HOME HEALTH

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 163, 13 July 1942, Page 5

HOME HEALTH

WATCH THAT PAIN

SYMPTOMS OP APPENDICITIS

(By the Health Department)

There would be no deaths from appendicitis if every case commencing with acute pain and developing tenderness and rigidity of the abdomen, together with quickening of the pulse, were operated on within 12 hours. This is the verdict of one of the world's leading doctors, and in vfew of the fact that deaths from appendicitis in New Zealand head the list in diseases of the digestive system, it is well worth serious thought.

As in the case of many other complaints, delay in getting proper medical advice is frequently fatal. Many people are condemned to a premature death simply because they, or possibly their close associates, don't think the complaint is worth a doctor's bother. Hew many times do sufferers themselves stubbornly refuse the services of a doctor simply because they think they're tough and able to weather anything without asking for help?

Appendicitis is a common intestinal disorder, and is caused mostly by some form of infection. It is known as a disease cf youth, because 50 per cent of it occurs before the 20th year, and it is equally common in the sexes. Symptoms of acute appendicitis are sudden, violent pain. In very severe cases, and especially in children, and with gangrene, there may be little pain after the first onset. Watch out for this. Pain can be misleading, and an appendicitis pain is not always in the region of the appendix. Fever is the most important feature, and nausea and vomiting are usually present in acute cases.

Don't take any chances when any of these symptoms present themselves. Call the doctor in immediately. And this is most important: Never give purgatives to a patient with an abdominal pain. Appendicitis is a surgical disease. There is no medicinal treatment.