Apoplexia

Concerning Apoplexia, the Malady of Sudden Collapse

There is a disease most dread and swift in its working, which is called apoplexia. This ailment, being a critical imbalance of the sanguine humor, doth strike with the suddenness of lightning, and its effects are both dire and immediate. It is said by learned physicians and philosophers alike that apoplexia doth arise when the sanguine humor is so violently disordered as to bring great damage unto the heart, whereby the vital faculty is overthrown and life itself brought unto the threshold of extinction.

Causes

This malady is oft attributed unto preternatural agency, for the wise have spoken of a malicious Oameni hand in such sudden afflictions, naming it “impshot,” for it is believed that the half-lings, oft being envious or wrathful, do pierce the heart of man with invisible darts, causing grievous disruption to the natural harmony of his humors. Some do hold that other beings of ill intent, be they dark spirits or wicked sorcerers, may likewise work this baleful harm upon men, as an act of vengeance or malice.

Symptoms

The chief sign of apoplexia is a great and crushing pain upon the chest, as though the heart itself were stricken by a mighty blow. This pain is so intense as to drive the sufferer into immediate collapse, their strength failing utterly, and they do lie as one in a stupor or dead swoon. This is oft followed by a crisis most perilous, for the balance of the humors is gravely undone, and unless aid be given swiftly, the sufferer is likely to perish.

Treatment

Treatment for this malady is grievously difficult, for its swiftness doth confound all remedies. Yet, it is said that prayers and offerings made unto our Great Mother of Mercy, Maya, and her blessed Son, Lamus Sanator, may avail greatly, for they are patrons of the afflicted and keepers of the healing arts. The wise physician may also seek to restore the balance of the humors through bleeding, that the excess of the sanguine humor may be let out, and through the application of cooling and tempering remedies, such as acetum and aqua rosae, to calm the inflamed heart. Incantations against half-ling malice may also be employed, that the unnatural cause be driven out, and the body restored unto its natural harmony.

Prognosis

Short of powerful theurgia, the prognosis of this terrible malady is almost certain death. Thus doth Ator teach us the frailty of our mortal frame, and the need to walk ever within His Law, which alone can guard us from the shafts of unseen foes and the sudden stroke of death.