HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Grey River Argus, 20 May 1943, Page 6

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

WHEN A SMILE HURTS. (By the Health Department) Even so gentle a thing as a smile can be a painful business if you happen to suffer from a cracked lip —one of those little inflictions that help to make life rather trying in the cold weather. In themselves they are not serious, but a tiny split in the lip can cause a disproportionate amount of pain. And it is a surprisingly common complaint. Owing to the way in which the face is developed the centre of the lower lip is a natural scar, without blood supply, and it is this part of the lip that so readily cracks. And once it cracks, it is not an easy thing to cure. Cracks may be prevented by rubbing the lips with cold cream or lanoline before going out in the cold.

Should a crack develop in spite of precautions, try pulling the sides of the lips gently apart to open the crack, and fill it with friar’s balsam or zinc and lanoline cream. This is rather painful at the time but it is usually effective.

Incidentally, in persons past middle life, cracks in the lower lip that do not heal readily call for attention. They may be the start of a cancer. Cancer of the lip is 26 times more frequent in men than in women, and of the lower lip 26 more times more frequent than in the upper lip. However, a cancer of the lip in its early stages need cause no alarm, because if treated without delay, it can be cured.

Cracks at the corners of the mouth are sometimes a sign of deficiency of protective foodstuffs, so be sure you are getting suffi nt vitamins.

THE HUMBLE POTATO In spite of its remarkable record as an article of food, the everyday potato is studiously avoided by many people who are scared of putting on weight. Yet the same people would probably think nothing of having a tasty slice of chocolate cake—maybe a couple of slices. In fact, there is an exaggerated tendency to pick on the potato as a fattening agent, and at the same time ignore, in a practical way, the properties of butter, bread, scones, cakes and sweets, in that direction. Let it be said in defence of the potato that it supplies so many things besides the calories that tend to frighten calory-conscious people —in other words, the over-weights.

The potato is riched in vitamin C than many varieties of apples, for instance, and its introduction in Europe was responsible for banishing outbreaks of scurvy-during the winter months. They also contain iron for preventing anaemia; they contribute considerable quantities of vitamin B, which is essential to normal growth. There is .as much vitamin B in five ounces of potato as there is in a slice of bread from a sandwich wholemeal loaf. And another important thing is that potatoes are more widely appreciated than any other vegetable. They are, in fact, part of our staple diet. Our average consumption of potatoes in New Zealand, however (sozs), is small compared' with the pre-war consumption of British (9oz), Germany and France (17oz>, and Belgium (19oz). Consequently, people who are inclined to blame the potato for that little extra condition might be well advised to look elsewhere for the cause.