TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 February 1929, Page 4

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. Chronic Bronchitis. One of the most trying of ailments for its victims, »and little less trying for the doctor asked to give useful advice or helpful treatment, is the ailment known as chronic bronchitis.. Again and again, the only treatment which the doctor thinks worth talking about is hopelessly impracticable for the patient, for financial, business 01 domestic reasons. And . the resiilt nearly always is some kind of lame compromise in which the doctor has no confidence and in which the patient gets small gain. Wo do not really know the causes or circumstances to which this disease is to be attributed. We know, oi. course, quite a number of conditions which almost certainly are contributory factors in a majority of cases. But there are so many exceptions that it is impossible to set down a table of positive advice or of prohibitions the strict observance of which would ensure freedom from chronic bronchitis. Also we find in practice that often, even in matters of climate, one man’s meat is another man’s poison. As a general rule, those few individuals subject to this disorder who are free to choose their place of residence will bo found to do best in dry, equable climate, where rain and cold are relatively infrequent. Harmful Factors.

What then can the ordinary man of moderate means, dependent on his daily work for his livelihood, do if he has the bad luck to be subject to attacks of this most disabling malady? Except in very advanced cases, a purely indoor life is undesirable; and therefore an occupation confining the patient to long hours every day within the four walls of a factory, workshop or office —perjiaps none too well ventilated —especially 7 if the work involves the inhalation of large quantities of dust, should be avoided where possible. Tobacco smoking is, on the whole, harmful, though many habitues get momentary relief from a pipe or cigarette. Diet is undoubtedly a factor. Heavy meals should be avoided, as also should cake, pastry and semiliquid foods, such as soups and stews. These tend to promote flatulence; and the distension thereupon resulting affects the breathing. The daily food should include a reasonable amount of fresh fruit, and generally wholemeal bread is to be preferred to white. The slightest tendency to constipation should be corrected, as nothing so tends to bring on an attack in those liable. Mistakes in Clothing. In the matter of clothing, most bronchitics are inclined to coddle and overload themselves. Indeed, it is probable that overclothing, by its interference with, th© normal functioning of the skin and the natural mechanism of heat-regulation within the body, is calculated to bring about a state of affairs entirely favourable to. a catarrhal condition of the bronchial mucus membrane. . , Clothing, then, should desirably be light in weight at all seasons, though of a texture to retain warmth in winter and exclude it in hot weather. In other words, its structure should be such as conducts heat with least efficiency. Flannel or loosely-woven garments, with cellular cotton next the skin, are excellent. Mufflers round the throat, flannel chest protectors and the like are to be deprecated; they belong to a mistaken notion of health and disease, and to outworn conceptions of human physiology. Drugs rarely play other than a small part in such relief as is obtainable, though the victims of chronic bronchitis are among the greatest devotees of the medicine bottle. In any case, it is wise to make no attempt to drug oneself. A prescription from a doctor will probably do little enough, but at least, he will know what to avoid.