MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9711, 5 January 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

APOPLEXY. The common meaning of this word is fcbafc a person is seized by a fit, or an attack of insensibility, which may either pass off gradually and leave no further ailment, or may pass off and leave the patient partly palsied, or may pass rapidly into death. The old popular notion was that a man generally passed through the course of three attacks, and was not palsied in the first attack, nor died in the second case. Bub further medical observation has shown that this simple arrangement is nob always followed by Nature, for many persons gob paralysis .in a first fib, and many also die in a first and only seizure. Post-mortem, examinations of persons dying from apoplexy show that there are two different states of the brain which cause the sudden fit of insensibility. In one case bleeding on to the surface or into the substance of the brain is found this blood comes from the rupture of a small artery or vein in its course through the brain. The mischief here, then, is really dependent upon a previous disease and weakening of the coats of the blood vessels. This degeneration, as it is called, is a nob uncommon form of wearing out which occurs after middle life. The walla or coats of the veins, instead of being elastic and tough, become softer, aud tear under any strain, and give way ab the weakest places. Now, the coats of the blood vessels of the brain are at all times thinner than those elsewhere, and so haemorrhage in the brain is common after 50 years old. In other cases of apoplexy no bleeding is found, bub instead there is an effusion or pouring oub of serum or a clear watery fluid into the brain cavities. This sorb of dropsy causes pressure upon the brain substance, and this leads to an attack of stupor. This form of disease is more gradual, and succeeds a state,of chronic congestion of the brain, often due to over-living. Apoplectic fits may cause palsy of either right or left side of the body and limbs. Curiously enough, ib is found thab when the mischief is one side of the brain, then the palsy is on the opposite side of the body. This apoplectic form of fib generally attacks persons who seem in good, or at any rate fair health, and is more common among the full-blooded than in thin, pale persons. A short, thick neck is often found in persons so attacked. A fit may be brought on by excitement, mental or bodily ; by strain, or by a drinking bout. A blow on the head or a fall striking the head has very much the same effect, by causing an internal bleeding upon the surface of the brain, Sudden insensibility comes on, and the patienb falls bo the ground, powerless. The unconsciousness is deep and more continuous than in a fainting fit. Instead of the pale face and small pulse of a syncope, you find a flushed face and the heart thumping and causing the pulse to throb. The pupils of the eyes become insensible to light. This state may last for minutes, hours, or days, and may then pass away entirely, or the patient may be left partially palsied. The paralysis of one side, caused by an apoplexy may cause a person to become bedridden for years. Many apoplexies lead to immediate death. In many cases the patient has some learnings of an approaching fit, such as headache and giddiness, made worse by stooping; sense of fulness of the head and neck; noises in tho ears, numbness of the limbs, or loss of memory. Intemperance and excess of eating both predispose to attacks, and 80 does hereditary peculiarity. Persons deemed likely to be seized should live carefully, quietly, and abstemiously, especially if they have any kidney disease. Exposure to a very hob sun and hob baths must be avoided; nothing tight should be worn around the neck. In this disease bleeding used to be in universal use, bub this is now given up. Place the patienb in a cool, well-ventilated room ; do not lay him down flab—keep the head raised and covered by a bladder containing pounded ice. If the patienb can swallow, give a calomel and jalap purge, or an emetic if the stomach be overloaded. If ho cannob swallow, then place on the back of the tongue two or three drops of croton oil as a purge. But perfect rest is the chief essential of the treatment necessary in these cases, and always get a doctor as soon as possible.

BABY'S HEALTH. A medical journal gives the following adrice •to mothers: —Never feed a baby simply to keep it quiet. Four hours between meals is a good rule for babies. The frequent feeding of infants is often the cause of their stomach derangements. If the baby vomits, don't put anything except water into his stomach for four hours. Weigh the baby once a week. If he does not show an increase in weight ci ach week, something is wrong. Baby's morning bath is both a luxury and a necessity. It should be given quickly when the stomach is empty. Teach the baby to be regular to his meals, and you will confer a lasting blessing upon him as well as yourself. During the hot weather take the baby out. Pure open air is more necessary to babies than to adults. During the hot weather do not neglect to offer the baby, several times a day, cold water to drink. Remember that it gets thirsty as well as yourself. In proportion to its size it needs more water than you do.

TREATMENT OP RHEUMATISM. There are three things, says the Popular Medical Monthly, which make for rheumatism. First a chill, especially a damp chill; this depresses the vitality of th<? body, and through the nerves acts on the internal organs, stomach, liver, kidneys, and joints. Then there is indigestion, not necessarily accompanied with pain. Many think their digestion is good because they feel no pain, or any other particular discomfort. But this is not so. The corn, so to speak, may go through the mill, and be imperfectly f round, but being once put in it has to be isposed of in some way, and nature in its efforts to get rid of offending particles upsets some of the machinery. And for reasons ib would take too long to explain the joints are the first things to suffer. Damp and diet then are the two chief causes of rheumatism ; either may produce it, but both are more certain to do it. This being so, the treatment or rather prevention is not far bo seek. For prevention is the treatment, all other treatment is secondary and auxiliary at the best. Unless the causes are removed, medicines may be taken ad infinitum, and with only partial relief. A spare, light, easily digested diet must be rigidly adopted, the absence of wine and beer being a sine qua non. A farinaceous diet with fish and eggs will enable the system sooner to recover itself, and, in some cases, a purely milk diet will be found better than anything else to bring back the organs to health. One article of diet should never be touched by those either suffering from, or are predisposed to rheumatism, viz., preserved fruits. Jam will bring on an attack of gout or rheumatism sooner than almost anything else. This is believed to be due to the action of great heat on the sugar pub into the fruit, for fresh fruit has nob this injurious action. The sugar more readily splits up into lactic acid after cooking, and lactic acid is the acid of rheumatism. As for drugs, mild aperients, the alkaline mineral waters,-bi-carbonate of potash, lithia, and a host of other drugs are all more or less useful, but prevention is better than cure.