This explains why the hilariousness and exaltation of spirits at the banquet is followed by “Katzenjammer” [hangover] in the morning.  It also explains why many people do not feel fit for their day’s work unless they take a stimulant of some kind on arising.  Their blood is continually filled with uric acid to the point of saturation and the extra amount contained in the coffee or alcohol repeats the process of uric-acid precipitation, the temporary stimulation and relief.

Every time this precipitation of uric acid from the circulation is repeated, some of the morbid materials remain and accumulate in different parts and organs.  If these irritating substances become lodged in the joints and muscles, arthritic or muscular rheumatism is the result.  If acids, xanthines and oxalates of lime form earthy deposits along the walls of arteries and veins, these vessels harden and become inelastic, and their diameter is diminished.  This obstructs the free circulation of the blood and causes malnutrition of the brain and other vital organs.  Furthermore, the blood vessels become brittle and break easily and there is danger of hemorrhages.

This explains the origin and development of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and apoplexy.

Apoplexy may also be caused by other acids and drug poisons which soften, corrode and destroy the walls of the blood vessels in the brain.

In individuals of different constitutions, accumulations of uric acid, xanthines, oxalates of calcium and various other earthy substances form stones, gravel or sandy deposits in the kidneys, the gall bladder and in other parts and organs.

The diseases caused by permanent deposits of uric acid in the tissues are called arthritic diseases, because the accumulations frequently occur in the joints.

Thus we distinguish two distinct stages of uric acid diseases:  the collaemic stage, marked by an excess of uric acid in the circulation and resulting in occlusion of the capillary blood vessels, and the arthritic stage, marked by permanent deposits of uric acid and other earthy substances in the tissues of the body.

During the prevalence of the collaemic symptoms, that is, when the circulation is saturated with uric acid, the urine is also highly acid.  When precipitation of the acid materials from the blood into the tissues has taken place, the amount of acid in the urine decreases materially.

I have repeatedly stated that xanthines have the same effect upon the system as uric acid.  Caffeine and theobromine, the narcotic principles of coffee and tea, are xanthines; and so is the nicotine contained in tobacco.  Peas, beans, lentils, mushrooms and peanuts, besides being very rich in uric acid-producing proteins, carry also large percentages of xanthines, which are chemically almost identical with uric acid and have a similar effect upon the organism and its functions.