A Doctor Who Tells

Evening Star, Issue 26091, 3 May 1947, Page 10

A Doctor Who Tells

The Diary of

PLAIN TALK TO THIN PEOPLE

Monday, April 28. “1 think you’re underweight,”, 1 said in a critical mood to 22-year-old • Janet .Dudley this evening, as we ■ finished our interview.. Yes, 1 know,” said Janet, ‘‘ but I’m the thin type. It doesn’t seem to matter what 1 eat, 1 just don’t put on any weight. Some people are like that, aren’t they ? ” .. " ■“ Some people put on'i or fail to put on, weight much more * easily than others,’’ i admitted, “ but the matter. • is usually, open to adjustment by iutel- , ■ ligen t dieting, especially, in the young. ’ ’ “ Oh, .it 'just doesn’t matter what I eat or - drink,” persisted Janet. “ Wliy, I’m always drinking niilk, and ! I’m fond of potatoes and all that sortof- thing.” . - ' , ’ “ There’s' a popujar. myth -that thinning, or fattening' is solely related to milk, and potatoes,” I said. Actually both articles - have very, little to do with it, when considered : oh their' own. Anyway, how. muchinilk.do you really drink a day ? ” : “ Always one . glass,' and sometimes 1 two,”.,said Janet proudly. • V Well, you can forget it, as any t substantial ..contribution . towards shaping your; figure ; one way .or the. other,” 1 said. , Jane wanted to know, what "she could do to put a little more weight. ■ “ There are three things involved,” I told her, “ the food you eat, the -<activity you undertake, •; qud the amount of sleep or rest you have. . “ People - who -Tun . round at high , /pressure and don’t average'eight liouis’ v sleep‘a . night throughout the week; will : ' .find it-hard-to accumulate any reserve .weight. They’ don’.t live on their daily ■ intake; and often even that isn’t ■ enough ■ “ First, as to food,” 1 continued.. ; ‘A Winter’s coming on, and you should: see to it that you have a good break- ‘ fast, 1 with porridge and another course containing an egg. Have plenty of milk in the porridge.” “Oh, I hate porridge,’’ said Janet, z. making a grimace. “ Anyway; Pin not ■:.* Lbig, breakfast, eater,, at any time.’’ “:Now;-we’re-. getting- at the truth about your thinness,” 1 ihrusted. , v “To continue. —be sure and have a -tr reasonable lunch, .and- by that'lvdon’t . mean a salad and an ice cream. “. Salads are good, but they’re'what • might, be called accompanying foods, 4 • rather, than actual foods themselves. ■ An ice cream is quite nice as'a pleasant . extra.-; Have some bread—preferably .wholemeal bread—and-butter. If you have some meat or cheese with it, so . much the'better.” ' ■ - “Oh - ' • vou’vo put me off my dinner already by filling me up like that for the first two meals- of the day;!- 1 -'said Janet. “ And I’m never . very; hungry .atAu.nchy-really.” ‘ “ Perhaps ~itV because .you smoke too 'much-, in the morning,” 1 said. - ' Smoking can'have quite an effect on appetite. That’s why people who suddenly stop smoking often begin to put on weight ” “ And as for dinner, well,; have an ordinary, good dinner |wlieri you get - hope, ana try not to rush it. If-you’re going .out in the evehing, get home a little earlier,, and take your: time : over it,” 1 added. /“ WTelI,-.at Jeast.'l’ntto be allowed to .. go out in the'evening sometimes,” said Janet, a little- sarcastically. . “ I-thought you were going to say 1 shouldistop at home six . nights out of seven.” . ■■ ; v ■■ - " “ Say. three out of seven,” 1 said, .“ You gave me a bit of a shock when you sai(l that potatoes weren’t, fattening,” said. Janet. “ How can I find out what foods are fattening and what aren’t?” “ That’s not quite what I said.,” I contradicted. “ What. I'mean is that there’s no need to single out special foods as if they were the chief criminal ■ in the story. “ All food fattens in that all foods have some’sort of calorific value. Why don’t'you buy one of those small books on food'values and make up your own weight-producing menu?” I gave her the names of a couple, and Janet said she’d see about it. “ You said something about exercise and'sleep;” said Janet. “ Where do they come in?” ‘.‘-It’s-just a matter of intake and output,” I said. . ■ ' . “ Food is a fuel, and 7 the more /we make-the'liody work in such a way that the. fuel is burnt up, the more food we want.” It’s true enough that the same menu has different weight results on'different people,-for, we are not all built the sathe way in regard to our glands and ouir.activities. - ' Some body engines seem , to need more food to the mile than others. Tuesday, April 29. , “ I’m only, sft 2in,” said Charles Wright this evening, coming straight to; the point of his visit, “ and I’m worried* about it.”

