MEDICAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 12 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

radium and the poor. TANNIN FOR BURNS. HEART AND STIMULANTS, k " (By PERITUS.) / The Radiologists' Conference at' Toi*fonto brought before the profession and the public a record of seven years of work in cancer fighting by Dr. Barbara Hunt, who has a private clinic where she uses X-rays and,- radium. Superficial eancer, she found, - could be. caused by almost any form of continued irritation, i from the pressure and friction of spectacle frames, sunburn,; windand salt •water exposure in- sailers. .. In all such cases there were many cures";by radiation, and radium. In view of the., nature pf this treatment, it was; int%-alia, suggested that all radiologists should be registered to distinguish them'jrom. untrained radio 'Specialists'' who'llW offer: treatment as such. .It was' shoTCn;that X-ray treatment was successfully - ex"tended to non-malignant growths, to goitre and other semi-superficial tumcurs. It is amongst wage earners of the poorer class whose work exposes them to various forms of irrigation that cancer most often develops. It is for this class that there is much anxiety at present, because X-ray or radium treatment, with or without surgical operation, is very expensive, and there is a lack of funds provided to supply the means of doing what is. impossible in poverty. It is essential that in e£ch country there should -be a fund", established for the purpose of medical relief, a fund not to 1 he frittered away by a multitude of officials, but one to be drawn upon by an honorary medical committee having evidence, on the certificate of two medical men, that it is required by a person needing this special treatment; and unable to pay for it. Transport to . the place where aid can be given, cost of maintenance there, and cost of .treatment included'.. : Burns. - The tannic,acid treatment of burns and scalds, referred to in' this column some time ago when "first introduced, comes in for a detailed description in a recent copy of a medical journal, ' Amongst injured'-'children (Edinburgh University Hospital). the dekth rate..has' been-; rc-' duced from 38.7 per cent:to 10.5. per cent. An ordinary scent spray is lised, and the acid can be kept and diluted (2.5 per cent) as. required. ' After the first' few applications, pain is relieved and disappears. /The parts" rapidly become insensitive, . and subsequent spraying causes no discomfort. The thin brown leathery coagulated layer can be handled freely without risk of conveying infection to the underlying tissues, and its rigid splint-like character ensures; the best conditions for the healing processes be- ... neath if; In uncomplicated cases, the tannin , covering should be left' until it peels, off readily, which, it will do within two or three ■weeks in burns of the second or third degrees. Areas 1 still uncovered by skin are protected by sterile vaseline applied on strips of gauze. When sepsis . is suspected, from the reddening of the surrounding skin or from the presence of a little eero-purulent discharge from the edge of the covering,'no special treatment is necessary if the patient's general condition remains satisfactory. It is not suggested as a "home" or firstaid treatment or for mild cases, but in a very severe case (with a prospect of foUowing shock) occurring beyond the reach of: speedy medical aid, life may be , saved by having the acid and the spray at hand. The number of cases of burning, ,and the number of severe cases !(and deaths) have been greatly reduced by the use of modern, methods of heating knd lighting by the public. Heart "Tonics." The varying nature of "heart failure" has caused much difference of opinion as to the value of the various stimulants Used to steady or increase the force of a Weakening heart muscle. It is said that brandy has no direct action upon the heart, but it acts well jtn many cases by. stimulating the nerve centres and _ Bilating the small arteries/ and the heart thus obtains some mechanical relief (release from overpressure) gnd increased fiervous force. Strychnine and pituitrin &ct in other former contracting muscular tissue, and tha latter , contracting the smaller arteries. The initreased resistance against blood flow A paused ;fiy tightening up the arteries is <1 a heart stimulant by an opposite method .1 to. that of alcoholic stimulation, and not " suited to an already wearied heart. > In (Ordinary, emotional fainting, a few sips of cold' water and a recumbent position Wil] do-all that is necessary. Some.of • the old dentists use nitrate of amyl for faininess, this drug acting as a dilator of the arteries. In the faintness -which is of ndrvous origin, due to cerebral .causes,, a lowering of the head between the knees (when seated) and the consequent congestion about the head keck quickly restore the patient. There is no doubt that the public's attachment to brandy as a heart stimulant is founded upon experience, and the manner of. its action is, to the layman, immaterial. The recently over-praised Camphor injections are now declared to \ be harmful except -in cases where the | trouble is more a failure of the l'espir- • | a tory centre, due to lack- of air. This = \ reads ag if the dentist would .find cam- s phor useful in fainting after nitrous g oxide inhalation. Many cases of syn- | cope (fainting), so-called, are really a | r form of epilepsy in which stimulants are | ■of no use and often wrongly; given. An | examination of the patient's pulse will | enable the attendant to distinguish f fainting from a "fit" as a cause of, unconsciousness. Inversely it is possible for a "heart attack" to closely reset hie epilepsy,. and this-has been proved by many tests at the hospital for epileptics, ju London. • Emotional fainting is much less com- ( inon than it was years ago, and has gone tint of fashion with. weeping, and the- i hearty noisy laughter of our hig - ] livers of early Victorian days. At that time "my lady" had the "megrims, her maid was peculiarly'hysterical, and t e Goodman" of the" house would eat .and"rink excessively until he "took ali , I and the nearest barber-surgeon wouia | bleed him. Probably simple fainting received the same treatment, although brandy, and sal-volatile, and burnt feathers were iwed freely. . _ ~ '