TALKS ON HEALTH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 4 February 1930, Page 2

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR

MORE BREATHING DRILL

I liave been leading an account of the treatment of tuberculosis children at a sanatorium, and the medical officer report that he lias had to institute a nosebrcuthing drill, which is carried out regularly twice a day. Very few parents know thai noses are to be used for breathing through. A high percentage of the inmates of sanatoria are mouthbreathers. The nose is part of the breathing apparatus; the nose and the lungs are closely connected in their won;; the lungs cannot struggle 011 with their job half so well if the nose plays them false. The air is warm and filtered when it passes through the nose. Please inquire into this matter today and now. Do your children breathe through their mouths or through their noses'/ It is most important. Do not icave everything to the schoolmaster and the school doctor; share the burden of \\\r. responsibility with them. And don't forget to breathe through your nose yourself, so as to set a good example.

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

The sugar in a cup of water dissolves; it is no longer a solid, it is a fluid, and can be poured comfortably down your throat. But if you took the sugary tea and heated it in a saucepan the water would come away as steam and tho sugar would be left once again as a solid. There are many fluids in the body that contain dissolved solids which may crystallise out as "stones." Stones may form in the gall-bladder, in the kidney, the bladder, and even in the mouth where saliva runs through the tubes or ducts. One lesson to learn is that wo should drink an adequate supply of water. The less water there is and the more solids the greater is the tendency for stones to form. Another lesson is that we should keep all the functions of our body working; the fat, overfed, sluggish person is more liable to suffer from gall-stones than the brisk, active worker.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

I should like to emphasise once again the importance of light. At a discussion held by a learned society various instances" were quoted of the value of light to human beings. One professor deplored the fact that the working classes did not appreciate that light was a good medicine for children. Many causes produce rickets, not the least important being the absence of the luminous rays from the homes of the children of the poorer classes. You have probably heard that there are institutions high up among the snows of mountains where tuberculosis children are sent for cure. Jt is a curious spectacle to see the naked children romping in the snow. Why naked? Because the light rays have a curative effect on the body. A wet summer holiday that robs the children of bathin'g is not nearly so beneficial as a sunny holiday. But, there, I must not write about summer holidays in December. In these dark months we miss the light so early in the afternoons we require no unkind reminder of the June days when we enjoy the company of Old Sol until nine. But let us make the best of a bad job.

A GOOD RULE FOR HEALTH

Let us invite such beams of light as may try to come our way right into our hoi'nes; nay, into our very skins. The windows must be cleaned, the dark curtains drawn, the house must be on the sunny side of the street, you must walk on the bright side; you must keep in the air and light instead of sitting in the best parlour all day; you must push the baby s pram into the sunny corner and move it to keep pace with the moving sun. Babies always smile at a sunbeam; they know! Choose light wallpapers, cover the outside walls with whitewash to reflect the rays, encourage the light; it helps you to keep well. Of course, light is not so good as a bottle of medicine; you could be healthy at the bottom of a damp coal mine, living in the dark, if you had ten thousand bottles of medicine. But do take the light question seriously; do not take, it lightly; plenty of light is a sound rule of health.

TO STOP CHILLS

When nursing a patient suffering from bronchitis it is wise to keep a fire in all night. At two o'clock in the morning not only is the outside air cold, but the patient himself may have a falling temperature. Our temperature remains approximately the same all! through the twenty-four hours ■ tho temperature, however, is not exactly at a dead level by night and day. It rises a little in the evening and it falls during the earlv hours. This means a slight fall in vitality. Old people dying of the exhaustion of old age often pass away in the early hours. The fire keeps the room warm just when the patient most needs extra care; but please do not make a noise when putting on the coals; use your hand covered in a glove, not the shovel. I have said that the patient should be kept warm in the night, but I do not mean that he should be smothered imder a mountain of blankets. It is a common mistake to pile an uncomfortable heap uf clothes on some unfortunate man who is struggling for his breath. In the case of little- children the same care is needed: the little heaving chest cannot lift the load of clothes; the chest must be given free play.

THE BRAVE HEART

It cannot bo doubled that a patient can Eght for hei- life while she lies in bed. I have seen it happen on many occasions. A woman has only to say, "I wiint to live for my children's sake" and me battle is ball won. It is like struggling to a friendly spar when one is drowning. If six more strokes are needed to reach safety the drowning perscn will force the exhausted limbs to make the last final effort. The will to live acts as a stimulant to the failing heari. Of course, we all have to die once, but not now, not yet. A brave hear, is worth many battles of medicine.

A BENEFICIAL BREAK

'[f you can afford if (and it may be worth' the monev if it saves an illness)' van should have a hot drink between breakfast anil your midday meal. You hurry over your breakfast; you dash off to the office and start tapping the typewriter; you get cold feet sitting still; you may perhaps take a cup of tea, whi.h contains no nourishment, ami you commit various other sins against hygiene. You am rather thin; the winter is cold, and the extra nourishment (savan egg beaten up in milk) may just slave off a bad cold or even an attack of pneumonia.