TALKS ON HEALTH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 21 November 1928, Page 8

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR

A WALK ROUND THE WARDS

Tin.-, week we will all lie,-.mi:- dorloi ... an I you -bill i oiii« round I lie wards with me. i hope you will find H instructive. This lirsl. patient is aged .s. jiud she is \ cry i.loiil —in fuel. she weighs fourteen stone. She is suffering from broncliilis. You will see she has roll - of I'm i,ii her neck and elsewhere, cud we know I'r Ihal Ihal she must have .-i j.,-,,,1 d,.;,! ~|- fill around lhe hear'.. She is cut her blue around the Nps. ,-howing Ihal her blood is not being properly freshened up in the lungs. The lungs are inflamed and oanlioi do their work in harmony: they might almost be regarded as one organ. What upsets ihe lungs distresses' the heart, and, conversely, what disturbs the free net ion of the heart interferes w ilh I he proper funcl ions of I lie lungs. She will gel i|iiife well, but il will be a struggle, and she will make a great mi-take if she lakes no slops to reduce her woinhl : she could lose l hree or four sloue with advantage.

THE PATIENT'S CLOTHING Before we say good-bye to her, please notice that her clothing- is warm hui light. If she were at home she would have three blankets over her, and she would be wearing a woollen vest,, a nightdress, a woollen jacket, a shawl, and a ra] flannel chest preserver. In hospital they know bidder than to smother a patient. She has a nice warm nightdress and a thin vest on, and she is ijuite warm i ugh under (he bedclothes. She is silling up in hod, and the foot: of I he bed is raised on wooden blocks to prevent her from slipping down. She is far more comfortable sitting up, and perhaps to-night she will sleep in an armchair.

A CONTRAST As we are observant people we have noticed thai several windows are open and I he air smells fresh. If she were at. home the window would be tightly closed, the gas would be flaring and using up as much oxygen as four persons; and there would be in the room Mrs P>i-own, who is so useful when people are ill; .Mrs Smith, who popped ill to ask hew tin l dear invalid was, and, happened to choose tea-lime, and is putting- away bread and butter and jam as though the recovery of the patient depended on her appetite, and one or two other friends, all engaged in the kindly task of keeping the room stuffy and making things more difficult for the over-burdened lungs and heart of the sufferer in bed.

PIWISIIMISN'T LOR NEGLIGENCE Well, the next patient will bring a gasp of pity to your throats. She also will recover, but at present she looks very white and ill. She has a gastric ulcer. It is her own fault, but you have, not the heart to tell her so now. Her punishment is very grievous. Four years ago she had slight indigestion, and took' no stops to cure it. Three years ago she was told to have eight teeth taken out, us they were septic and poisoning her stomach. Two years ago she suffered such pain inside that she had to give up her place; and now, here she is, on her back, with her poor stomach nearly eaten through by an ulcer. It was preventable; but she was ignorant:, she had not read my articles, she gobbled her food; she did not bile her food for the simple reason that she had no teeth to bite with. LOOKING AHEAD The ulcer worked through a bloodvessel and she had a severe hemorrhage that nearly finished her off. Now she can take sips of hot water and a little milk, and she is nearly over the dangerous stage. But do you wonder that I get angry with you sometimes, when I watch a girl like that and see her blanched and miserable, simply because she had no sense and took- no care of her health at: all- l T )ifortunately, she has a young man. and is likely lo get married this year. If she does not mend her ways she will have a xwy weakly baby; it seems n pity no! lo give the little beggar a chance. How much stronger he would he if his mother were robust and had enough thought for others to make her study the rules of health more carefully! AFTER THIRTY YEARS

Tin- next patient, curiously enough, is another ease of gastric ulcer; but as I am tiicd of talking' about it we will move (in. I just want to remind you in passing that gastric ulcers arc about ten times more common among women than men. The reason is I hat women are more often constipated than men, thev drink more lea. they wear uncomfortable corsets, and work till they drop instead of stopping in lime and having something done. The next patient had rickets when she was a tiny baby—and thai was thirty years ago. ITer father and mother are dead long ago. Init their cruel neglect of their child is fell long after they have been put in (heir graves. When Iho spine was still soft and lender the child was not given (lie right kind of food, her blood was no! rich and pure as a. little child's should be; it was thin, watery and poor. The blood had not the power to impart vital strength to the growing bones, and the spine suffered in consequence. It, was bent and eorild never be pill straight. AX INTERESTING CASE Well, we cannot do much for her now except nursing and feeding; but every few mouths she has a soil of collapse through weakness, ami we try to build her up again in hospital. She lias massage to her spine. You may look' at this patient so long as you are kind and sympathetic; I am particularly anxious that you should see what a lifelong curse an ignorant or careless mother can lie. Please try and leave your children healthy when you die; '"'the evil that men do lives after them." From the medical point of view she is interesting. Si.en rickets will be ;in extinct disease; an abhorrent nightmare from the murky past, It will be read about in books as an indication id' the depth to which we had sunk in the twentieth century. We will just give a sigh and pass on. wondering if the spirit of her father or her mother ever \ isits thai hospital ward. AFTFI"! A WF.FK OR TWO Well, are you thoroughly depressed and mi.-erable? Are sou wretched to

see whal (roubles exisl ill Ihe world? Would you nil her die I hail live in a hospital? There is no need lo gel depressed. Come a.-ain in a week or two. The old lady villi bronchitis will be heller and will he lakinu lea with old Mrs P.rowu jusl. a- though she were ai home, because il is visiting day. The -.chic ulcer patients will lie nibbling bread and butter and thinking il the ino.-il delicious thing (hey have ever i i ice at'ier i heir long period of siai-v.iiion. Tie- others will he getting Lei lei-. They will soon be saying ..„„ ; |. bye to the smiling Sister and I bunking her for Inr care. Perlia n , Ihe doctor may c ein lor a kind w ord, aml perhaps nc>(, because he jaws 100 much. And oul (hey all go lo' make r n for others. Lei us hope l hey have learnt something while ihey were iu hospital; il would never do if I }if\- all came hack wil h I he same coinplailll again.