Secrets of Good Health.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 10562, 16 April 1928, Page 3

Secrets of Good Health.

GUARDING AGAINST NEURITIS. 0 (From Sir W. Arbutlmot Lane, Bart, C. 8.) In response to numerous requests from correspondents, we have secured from a distinguished London physician the following clear and valuable information on the important subject of neuritis:—

The painful disease known as neuritis is an inflammation or irritation of .the nerves. It is not a fatal disease, except in its rare and severe varieties Pains produced by more serious troubles are often loosely attributed to neuritis, and the diagnosis should never lie adopted unless made deliberately by a qualified medical man.

There are two entirely different forms of neuritis. In one, a main nerve trunk is involved, such as the big sciatic nerve in sciatica. The pain is often intense, but never leads to death and is geuerallv confined to a single limb or to a very circumscribed area on the trunk or head. Its commonest cause is a centre of sepsis in some part entirely remote from the site of the pain. .Infected teeth, tonsils, and .intestines account for the majority of cases. Prevention necessitates the strictest cleanliness of the mouth, throat and bowel, and whole-hearted treatment of an inflammation which may arise in these areas. • Inflammation of tissues other than nerves are often painless and therefore easily overlooked. A dead tooth may have a chronic abscess _ at its root without causing any pain. Tonsiis damaged in childhood may be thoroughly soplie without making .the throat feel sore. The second form of neuritis is more diffuse and affects both sides of the body, starting in the hands and feet, and spreading towards the trunk. The first warning may be a. persistent sensation of pins and needles hut the disease may progress and end in widespread paralysis. It is caused by poisons circulating in the blood. The lead palsy of plumbers, arsenical neuritis. c>nd the following diphtheria are well-known instances and may end fatally.

PROCESS OF POISONING. TlieJ commoner, mild non-fatal forms are usually due to auto-iiitoxi-eation from the bowel, and their prevention is in our own hands.. Overindulgence in alcohol is responsible for a very serious form. Deficiency in vitamin B, the vital element present in wholemeal bread, but entirely absent from white flour, causes a most distressing and dangerous multile neuritis known as beriberi.

They general process of poisoning which occurs in constipation and intestinal stasis, when food stagnates and feeding is injudicious, is one of the commonest causes of all. It can be avoided if evacuation is regular and effective, if fresh fruits, raw salads and unspoilt cereals are used as the foundation of a mixed diet, if the body is exercised properly, and sunlight and wind are allowed "a reasonable access to ‘the skin