IRON HUNGER IN THE BLOOD.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10263, 4 February 1899, Page 9

IRON HUNGER IN THE BLOOD.

Those who have had the advantage of an opportunity of examining a drop of human blood under the microscope will have noticed with interest numerous round bodies which look like pennies or like rolls of coin, though without the aid of the magnifying glass they cannot be distinguished by the naked eye; they are the red corpuscles, called red, because when massed together in the blood they give the latter its characteristic colour, though under the microscopo they appear to have a yellow straw-like hue.

Upon the health., vigour, and number of the red corpuscles our very lives depend; the nourishment of every tissue in the body proceeds from the activity of these tiny globules, which receive the food digested by the stomach, and cany it wherever the blood travels.

Every ounce of healthy blood possesses many millions of red- corpuscles, but in states of disease many of them die; the symptoms which then arise are varied and troublesome, tho face becomes pale, the lips blanched,, and the complexion sallow, energy and rigour disappear, and life becomes a continual weariness; young women are particularly subject to antenna, as this poverty of blood is generally termed, and it is difficult to walk through.the streets of a large town wjthout encountering some white-faced sufferers from lack of red corpuscles.

The causes of antenna are numerous; insufficiency of food is quite enough to bring it about; costiveness is another very frequent cause, which acts by poisoning the blood and killing its corpusoles. Delicate persons become atpemic without apparent cause, even though they are wellfed, the probable reason being that the weakness of their digestive organs renders them unable to assimilate the food they eat. Those who lead a sedentary existence are prone to suffer from anaemia, for regular exercise and fresh air are very essential in keeping up tho number of the corpuscles. Sunlight is another requisite. Those who live in dark gloomy houses, and who at the same time fail to secure sufficient open-air exercise, droop and suffer from anemia, just as plants deprived of light lose their colour and vitality. Anromic persons almost always suffer from indigestion for the di« minished number of red corpuscles fail to carry off the food, which therefore decomposes in the stomach* - The treatment and cure of anaemia is fortunately more simple than that of an Other systemic disease. Anretnia might be translated into the phrase "iron hunger," and almost the only necessity is to administer a suitable form of iron. It is well, howevflr. to clear the system as well as possible first, by means of aperients, and as all iron medicines have a somewhat astringent effect, it is well to give an occasional laxative during the course of the treatment.

(Next week "Catching Cold.")