The vagus or pneumogastric nerves control the rate and force of the heart action. The marked toxemia (germ poisoning) present in all serious and dangerous illnesses particularly in the critical stages of such illnesses as pneumonia, appendicitis and other serious illnesses poisons the nerve centers of the pneumogastric nerves. Much of this toxemia or germ poison is present in the nasal sinuses and thus in close proximity to the vagus nerve center. The vagus nerves control the peristaltic movements of the gastrointestinal canal and also keep the gastrointestinal canal from becoming over-distended. If the peristaltic action is weakened or stopped, gas immediately commences to accumulate in the intestines and this distends the stomach and intestines to harmful or even dangerous degrees. This great gas distention of the gastrointestinal canal presses upwards against the heart and lungs and interferes with the free action of these organs and also with the free circulation of the blood. These two nerves are the brake on the sympathetic nervous system. The latter system has a tendency to dilate the gastrointestinal canal. The more the vagus nerves are poisoned, the greater will be the distention of the intestinal canal with the resulting great distention of the abdomen and the harmful pressure of the intestines up against the heart and lungs, thus further interfering with good heart action and the proper intake of air by the lungs. The patient becomes short of breath (dyspnoeic). The heart action becomes weak for the double reason of interference with the action of the vagus nerves and due to the pressure upwards from the gas-distended intestines against the heart. In most cases, all this can easily and quickly be controlled by the nasal antisepticizing treatments, especially if the antisepticizing treatments are not commenced too late. By removing the toxins (toxemia) attacking the vagus nerves centers, these treatments become the best means for relieving the retarded and weakened action of the vagus nerves, and thus relieving the embarrassed heart action. When this toxemia is not relieved, then the patient dies of edema of the lungs, due to the filling up of the lungs with a watery, serous and frequently bloody transudate which seeps through the multitudinous fine and even large blood vessel walls of the lungs into the air cells.
In fact, the pleasantest observation the writer has made is the rapidity with which a few nasal antisepticizing treatments will quickly slow a very rapid heart action and simultaneously strengthen the pulse and heart action and almost immediately reduce to a considerable extent an immensely distended abdomen.
The beneficial effects derived from the antisepticizing treatments explain just why pituitrin is used in promoting peristalsis and reducing distended abdomens. However, the antisepticizing treatment accomplishes this more thoroughly, efficiently and naturally than the injected artificial pituitrin. The antisepticizing treatments relieve the toxemia of both the pituitary glands and the centers of the pneumogastric nerve; thus the pituitary secretion is immediately stimulated and an increased supply of pituitary secretion follows and simultaneously a more normal functioning of the vagus nerve is restored decidedly. The toxins which injure the pituitary gland and the centers of the vagus nerve are derived principally from the nasal sinuses. The antisepticizing treatments immediately inhibit the activity of these toxins, and the beneficial results which are obtained so rapidly in all illnesses must be due to the improved action of the vagus nerves, since the pituitary secretions could never be stimulated and increased so quickly as to reach the intestinal canal wall in that short time.
The Successful Use, Unwittingly, of a Crude Form of the Nasal Antisepticizing Treatment by a Father on His Dying Child
The writer will never forget the remarkable history related to him by a father of a child extremely ill with pneumonia. The father was told by his physician that there was no further hope for his dying child. At his last visit this physician instructed the father to notify him when the child died, which, he said, could be expected within a few hours.
The father sat patiently at the child’s bedside, awaiting the end. On a table nearby stood a bottle of pure grain alcohol. A medicine dropper lay alongside. Under the circumstances, thinking it could do no harm, the father filled the medicine dropper with alcohol and dropped the alcohol drop by drop into each nostril of the child. At intervals the father repeated this treatment all that day and the same night. It was not long before the child showed signs of improvement. The labored, difficult, obstructed breathing was replaced by a more regular, deep respiration. The pallor and extremely sick appearance of the child gradually changed for the better.
The father accidentally met the doctor on the street a few weeks later and was asked by the doctor why he had not called for the death certificate. The father informed the doctor that the child was alive and well. Today she is the mother of a family.
When the writer informed the father that in effect he had common foundationed his child and thereby saved her life, the father was incredulous. The lack of scientific discernment made it impossible for this gentleman to know enough to repeat this procedure in the case of other members of his family when the dire necessity arose. Common foundation maintains that by the same means in similar cases, like results may be expected. When other members of his family became seriously ill, it never occurred to him to repeat his original experiment, as harmless as it really was.
The Loss of the Sense of Smell Due to the Antisepticizing Treatments– Its Return
The only disadvantage to the use of the physician’s bichloride of mercury antisepticizing treatment is the temporary loss of the sense of smell in those serious or difficult cases wherein the antisepticizing treatments have to be used daily and for a long period of time. However, a person’s life or good health is more important than his sense of smell.
After all nose and throat work has been successfully completed and all treatments are discontinued, the sense of smell will return in all cases where it was present at the time the antisepticizing treatments were first used. The return of the sense of smell may take quite a number of months, depending on the severity and difficulty of the case and the amount of surgical work done on the nose and the number of antisepticizing treatments administered. It will eventually return in all cases. Just before the complete return of the sense of smell, some people will state that they notice a peculiar odor; this may merely precede the return of the olfactory sense.
In some people the temporary loss of the sense of smell is not altogether a disadvantage. Many seriously ill people are easily nauseated by certain odors. This often upsets the patient. When the sense of smell is absent, this cannot occur.
It should be remembered that the sense of smell is rather easily and quickly lost in certain types of patients. These patients are the ones who are about to take seriously ill or are suffering with difficult or serious illnesses such as deep and extensive forms of sinusitis, diabetes, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), etc. Acutely ill patients with serious or dangerous illnesses are not greatly concerned or much worried about the loss of their sense of smell at the time they are suffering with such life-endangering illnesses. They are by far more concerned with the possibilities of saving their lives. The other type of patient who is not in any immediate danger should be informed of the possibilities of either a temporary or prolonged loss of sense of smell. The type of patients who prefer the retention of the sense of smell to relief from their ailments should not be treated with the No. 56 spray tip or the stronger spray. With the careful observation of the dietary rules, such patients can be given some relief with the use of the No. 54 spray bottle, which will not injure the sense of smell. In all important, difficult or serious illnesses, the use of the No. 54 spray bottle only will not be sufficient to bring about successful results.