Drugs that enslave : $b The opium, morphine, chloral and hashisch habits — John Shaqi
Drugs that enslave : $b The opium, morphine, chloral and hashisch habitsKane, H. H. (Harry Hubbell)
Science
Drugs that enslave : $b The opium, morphine, chloral and hashisch habits
Kane, H. H. (Harry Hubbell)
Drug addiction
The effects of these drugs upon the skin may be divided into those
relating to _color_, _sensation_ and _nutrition_. The sallow, cadaveric
hue so often seen in advanced cases is partly due to discoloration by the
biliary matters, which are not properly excreted by the liver, and partly
to a condition of malnutrition, so often seen in persons suffering from
cancerous disease. In case there is serious interference with the working
of the kidneys, the sallow color becomes less distinct, diluted expresses
it well, and it has an appearance more like that of old white marble. In
this case the tissue feels doughy and “soggy,” and at points a pit made in
the skin by the pressure of the finger remains. There is also puffiness
under the eyelids and the eyes are bleared and watery. When there is no
dropsy the skin is usually dry and harsh, although at times bathed with
a cold, exhausting perspiration, the odor of which is oftentimes very
offensive. A morphia or opium taker, previously ill-nourished, sometimes
seems to improve, taking on flesh rapidly. The appearance, often best seen
in the face, is very deceptive, and is, in the majority of instances, due
to slight dropsy. It is sometimes seen a few weeks after these patients
commence to use alcoholic stimulants, especially beer. It soon passes
away, leaving them looking thinner and more miserable than before.
In those cases where the habit has not progressed very far, the skin is
usually made redder and coarser than natural, and is dotted here and there
with pustules.
In one case that I have recently had under my care, that of a young lady
who had never used stimulants and who had only used morphia, and that
subcutaneously, for seventeen months, a swollen and reddened condition of
the nose, exactly like that seen in old drunkards, was present. Two weeks
after the morphine was stopped the nose began to lessen in size and the
color to disappear, and the condition was entirely cured at the end of
three weeks. No local applications were used.
Loss of elasticity of the skin is a common change. That nutrition is
seriously interfered with is seen by this alteration, the loss of adipose
tissue, the ill-balanced circulation, giving at one time coldness
and paleness, at another flushing and undue warmth, and the variable
secretion. A plump and well nourished person who commences the use of
morphia loses those outlines of health caused by the proper development of
the muscular system and normal distribution of fat beneath the skin. Face
and form are both changed, and certainly for the worse.
These changes are undoubtedly due to a double action of morphine; that on
the alimentary canal preventing the proper digestion and assimilation of
food, and that upon the nerves regulating the supply of blood that passes
to the skin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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