TALKS ON HEALTH

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 24 June 1937, Page 9

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR MORE BREATHING DRILL I have , been reading an account ol the treatment of tuberculous children at a sanatorium, and the medical officer reports that he has had to institute a nose-breathing drill,which is carried cut regularly twice a day. Very few parents know that noses ale to be used for breathing through. A high percentage of the inmates of sanatoria are mouth-breathers. The nose is part of the breathing apparatus; the nose and the lungs are closely connected in their work; the lungs cannot struggle on 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 to-day and now. Do your children breathe through their mouths of through their noses? It is most important. Do not leave everything to the schoolmaster and the school doctor; share the burden of the 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 tea 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 ccme away as steam and the 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 ferm in the gall-bladder, in the kidney, in the bladder, and even in the mouth where saliva runs through tubes or ducts. One lesson to learn is that we 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 'esson 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. THE MASTICATION CURE One of. the cures for indigestion is known as the mastication cure. Of course, you must start with good teeth. Then every mouthful you take must be chewed and chewed until it is like pulp; most of you swallow lumps. Words will not express the gratitude of your stomach ; f you carry out this plan conscientiously. Try it for a fortnight. You have to manufacture bone and muscle brains and blood cut of eggs and bacon, bread and but ter. The first and, therefore, the most important process is the mastica tion of food in the mouth; if the first process is badly done the whole diges five apparatus is thrown' out of gear. SEA-SICKNESS

I do not think there is any real cure or preventive for sea-sickness. We ail know of the man who made an excellent livelihood by offering to send a sure preventive for sea-sickness in return for a postal order for five shillings. Those who fell into the trap were gravely informed by return of post that the way to prevent sea-sick-ness was to stay on chore. The swind ler was first cousin to the man who offered to send a beautifully-engraved portrait of the King for five shillings. The mugs in this case received a halfpenny stamp, but they did not think the portrait wa’s'worth framing. There are many drugs, the so-called hypnotics, that will deaden the brain and cause a sort of drowsiness which enables the passenger to dose during the sea passage. Often they leave the sufferer in a worse plight, adding the of fects of the drug to the effects of the waves. It is wise to start the journey feeling as fit as possible; a farewell supper taken the night before with convivial f riends will add to the pains of seasickness. The fresh air of the deck is better than the stuffiness and smells ot the lower regions. The movement is less in the middle of the ship than at the ends. ,

USEFUL FAIN Pam may be useful, though unpleasant. Pain is a danger signal informing the patient that something is wrong. Never despise or neglect pain. In those diseases where pain is not a strong feature the patient is in danger of neglecting the symptoms. For instance, in typhoid fever there is no pain in the early stages, and the subject of a commencing attack of typhoid may continue at' work: if only he had a sharp pain he would soon take to his bed ana send for the doctor. Cancer is another complaint which is quite painless in its first stages. It is a cruel wile of the devil to prevent pain in cancer cases. If the first small tumour caused pain it would be recognised early; as it is, we have to depend upon the accidental dis covery of a lump by the patient himself and when he has found it he does not think it worth while to consult a doctor. The absence of pain deceives everybody; the common-sense person does not neglect the presence of pain when it does come.

KEEP ON YOUR PEGS It is better for the legs to do their own work than tnat they should rely on crutches; it is better that the spine should do its own work than rely on special braces or steel supports; it is better that the abdominal muscles should do their own work than rely on belts. As we stand in an upright position, the force of gravity tends to pull all our organs downwards; and if the abdominal muscles are weak the stomach bulges forward in a very unsightly fashion. If now you abstain from exercise end eat and drink too much, fat will collect both inside and outside, and the bulge becomes greater, your discomfort increases with the increase in weight. Neglect of the laws of hygiene may damage the muscles beyond all hope of recovery, and a belt will give them some relief. But no belt was ever so useful as a belt of muscles. I watch my girth and measure my ‘‘lower chest” from time to time. lam not an alderman, nor a beadle, and I want to keep active. As I walk along the street I draw my abdominal muscles in to preserve my figure and to exercise the muscles. I happen to be a man, and my figure is the pride of all the women and the enev.v of the men in my town. I admit that women have a worse chance; oft-repeated child-bearing throws a strain on the muscles of thabdomen that they cannot withstand; a belt, well fitted and made of stout materia’ helps the elderly matron who has brought up ten children. Belts are useful after operations on the stomach But though belts have their place in the medical armamentarium. I shall always maintain that self-denial in diet, a determination to check the bulging waistcoat by exercise, are more sensible methods of keeping the figure within bounds than the wearing of any belt, however many bands and straps and buckles and whalebone supports it possesses.