" I’m 26 now and 1 suppose I’ve stopped growing. What can 1 do to increase my height?” “1 don’t know of anything at all,” I said. “ Once what are called the epiphyses of . the bones have united, the height is just about determined. “ The best way to compensate is to make sure you have a perfect carriage, and, if you like, do some exercises to help you to produce a more erect posture. “If it’s any consolation,” I told Charles, “ many of the 'World’s greatest men have been below average height. “ Your place in the world is determined by what you do, and not by the number oi inches you reach upward.” Doesn’t the Bible ask what man can, merely by giving thought, add to his stature? Wednesday, April 30. ■ Arthur Ryan reported this afternoon, looking quite ill and displaying ' a -most unpleasant-looking red swelling on .the' back of his neck. ■ “ i t’s been coming tip for some time, and I thought I’d better be brave and have it la uced,” he said, ' “ It was so bad at work this morning that I feel I can’t stand it any longer.”, “ That’s a carbuncle,” 1 told him, “ and what you need for it right now is some penicillin. Go homeland I’ll come and see you in an hour or so.” “ And will that fix it all right?” asked-Ryan. . . ; “I hope so/’ I said. “Penicillin has proved,-the remedy: of choice in many of these things, and if .we’ve; only got in early enough on this one of yours we can probably abort it.” I did some tests on Ryan before he went; and discovered that he was showing some sugar. ' Carbuncles are sometimes associated - with diabetes, and anyone who has one also needs a thorough medical examination. • If Ryan had reported too late for ’penicillin-to abort the carbuncle, we can at least clear it up much more quickly than formerly used to be the case.. Sometimes the rapidity, of relief from ;pain and infection by this hew treatment is quite dramatic and takes place in a matter of hours. Karl Marx suffered badly from carbuncles and boils, among other ailments (including haemorrhoids, which prevented him from sitting down comfortably for days at a time). J . It’s interesting to speculate whether his famous book might have been written .differently, if at all, if penicillin had been invented at the time. Thursday, May 1. . “You look slightly ruffled,” said the E.N. and T. bloke to the Junior Physician: as the latter came into the honoraries’ room for afternoon tea today. . , So would you if you’d been struggling with a case of delirium tremens who mistook the sister for an attacking crocodile, or something,”, retorted the Junior Physician._ “ It was quite a little struggle till a wardsman came along and helped the policeman and.me to calm tilings down a bit.” • “ At least you had a policeman,” said the E.N. and T. bloke. “ Oh, yes, it was the policeman who brought him along to the _ casualty room,” said the Junior Physician. “ As I read somewhere the other day,” commented the E.N. and T. bloke, “the policeman caught him with his pints down.” “ Must you ?” protested the Junior Physician.- “By the way, the victim this' time happens to be one of' 1 my by?n patients'who’d been to town and gone on the loose.” “ Doesn’t sqy much for your treatment,” chided the E.N. and T. bloke. “I thought I’d fix him,” said the Junior Physician. / i , “He’s a decent enough bloke, really; just goes on the liquor every six months or so, or at least he used to till he came for treatment. “ The last outburst was two years ago, and I told him when he’d recovered that in his case any sort of alcohol, however mild, .was a. poison, and that it had a trigger effect.oll his mental balance. Just one drink and the gun went off. “ He seemed suitably impressed and said he’d never have another drop.” “Probably met an old friend, who told him not to be a sissy,” said the E.N. and T. bloke. “ Pd like to sentence the friend to sit with him for the next three or four days till' he recovers.” said the Junior Physician savagely. - Friday, May 2. From this week’s .reading . . . about husbands, wives, arid children:— Husbands: “The trouble with a husband who has to work like a horse to keep the family in modest luxury is that when he comes home at night the only thing he often wants to - do is to hit the hay.” Wives: “ Most women are only' satisfied and satisfactory when under the influence of a dominant male.”