TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 January 1929, Page 10

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. A Nurse’s Duty to Herself.' A nurse must never forget her duty to herself. Nurse A sits up all day, all night, and all the next day, has scrappy cold meals at irregular times, and takes no refreshing strolls in the air. At the end of a week she breaks down. Now a broken-down nurse, who bursts into tears because she cannot bear her headache, is no good to anyone. She must either be dismissed or put to bed, and then there are two patients instead of one. Nurse B sees that the patient’s bed is clean and tidy, and then goes off do have a jolly good snooze, and sleeps the sleep of the just. She gets up and has a bath, a thundering good breakfast—it is impossible to do a hard day’s work on an empty stomach — she goes for a nice walk, and turns up to duty fit and smiling. It makes the patient feel better to see her; it gives the poor fellow fits to see the other nurse with dark circles under her eyes and a gloomy expression. And if the patient and nurse are husband and wife, the rule holds good with all the more force. It distresses the hus-band-patient to see the wife-nurse visibly drooping. He longs for her to go and lie down, or have a walk, or a ride in a car. A nurse should be -attentive, but not fussy and meddlesome, and should know when to leave the sick man alone.

Diet and Bone-forming.

When a child’s legs begin to curve un-naturally it is not a sign that he has begun to walk too early, but that his diet lias been unsuitable. Bones contain mineral salts; the most important ones are calcium salts. They help to form the hard framework of the bone, while the soft marrow gives the bone life and makes it grow. A diet deficient in bone-forming material 'eaves the bones too weak to bear the •eight of the body. At the first sign of deformity the child should be kept off its feet by applying wooden splints that project beyond the feet. At the ■ame time the diet should be altered ,- n the direction of making it more generous. Milk should be the foundation, because milk contains in abundance the material the bones require. In addition, bacon fat, all fresh vegetables that are in season, fruit, or •imply the fruit juice, extra cream nice a day; cod-liver oil, strong gravy and potatoes, find sugar should be given. The cure of bone-deformities resolves itself into finding money to buy good food and plenty of it. Fresh air is essential, as it purifies the blood ‘hat is sent to the bones. No More Hunchbacks. Very soon the splints may be discarded, and the child allowed to run a,bout. The bones will come straight with time. It is sad to think that the grown-up mon and women one sees walking about deformed with rickets since babyhood could all have been cured. The other side of the question is very bright, because we shall never see these grown-up hunchbacks again; they 7 will all be prevented by hygienic measures, and in 1960, though their skeletons may be seen in museums as a, memento of a dark and unhappy past, no cripples will be seen walking in the streets. A Fearful Disease. Rickets cannot be allowed to flourish as a. disease in the middle of he British Empire. When a child is born it must pass through a bony ring. The effect of rickets is to narrow that bony ring, and when the little rickety* girl has grown up, married, and is about to become a mother, her sufferings are very terrible. Rickets is a cruel tragedy, and all decent parents should fight against it with all their might. Plenty of sunshine and nourishing food are essential.

The Doctor’s Prescription.

You remember the old story of the fat man who called to see the doctor and asked how he could reduce his bulk? The doctor told him to go and punch the nearest policeman on the nose as hard as he could, and refuse to give an undertaking to the magistrate that he would be of good conduct. The fat old gentleman got a month’s hard labour on prison diet, and came out with a figure like a fairy. And now to be serious again. Z I forbid you to take remedies for reducing fat. Most of them contain an acid, and as the drug turns everything acid and prevents you from getting the proper nourishment out of your food, of course you get thin. To upset your digestion is a grand way to get thin. A Chinaman once burnt his house down in order’ to roast a pig he had tied up inside. He got roast pig all right, but lost his house. If you take the acid remedies, you will get thin all right, but you will lose your health.