TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 September 1928, Page 10

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.

TIPS TO THE LANGUID.

Here are some rules to be followed out for one month, two months, or longer if necessary, by those who ai e run down or look pale and thin ancl want to improve the general tone. They are recommended to both men a,nu women who are about to be mamed and are filled with the laudable intention of bringing perfect health to their married partners: — . , .. + . 1. The diet should be rich in tats, they are worth the money. Eggs, milk, butter, and cream are more valuable than any advertised foods. Bacon, brown bread, cocoa, and ti’pit ai ® good. The diet should be varied, and should contain fresh vegetables, salads dressed with oil, and any good food that is in season.

2. Take an egg beaten up in warm milk every morning at eleven. 3. Sleep with the window wide open; if possible, sleep on a. verandah or in the open air. Remember that delicate children in sanatoriums are put to t-deep in the open air, so surely you can stand it. Dismiss the-foolish idea that fresh air is poison. It is life, and the more you have of it the better you will be. Of all these rules this i ecommendation to sleep in the open air is the one most likely to bring the roses back to your cheeks. 4. Breathing exercises and singing are strongly recommended. They open up the lungs and ensure a liberal supply of fresh air to the whole body. They often cure headaches. 5. Go to bed at nine o’clock every night; regularity is the secret of success; the clockwork inside your brain likes regular hours. 6. Take a tepid sponge-down every morning, followed by a vigorous rub with a rough towel. The skin is as important as the kidneys or any other organ, and must be made to work well. Soaking in a hot bath is bad. 7. No cigarettes. Avoid smoky looms. No theatres or evening parties while you are undertaking the treatment.

8. Pay great attention to your teeth. Visit a dentist, have your teeth examined and then keep them in good condition. KEEP CHEERFUL! It is of the highest importance to cultivate a hopeful state of mind. Make the deliberate attempt to adopt <>. cheery optimism. Do not meet trouble half-way. Smile! Keep a record of the weight once a month, but not oftener. It is a mistake to rush, to the weighing-machine every other day and fall into despair because the weight does not show a rapid rise. An occasional dose of salts does no harm, but. pills, powder's, potions, and drugs are apt to prove false friends in the long run. Drink plenty of water, hot or cold. Regard the care of the health a.s a duty, and, having made up your mind to try this cure for a given period, stick to it bravely: the reward will come in feeling well and happy. Keep up the rules all your life if they suit you, but do not try them for less than one month. Nature works slowly and must be given a chance. Do not mind the money. Put. five pounds in your pocket and say, “I am going to buy five pounds worth of health.” You will get good interest on your money. Health not only makes you happy, but sheds happiness to others around. THE INSIDE OF THE NOSE. Boxers must beware of injury to the interior structures of the nose. A bang on the nose may cause external swelling and some bleeding, but these defects clear up in a few days. But if the inside of the nose was broken it may have healed up n a distorted position. The bridge of the nose is made of bone, and a fracture of the nose may result from a blow direct on the nose. The bones, generally heal up satisfactorily if they are given time. But the inside of the nose is made of cartilage or gristle; it can be buckled or bent, and the chief structure to be damaged is the central wall that divides the cavity of the nose into two halves. If the dividing wall or septum is bent sideways the effect is to block up one side The air we breathe should pass equally and leave the other side widely open, through both nostrils, but when the septum is deviated one side gets the whole rush, of air and the other side is stuffy and blocked up. The excessive rush of air through the open side dries up the healthy, moist lining, and gives rise to' an unpleasant sensation and a hawking in the back of the nose and throat. A catarrh of the nose may be cured by lotions and other treatment. But when the party wall is broken sideways nothing does any good but an operation.

A CAUSE OF HOARSENESS. I have often had occasion to remind you that, the body is a piece of clockwork, with each wheel depending on the action of other wheels. A pain in the heel may be due to a sharp stone in the kidney. A lump in the neck or armpit may owe its origin to a sore thumb. And the rule holds good for this question of deformed noses. If the nasal cavity fails in its duty ui warming and moistening the air, the voice-box and the lungs begin to grumble. A hoarse voice and a chronic cough may be the result of a deformed nose. The nose is part of the breathing apparatus, and must not be forgotten.

1 A FREE AIR-WAY.

Noses are made to breathe with. Never mind whether it is a Roman nose, or a snub nose, or “tip-tilted like a petal of a flower,” its job is to conduct the air down into the lungs. The nose is invaluable as a filter, a warming apparatus, and a moistening chamber. We examine the reports of ten thousand cases of consumption of the lungs, and we find that a considerable percentage have defective noses. Polypi or adenoids or a deformed cartilage may block the nose, and the lungs are not properly filled at each breath, and are robbed of the protection that a healthy nose should afford. And when the tuberele bacilli that float in the air of every town come across such a case they feel they have an easy task in settling down in the lung; it is a desirable residence for them.