TALKS ON HEALTH

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 February 1938, Page 11

TALKS ON HEALTH

TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTION

(By a Family Doctor)

-There may he different views about the relative values o£ the various methods of treating consumption, but there is no difference of opinion about the urgent necessity of starting the treatment early, ft fills the doctor with despair when, at his first examination, he finds signs of consumption which have been there for months. We ought to put up a better fight against tuberculosis than we do and it. can only be done by co-operation. We must work together. I do not think you ought to say to yourself, “I have had a bad cold for months, but I am not going to do anything about it.” In most cases it is a question of funk. You do not like to face the truth. If you have consumption you would rather not know it. May I encourage you to be brave and face the truth? Remember that when you cough you are spreading the infection to those around you who ought to be dear and precious in your sight. You have no right to say. “I know 1 maybe infecting my children by coughing germs over them, but I don’t care if I am.” If we are to cure you we must see you early, not when the disease has got a hold of you. Consumption is no longer a mystery. We do not believe that it comes from sun-spots or eclipses of the moon or the evil of a witch. Everyone who has consumption caught it from some other consumptive. If it were possible to take all the consumptives out of New Zealand in a fleet of ships, we should never see a case of consumption again. Think of others; live for others; never mind about yourself. If you have any doubt about your own lungs you must seek immediate advice, for the sake of the others whom you may infect.

PERSISTENCY OF' GERMS. Germs are mischievous rascals: they ’adopt all sorts of dodges to escape detection and destruction. They are so small that no one can see them, and they hide in the most cunning fashion. Moreover, they can travel about. If they get into the body; they try to reach the bloodstream. They do not want to stay in one part of the body: they are adventurous, like the pioneers and explorers of old. The little wretches are not content to stay in the tonsils; they try to reach the heart. They will not rest in the lungs; they strive to reach the voice box and destroy the voice. No policeman can keep the germs in the finger; they insist on going up the arm to the armpit. or they swim in the blood from the toe to the groin. CHILDREN’S THROATS. An examination into the history of a hundred cases of heart disease in children shows that many of the sufferers had tonsilitis. We therefore hope in the future to reduce the number by taking care of the throats. Healthy throats will prevent heart disease. Never talk to me about the tonsils being a long way from the heart, because I shall not listen to you. It takes a second or two for the blood that is now in the tonsils to reach the heart. If we can get the children's throats healthy we shall have done a grand piece of work in the prevention of illness. The mouth should be spotless. In fact, I will now call upon you to send for your children so that you may have a look at the inside of their mouths in a good light. If there is any sign of inflammation in any tooth or gum or tonsil, or if the child cannot breathe through his nose on account of adenoids, he is running the risk of damage to the valves of the heart. How do I know? Because I have performed post-mortem examinations on dead children and found the same germs in the throat and in the heart —exactly the same. I do not want to carry out. a post-mortem on your child.

I’lease give your children brown bread. If they have it. from the start thej' grow r up with ii and look upon it as the usual form of bread. It is only when they are asked to give up their old friend, the white bread, that they feel strange. Brown bread contains more nourishment. The husks and portions that cannot be digested form a slight residue that acts as a natural aperient. Bread is deficient in fat; that is why it is the custom to eat butter with bread. Dripping is an excellent food for children. Bread forms such a large proportion of our diet that we ought to get the best. You like to see the Hour nice and white, and therefore it is bleached for you, but it adds nothing to the nourishing properties of bread to have the Hour whitened by chemicals. And may I add that bread, of whatever colour or \ariety. must be well masticated if it is to form good blood? Gobbled bread is useless except to form flatulence. The mill-stones did not perform all the work. Your own grinders in your own mouths must do their share.

AN INJURED KNEE. An injury to the knee, with the formation of fluid at the joint, is never a matter which you can afford to neglect. It pays in the long run to knock off work at once and rest. A splint, well covered with lint, so that the hard wood does not feel uncomfortable against the skin, should be worn at the back of the knee to prevent any movement. A dressing known as Scott’s dressing should be applied, and a bandage firmly wound round the swollen area. The leg should not be used to bear the weight of the body at all. In a few days the swelling will have gone down, and at the end of a week the knee may be moved very gently. The object,, is to avoid moving the knee too soon, as it might bring the water back, and, on the other hand, to avoid keeping the knee stiff too long, for fear that it may grow permanently stiff. The best plan is to begin moving the joint very gradually, increasing the range of movement a little day by day. A knee that has once been injured is more susceptible to injury a second time, therefore a generous period should be allowed for (he knee to regain its strength before it is made to do full work. In the case of a frequent recurrence of the water on the knee, say two or three times in the year, it is an indication that there is something wrong with the inside of the joint, and an operation may be necessary to remove the damaged cartilage from the knee. The removal of the cartilage does not interfere with the free movement of the knee when once the wound is healed up.

MUSIC FOR HEALTH. Learn to play a musical instrument; it is good for your health. Just when you are going to worry yourself into an attack of influenza, you take up your violin or else your concertina and

forget all else. Besides, you will only spend the time drinking, if you do not practice your mu'sic. Join the band and help to keep us cheery. Do anything rather than stand at the corner of the street. Leaning against the wall is no occupation for any man. Learn to play an instrument. You must either cultivate the garden or play the cornet. Better still, do both. What a charming dream! A band of music marching down the street bright with flowers. We must drive away dull care.