Shahrdar, MD, DIHom

Visit http://www.minutus.com my website on classical
and Hahnemannian homoeopathy.

You can visit the archive of previous 'Materia Medica
Lessons' at http://www.minutus.com/MMarch.htm
=====
Life is beautiful, if you look at it in a beautiful way.

____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk
or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie