HEALTH NOTES

North Otago Times, 3 November 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

HEALTH NOTES

ABOUT MIND TROUBLES.

(By Dr Andrew Wilson.)

It is often a difficult matter to oure, or even relieve, certain of tho bodily ills to which flesh is heir, it is a much more difficult thing to treat many cases of mental or mind ailments. Tho very nature of brain troubles places them in a somewhat different category to those which affect other organs of tho body. Shakespeare felt tho hopelessness of the treatment of mind worries in his day wfei; >ie asked J|f imedieino could ''minister to a mind diseased," deal with tlio rooted sorrow, or raao out tho unwritten troubles of 1 the brain. To-day'a considerable number of persons are inclined to follow tho Bard of Avon in his declaration of tho. hopelessness of medicine to deal with cases of mental upset; yet, as I hope to show, modern science has made very considerable advances in the direction not only of accurately distinguishing brain ailments, but also of curing them,

' I have been led to select this topic because among tho correspondence I receive I find requests for information regarding mental ailments. People, for example, write to ask if such and such a case of brain trouble is curable ;' and, if so, how the cure is to be accomplished. Others describe cases which, from their long-standing nature, are ■ evidently of hopeless character, and others again mention instances where, clearly enough, there should be. great scope for tlio skilled advice of the physioian. All round, however, one finds 1 on the part of the public the prevalence of very hazy ideas regarding) brain affections at largo, and it seems' desirable, therefore, that a few words of general kind should be addressed to those who have the care of cases of mental trouble, or aro otherwise interested in this important topic.

•■ Let us clear away certain mlsconoep- : tions regarding brain ailments to start • with. Wo aro accustomed to speak of theni as "mind troubles," but this dc- ,1 signatioii is not at all a desirable one. j "What "mind" is wo do not know, but we may, for our present purpose, regard it as representing the work and action of brain-cells. Thoso last are of varying degrees of importance. Soirio of them excrciso the highest functions, and givo to us our individuality, our .consciousness,.'our intellect, and all l the other qualities that distinguish us as human beings. Others exercise less important duties. They may govern muscles and control movements, or they may roceivo tho messages brought to them from eyes, ears, and other organs of sense. We thus seo that, do.rangement of tho brain's work will dopend for its character on .tho particular kinds or groups of brain-cells which aro affected. Tho varieties of braintroubles can in this way bo explained, and wo can understand thuswiso the cause of tho difference between, wiy. an epileptic lit on tho one hand, and a case of brain degeneration on tho other, whicb. last may present us with an incurable instance of tho completo breakdown of the "mind."

Of old It wai customary to speak of insanity as a disease of tho mindnowadays we term it a disease of the brain, and in so doing wo stand, upon safe and satisfactory ground. For we know the brain, and csn map out tho duties of this or that division of itu substance, and, what is much more to the .point, when the brain of an insane person is examined after death wo are able to note the parts which liavo suffered from disease. Under tho misroscopo too the individual brain cells can ,be duly noted, and thd ailment which has affected them, and perhaps changed the whole course and' conduct of life, can bo demonstrated. Science has thus been able to put its ' finger not merely on the area or region of the brain attacked by disease, bub can separate out the' microscopic cello which lave gone to the wall, so to speak, under the attack of tho malady. This is why cases of went have come to be regarded (is due to real alterations of, brain structure, and this is why they have beo'n removed out of the indistinct, indefinite, i and shadowy land in which their na- j turo was concealed and mistaken un-1 der tho term "diseaso.of the mind." ;

Now all this represents a most hopeful fashion of regarding brain-diseases and of inspiring us-with confidence as regards their treatment.' It teaches us the all-important truth -that the brain is a material organ, even if w« do not understand every detail of its working. .It makes clear to us that if. brain ailments are associated with': aotual ohanges in the brain-cells they! i represent quite as definite,' and I matorial results of the finger of disease;! tracing its work upon us as when, say, I in liver ailments or in kidney affec- : tions we naturally expect to find evi- j . donees of alteration in the structure! of the organs concerned. That' being ; so, we at least know we aro dealing ! with actual substance, so to speak, and i , not with any mythical thing, and the i prospects of relief and cure are placed I thereby on a sound and solid basis. i Tako somo examples of the advan-: tages of this modern conception of! brain troubles. The brain is supplied j witb the same blood that nourishesi ! ith'e other parts of the body. Now, let I •.this blood be of impiro quality; supipose it is deficient in quantity, or that'! •it wants certain of the elements neoesjsary to ensure its proper and healthy! [constitution, we may very easily con-: iceive that the brain must suffer, and; Ithat in consequence its working must 'be disturbed. If we know the cause of. the disturbance, it is equally plain we!' •jhavo placed in our hands the knowledge which may lead us towards a ,curo of the affection. Now a great many brain-troubles—l might say, by l ' far the larger proportion of them—are j caused by errors in living, such as! ibring about disease in other organs of' our frames. Errors in eating and! .drinking are among the causes of brain elements. The effects of alco-' holio excess, for example, aro notorious! in this respect, and the drunkard id , liable not merely to suffer - from the affections we are considering, but other (regions of his nervous system—the spinal cord, for example—are almost certain to 6haro in the degeneration,; jWhich excessive driukinn induces. ' I do not deny the influence of here-! .dity here. It is,certain in may in-! ierit from our parents coalitions'of; brain that constitute the basis for the' development of disease-monitions 1 these that can often bo modified and l ' altered by careful living. .Epilepsy is; regarded as an ailment of the brain 1 liable to bo handed down to us from: pur ancestry, and there aro probably'; other diseases of this kind which re* 1 present the unwelcome legacies of phy-' Bical kind to which wo may fall heir,;! But, as a rule, brain troubles ton bcT traced to some infriiifccment or other.; of the laws of health, and specially of : - those which may include .the'.careful! | and wise regulation of our lives, in ixh j speofcof our foods and drinks. Strain,, ■ stress, and worry will work out their; i ■effects upon us, but they must havd' ' material brain-cells to attack, and itil . is precisely this latter fact that gives' i ;us hope in treatment which has foil; 'its object the restoration of our go''! . iverning cells to the normal and healthy! •Bt«te. .. . j / Asylum treatment toJay *s largely) - ; .based on the idea that good food, pure '• air. healthy occupation, and other); conditions which favour the restoration;' ".of bodily health will also contribute; . to the cure of brain-troubles. This fact should be borne in mind, for it) 1 'impresses on! us ifie great truth that)! Kbe 6Coner definite treatment of brain-' .ailments,is commenced the better, and" ,'the mopi hopeful are the chances'of' recovery. iPeapl have, happily, largely! '■ !outgrown the old prejudice against; asylum' treatment w/ich prevailed foil! •rnany a long.day. They see that the|! jisykinv is* ffially a. Jiospital for %!

i treatment or. brain-disease, just as iiii ;an ordiiiary hospitnl. \v e find-broken j bones mttdo to mend, tumours removed, or fever cases tended towards re* coVery, And that reminds'mo thatl jcafies of brain-tumour, formerly ro'garded as hopeless of cure, are now ca'pableof being operated upon with suc>cess, a further testimony to the fact) that the troubles of tlio brain—some of jtliem, at. least—are capable of'being Fazed out, Shakespeare notivithstauj;ing.