Apoplexy

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

Important: Safety Warning This page gives first-aid or emergency advice that predates modern medicine and can make an emergency worse. Do not follow it. In any medical emergency, call emergency services and follow current first-aid guidance. In addition, this page presents medical treatment from an era before modern medicine. The remedies described are ineffective against the conditions named, and some of the ingredients or doses are harmful. Do not use them to treat any illness; consult a qualified medical professional. This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon. a disease of the blood vessels of the brain. It may take the form of the bursting of a blood vessel and the flooding of a brain area; or of a softening of the walls of a blood vessel, and the accumulation of a dam of soft material in an artery, thus shutting off the blood supply of a brain area; or it may be that obstructive material is swept into an artery of the brain from some other part of the body. In all three forms the results are much the same. One side of brain and body is paralyzed. The face becomes empurpled, the patient, unconscious. A slow pulse, dilated pupils, and chills are common symptoms. Laying on the non-paralyzed side, mustard to the feet, loose clothing, quiet, and blood letting are recommended by medical authority. High living and want of exercise are supposed to favor the disease. Excitement or anger, causing a rush of blood to the head, are immediate causes of a fit of apoplexy. Young and old are subject to it. The effects of apoplexy may pass away, but are likely to linger, and the symptoms are almost certain to recur. A person of short, stocky build, with a corpulent body and a quick temper, is supposed to be particularly liable to an attack. See Disease 2026 Editor's Note: 'Apoplexy' is the old name for what we now call a stroke — and the outlook has transformed: clot-busting drugs and rapid surgery can now reverse damage if treatment comes fast, giving rise to the motto 'time is brain.' The word survives mainly in 'apoplectic,' meaning furious to the point of bursting. (Ed: BR 2026-07-19)