Headache and Headache Remedies

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 11, 1907

Headache and Headache Remedies

Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief chemist of the United States Department of Agriculture, utters a solemn warning, in The Ladies' Home Journal, against certain headache remedies extensively used in this country. The new Food and Drugs act requires that most of the drugs used in headache preparations be mentioned on the label of the bottle. But the fact remains that many will not know their significance. Caffein and antipyrin are frequent ingredients of headache powders, but they are not required to be mentioned by the act. The people have therefore only a partial protection.

Now acetanilid, caffein, phenacetin, antipyrin, and the many derivatives of these, when not used under the direction of a competent physician, are dangerous, and their mixture is apt to be deadly. They depress the nervous system; they disturb the digestion; they interfere with natural sleep; they require to be used in increasingly larger quantities as the system becomes accustomed to them; they are almost without exception excreted by the kidneys, thus adding an additional burden to organs already badly overworked. They produce a habit of gaining relief which soon asserts itself completely and becomes irresistible.

This indictment does not lie against any one particular remedy, but against the whole system; and especially should we be on our guard against the manufacturer's and the druggist's practise of using fanciful names to cover up the sale of the drugs which enter into the composition of headache powders.

There is only one safe way to use a headache remedy, says Dr. Wiley. Go to a reliable physician and find out first from what kind of headache you are suffering, for it should be remembered that one kind of headache is caused by the eyes, another by the stomach, and still another by some other cause, and each requires a different treatment. In most cases of headache there is a congestion of the blood-vessels of the brain

and its membranes, and the natural remedial act to relieve pain would be to reduce the congestion. On the other hand, when a headache is caused by fatigue or lack of blood in the brain, just the opposite condition is present, and a stimulating treatment is indicated. Go directly to the root of the trouble, and let a physician discover where it lies. The headache remedy may be quicker in its results, but it is a poor result that alleviates a headache at the expense of the heart or the general health.—The Circle.