TALKS ON HEALTH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 1 December 1927, Page 7

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR

MADE ILL BY SUGGESTION j tEfc* —j | Tho power of suggestion is very strong. Suppose a number of men conspired to greet one of their mutual friends -with a look of concern, and to assure him, one after the other, that lie was looking very ill; the poor object of their commiseration would soon be alarmed at his direful condition, although, as a matter of fact, he was in perfect health. The oft-repeated assertion that lie looked ill would in tlm end send him home to bed and cause him to send for tho doctor. A doctor never goes into a sick room and declares there is no hope for the patient. It would be a nice state of tilings if the physician gazed into the patient’s face and said, "Well, you have got it bad; you will soon, bo in your grave.” We always endeavour to look cheerful, even when we are hungry and want our dinners. But tile most unfortunate feature about this power of suggestion is that the patient may suggest things to himself, lie may say to himself all day and every day that he knows he will (lever recover, and that he may as well give up hope. If only he could find out in what part of the lira in this settled conviction was lodged and cub it out, tho patient would he cured at once. It is a difficult task to banish these fixed ideas; it can only bo done by. faith. If the patient has faith in his doctor, his word that there Is nothing tho matter will bring about a cure; if he has faith in medicine, some coloured water will make him feel better; if he has faith in a clergyman, a straight talk to the effect that it is a sin to groan over imaginary troubles .may induce him to cheer up. _ It does not matter what tho remedy is so long as the patient himself has faith in it. Hence, it is that the most extraordinary means have resulted in a cure.

A KINK IN THE BRAIN

A man with an imaginary iliness must have a kink in his brain somewhere. To prefer an imaginary illness to a state of health argues a mild degree of insanity; and such a man :s the most likely to he worked upon by some bizarre treatment. He must be more or less of a weak-minded person to indulge in the belief that he is ill, and he may be weak-minded enough to believe an old witch who lives in a cave and who tells him that if lie climbs a. hill without looking backward and drinks at a certain well at 5 o’clock in The morning he will find sudden and complete relief. This is one of the legitimate doctor’s difficulties; p to 3ll with a reputation to lose cannot adopt these weird measures. If a doctor told a man, to how three times to the east and say "Abracadabra” and lie will he well, he would he laughed out of court; hut the wise woman living in the cave can, and she may be successful.

FRESH AIR TREATMENT AT HOME

If you have a weak chest and have been ordered to undergo the fresh ail treatment it may be possible, with a little trouble, to get all you need in your own home. If your house happens to be in a smoky town, then, of course, you will have to move out to more suitable quarters. Choose a house in a high position. The soil must be dry, and the house in a position to get _ as much sun as possible. The sunniest rooms should he apportioned to the invalid. One or both of the window sashes can he taken completely out; a blind or shade can be put up to keep the rain out. There should not he too many draperies or hangings in the room. , Observe strict rules about the use of a spittoon, which should have some disinfectant in it. If there is a garden, the best plan, of all is to have a Shelter specially erected for the use of the invalid. They are not very expensive, and are sold in a most convenient form by firms who make a speciality of this class of work. The shelters have shutters on every side, which can be raised or lowered according to the direction of the wind or the position of the sun. It does not matter how great the draught is. If you arc blown out of your bed it will do you good, hut there is no reason-why you should he cold. It is no part of the treatment, to freeze you. A fire and plenty of warm clothes are essential, bbt when you get used to your new habits the firemay not be necessary.

BABIES AND CLOTHES

A growing child needs full play for all its limb.s, and the enormous quantity of clothing that some mothers think is necessary to swathe their children in hampers ail the movements, and is of no service in protecting the child against chill. There is no use in wearing too much clothing, any more than there is in eating too much food. I have often counted as many as seven garments on one child. The poor little thing is smothered. It is weakening to have that great weight hanging on its shoulders, ‘and has the bad effect of making the child too hot when it ought to be just comfortably warm. When weather is warm the fewer clothes the better, and when the winter comes round again be content with about half the quantity of clothes that were worn last winter. Being a man, I am not supposed to know anything about children’s clothes, but I find I have the support of all the visiting nurses, who quite agree that the commonest fault of mothers who wish to do their best for their offspring, is to bundle them up in too many clothes.

EXTRA FOOD NEEDED

There are about two hundred bones in Hie body, and each one is growing fast; the cartilage or gristle is being replaced by true bone; the bone.s are increasing in length and thickness, the frame is filling out, and all this requires extra food. I have, therefore, this practical piece of advice U> give mothers. They must see that their growing girls get something to eat at eleven, in the morning. I know numbers of girls go from early breakfast to dinner at one o’clock or half-past, and that is too long an interval. At eleven o'clock precisely the girl must go out and get a glass of warm milk with an egg beaten up” in it. That is thoroughly nourishing; the egg and milk supply all that is wanted for'' the growing frame. That feeling of exhaustion often felt at the end -il a day’s work could be got rid of by tins simple expedient. Exhaustion means that the fives are burning low; more fuel is wanted.