TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 June 1932, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH

[BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.]

A TALK ABOUT EYES. S Eyes (U’Q worth a good deal more than their weight in gold. I can provide you with a wooden leg, some false teeth, and a wig, but I cannot give you a false eye. If you lose your eye there is no artificial substitute. Beginning at the earliest years of life, I have to remind you that new-born children are liable to an inflammation of the eyes which is dangerous to the baby and dangerous to others who may catch the infection from the matter which freely flows from the infected eyes. It is because this dis-, ease is so common that the very proper precaution ''has been recommended of dropping a. few drops of some disinfectant into the eyes of every new-born baby. The disinfectant used is a weak solution of silver nitrate, and such a solution ought to be found in the outfit of every midwife. It is ghastly to learn that of all the children in a blind ’asylum, onethird of the number owe their blind-ness-to this disease of the new-born.

DANGER AFTER MEASLES. Coming now to the children a little Older, we find that measles may be followed by an inflammation of one or both eyes. You know we never say now, “It is only measles”; we regard measles as a disease that requires a great deal of care, both at the time the'rash is out and also ,for a few weeks afterwards. And this infection of the eyes is one of the reasons why we insist on your watching over your children with measles with especial care. I really cannot have you allowing the child to run about directly the rash is gone—bronchitis, following measles is a common cause of death in infants. But for the moment, I am talking about eyes, not chests, and I want you to remember that the eyes may be affected by measles if you are not careful. ' Following the child through his life, we come to school age. The school doctor will find out if glasses are needed, and. all I want to impress on you now is the urgent heed of carrying put the doctor’s suggestions. It makes me weep when I find twenty children in a school suffering froni eye-strain, and when I come round six weeks after to see what has been done I find that only four out of the twenty have been to the hospital to get glasses. The eyes of growing children must be taken care of, and I cannot allow a child who needs glasses to go on straining his eyes; he gets headaches, and no wonder. And you btiy some disgusting medicine, and ram it down into his longsnilering stomach and think you have dope your duty by him. Oh, dear! a bottle of medicine in his stomach when he wants glasses for his eyes! You might just as well get him to swallow a pair of glasses to.cure a stomachache.

GLASSES AT FORTY-FIVE. Now 1 we jump a good many years, and arrive af the age of forty-five. The large majority of people use glasses for close work at forty-five. Not for seeing distances, but for close work. As agp advances you Recorne longsighted. Ypq see Granqy holding the book farther and farther away from her as she grows older. A pair of glasses for reading or sewing pr playing inqsic will often cure headaches. It is worth while paying a tew more shillings to get a good pair. Ant] you must not wear glasses ordered for someone else —it is Rad for your eyes and may do more harm than good.

CARE OF THE EYES. To preserve your eyes, sit in a good light when reading or writing. Spme misguided folk actually read by firelight—a dangerous habit. The light should fall over the left shoulder so that the hand does not cast a shadow on the'portion of paper to bo written on. Small print is’ harmful to the eyes, and 'all children’s books should be chosen as much for the clearness of the print as for the matter qf the text. As we grow old the tendency ■is for the sight to grow longer. You often see elderly people holding the book at almost arms’ length, and throwing the head back in order tp increase the distance between the back of the eyes where the focussed rays fall and the print. If a man is shortsighted he finds his sight improving with advancing .years; the long sight he was born with. Glasses should be adjusted once’in two years—the eyes alter, the glasses remain the same. Great relipf is found when spectacles that were bought six or seven years ago are discarded for new and mor.? suitable lenses. It pays to have your eyes examined by a specialist; you must not buy a. pair of spectacles as you might buy a banana.

INFLAMED EYES. ' These few hints on the subject of inflamed eyes will be found very useful. Some cases are infectious and some are not. The infectious cases are accompanied by a. thick yellowish discharge. You must not allow that discharge to collect at night time when you are asleep; it is a bad thing when tho lids get stuck together, for then the discharge is pent up against thq eye and makes the inflammation worse. To prevent the lids sticking, smear them well at night-time with vaseline or a little boracic ointment; it will do no harm if sopie gets right in the eye. Remember that this disi charge is infectious. If some of that matter comes from the eye, of someone else the healthy eye will become inflamed in the same way. The patient with discharging eyes must take scrupulous care to use his own special towel and sponge and handkerchief; and if the patient is a child he must sleep alone as the pillow might become infected with the matter flowing from the eyes. I always advise my readers to beware of the towel which is hung up in the common lavatory used by a number.of people. There is not so much danger in using it for the hands alone, but there is a real danger in wiping the face and eyes with such a towel.