Bromium. CHILD:

By Douglas M. Borland, M.B.,
The next common warm-blooded drug is BROMIUM. It is one of the drugs which is very frequently missed. The common BROMIUM type of patient is usually over-fat, fair skinned, fair-haired, and the majority are friendly, cheerful, fairly happy types. There there are contradictions. The fairly cheerful happy friendly type, are very easily put out, and if upset they very commonly flush up, and explain that they get a feeling of heat and tension in their heads. They become nervous, anxious, very often frightened, in the evening, very much about the PULSATILLA time. They do not like to walk home in the dark and have the impression that somebody is following them, and they get scared very much like the symptom of PULSATILLA-they look not unlike PULSATILLA, and occasionally bouts of depression in the BROMIUM patient are not unlike PULSATILLA. But BROMIUM is a much more placid depression, much more a melancholy outlook than the acute tearfulness of the PULSATILLA. The BROMIUM patient is a rather fat, fair type tending to run to crops of boils, either acne about the face or over the shoulder, and an adolescent needing BROMIUM always has some acne spots about. There are further symptoms very like PULSATILLA. They are very sensitive to heat, uncomfortable in the sun and definitely uncomfortable in a hot room. They are better for motion and for exercise; and better in the open air. By contrast the typical BROMIUM patient is very much better after food, whereas the typical PULSATILLA patient is heavy after a meal; and another contrast - in spite of the fact that they are better in the open air, they are sensitive to draughts. The majority of the BROMIUM cases are of two types, one with chronic catarrh of the upper passages, the other the typical acute hay fever. Taking the catarrhal type first, the child with chronic hypertrophy of the tonsils, not the type who is liable to recurring quinsies, but one with an enlarged fibrotic tonsils, and often with a general enlargement of the submaxillary glands which tend to be hard, and tend not to break down. With the chronic tonsils they are liable to acute attacks of catarrhal extension to any of the sinuses, and in BROMIUM cases it is more commonly the frontal sinuses that are involved, rather than the antrums; with the involvement of the frontal sinuses the patients complain of intense pain, fullness, and a feeling of swelling at the root of the nose. The nose feels choked up, and there is a thick, yellow purulent discharge, and if any violent effort is made to clear the nose the discharge is liable to be bloodstained. Another point about that type is a thickened rather inflamed, reddened upper lip. Occasionally one of these children will get an attack of very intense croup, with a sensation of tackling in the larynx. The very violent croupy cough, goes on almost to suffocation, and is relieved by cold drinks. They may complain of a feeling of pressure, or constriction, of the throat, and the larynx in these cases is usually very sensitive to touch. There may also be the typical BROMIUM hoarse voice. BROMIUM is useful for the fat, warm-blooded child, with rather hypertrophied tonsils, who gets an attack of hay fever coming on usually about June; rather later in the BROMIUM child than in many of the others. Some start in the middle of May, but the BROMIUM cases do not usually start until June. The outstanding characteristic of the BROMIUM hay fever is an extreme hyperaesthesia of the mucous membranes and dust of any kind will set up an acute attack during the irritant period. One small boy had a typical BROMIUM hay fever, and if he went into a room which was being dusted would start a violent attack right away, quite apart from any exposure to irritant out of doors. A few doses of BROMIUM completely stopped it. These BROMIUM hay fever cases may get asthmatic attacks which are fairly typical. They get very sudden spasmodic attacks with a sensation of extreme constriction of the chest, and extreme difficulty in swallowing. Another point is that although their apparent hay fever does not entirely subside at the seaside their asthma entirely goes. Another type in which BROMIUM is very useful is similar, the child is fat, tonsillar, sensitive to heat, with a definitely sluggish tendency and in addition there are generalised rheumatic pains, a type of muscular rheumatism. They are also very liable to cardiac affections, more likely a poorly acting cardiac muscle than a definite valvular lesion, but in some cases there is definite cardiac hypertrophy in that of child and they have improved very much indeed on BROMIUM. The constant in all these cases is the feeling of constriction in the chest, feeling of tightness or constriction over the heart. Another constant is that feeling of constriction has developed when they have been facing any wind; there is also the sensitiveness to draughts which is particularly noticeable in BROMIUM heart cases.