"Doctor's Orders" Prevention Is Better Than Cure ...

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 99, 29 April 1939, Page 17 (Supplement)

"Doctor's Orders" Prevention Is Better Than Cure ...

THE treatment of piles is generally the treatment of constipation, and, as 1 have always written in these columns, prevention is better than cure. No baby is born with piles; they come as the result of carelessness, neglect and an absurd appetite for drugs and purging medicines. d Piles are varicose veins. They consist e of blood-vessels through which the blood e in flowing. Where is it flowing to? To a the liver. It follows from this that y congestion of the liver leads to congestion of the veins in the piles. A natural t, daily action in a healthy individual does ;s not lead to piles; but a period of constipation followed by a violent purge, which once again leads to constipation, sets up a vicious circle and makes the piles worse. ig We are creatures of habit. If a man has taken strong purgatives for many :t years he will probably have great diffi(S culty in leaving them off. The natural >e treatment of constipation will prevent piles and cure them if they have not grown too large in the course of years. Xow you know that the blood-stream flows "from the lower parts of the bowel y. to the liver, you will understand that ,e the treatment of indigestion and over's loading of the liver will often cure piles. d, Food And Exercise iy The relation of food to exercise has ir a most important 'bearing on the matter. If you can ony take a ve.y small amount of exercise you must only take a small quantity of food. Food is the fuel that keeps the furnaces of the body going. ?" If the furnaces burn a lot, more fuel 9 is needed. If a young man is doing hard physical work all day in the open J).' air. he must have a large quantity of ? food. But the man who is too fat to ke want to walk more than is necessary, and who chooses his new house because it is nearer the station and saves him three minutes' walk night and morning. .• that man should take a very small quantity. Slabs of beef are not needed ' to carrv a man a hundred yards to the station. Perhaps one-third of one slab is needed, and the rest of the slab lies on his liver and . impedes the free cirV culation. Piles result, and he thinks that the effect of the slabs is cancelled by the application of some patent ointment. 119 f|*f /* iv The Cut€ he I. (jet up ten minutes earlier than usual and go through some simple exeri," rises. Bend up and down from side tn .side, pressing the hands well into ul the sides--t hat has the effect of rubbing and massaging the liver.

ByA Family Doctor

i ' 2. Drink a large tumbler of water on an empty stomach. That has the effect | of washing out the stomach and cleans- , ing it as a good start for the day. ; 3. Eat your breakfast slowly, avoid . bacon that is too fat. and avoid greasy 1 things, such as fish done in oil. i 4. Regular habits. The human - organism appreciates time-keeping. > 5. Reduce the quantity of food taken > by one-third. Only one meat meal a J day. l 6. Attention to teeth. f 7. Avoidance of alcohol. Beer and . stout are not desirable. I 8. The dietary should include plenty t of fresh fruit, vegetables and brown t bread. i Insect Pests ' The insect world has been accused of many crimes and every year the little " peste are found guilty. The worst of '• it is that they do not appear to be ashamed of themselves. I am afraid it is no good appealing to the honour of s a louse or the better feelings of a mos- '. quito. We shall have to go for them t tooth and nail. The human race is really II very stupid. One concentrated effort t would exterminate many of our insect r, pests once and for all. Insects appear ■1 to think that they can live on human g beings without paying rent or income n tax, and it is time they were disabused f of their complacent ideas. Seen under o the microscope, that nasty little ereature, the scabies insect, shows legs and e claws, and, unless I am much mistaken, n a villainous leer on his ugly face. ii The Scabies Insect d Every doctor knows how to settle his e little game for him. There are certain k things the scabies insect loathes, and it a is our delight to shove down his throat '" exactly those things. The first thing 8 he dislikes is cleanliness. No welld brought-up body insect can understand t how anybody can object *to his presence; personal hygiene is a thing beyond the comprehension of all insects and some human beings. Clean linen, well-aired n mattresses, frequent baths, soap and •- water, all these turn a scabies insect e pale with horror. But ordinary washing o will not remove him entirely, because, i- a« I have explained, he is not on the •urface of th- skin but hidden in little

burrows, which can he seen with a magnifying glass. The application that annoys him most is sulphur mixed with prease in the form of sulphur ointment. The Use of Ointment The sulphur ointment does its work better if it is used after the pores of the skin have been opened by a hot bath. Three hot bathe on three successive days will destroy the insects. If a few spot • of itching remain, the sulphur ointment may be applied locally. Pay special attention to the spaces between the fingers. One word of warning. Do not continue the use of sulphur after three or four days unless under ;• oper advice. If you rub sulphur violc.;.l\ into the skin it will itself cause a sort of eczema; no skin can stand continual applications of sulphur; three or four days' treatment is enough. A Word to Mothers Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to compile a list of extinct diseases. Have vou ever been to a natural history museum and seen a skeleton of a pleeiosaurus or a ichthyosaurus, or some other saurus, with a body as big as a motor bus ? Well, they are extinct, done for, wiped off the face of the earth for ever, never to return. Now, do give me the chance to mount a specimen of a scabies insect and point to it as the last of the Mohicans, the sole remaining , member of its tribe. It" would be a , triumph. You can do it if you try. As • this complaint can be handed on from a l dirty person to a clean person, you have ! my permission to say or do anything L you like to the dirty people. Attack ■ them in every way you know. Denounce ■ them, report them, jump on them, do L anything, until public feeling makes , them ashamed of themselves. If you find in the schools that some mothers send their children with the itch to sit next to your nice, clean darling, make s it hot for the offending person. Do not L take it lying down. Up, mothers, and - at 'em! r Keep Cheerful I am not sure whether a melancholy I disposition causes constipation, or ; whether constipation causes a melan- > oholy disposition. Possibly fhere is ; some truth in both sides of the quesl tion. Anyway, try and keep cheerful I as part of the treatment; it helps wont derfully. If you laugh, it forms a splenr did exercise "for the diaphragm and all , the abdominal muscles that play such ; an important part in the functions of 5 .the liver and bowels.