HEALTH HINTS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 72, 23 March 1912, Page 15

HEALTH HINTS.

» J FILTERED WATER. The desirability of filtering water on a small scale for drinking purposes has had many doubts thrown on it during late years. But Dr. Ferrier, in France, and I Dr. Rose, in Germany, have now come forward with the disturbing suggestion | that water deprived of its lime constitu- . ents by boiling has a disastrous iiifli|'iice in promoting decay of the teeth in chip j dren. A supply of lime, or calcium iv I some form or other, is of course, needed |by the body in order to build up its bones during growth, and it is needed in a smaller degree when the age of growth is passed to maintain various bony and | cartilaginous tissues. But the teeth and | their surroundings are extremely sensij live to any falling off in the supply of ' the compounds of lime, and in default ;of them begin to undergo modification |of their own chemical constitution. In 1 the process they become less resistant to ; the attack of the eight or nine varieties lof pathogenic microbes which may find I a tenancy in the mouth, and, according Ito the authorities'quoted, they become j specially susceptible to the microb I which produces dental car'os. Dr. Rose has examined the teeth of 87.(517 school j children from 1"-4 towns and villages situated in all parts of Germany, and hi' states positive!}- that the occurrence ol dental caries is always greatest where there is no lime in the water, and least where there is a good deal. Cause an.', effect are related mathematically, and can be represented by inverse curves. 'He adds that in some cases it his been [possible to arrest caries by ailminister- ; ing calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate in small doses. I FLATULENCE. I Very many people complain of what j they popularly term wind in the stomach lor flatulence, which is a collection of gas I generated in the stomach and bowels, always as the result of indigestion. The badly digested mass of food becomes decomposed by fermentation, giving rise to acidity and a gas which we call flatulence. The best treatment to adopt is to attend to the diet in such a way as to prevent the condition just described. Poods which are specially liable to pro duce flatulence an? —over-infused t'-a, soups, stewed meat, and certain articles that every individual knows to be indigestible in his own case. A good remedy is charcoal, which possesses tht power of absorbing the gas in addition to acting as a destructive agent on th" ferment. When flatulence becoms so bad as to produce distension of the stomach and bowels, it may give rise to other disagreeable feelings by interfering with the free movement of the chest. Thm. palpitation and breathlessness are fre quently due to flatulence, but the patient becomes uneasy because he imagines tint they are symptoms of heart or I >ng trouble. If the flatulence accumulates in big quantities in the lower bowel, relief may be obtained by using an enema consisting of one ounce of turoentine, two ounces of castor oil, the yolk of an et:s, and a pint of thin gruel beaten together and injected into the bowel where it may be retained for several hours.