MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 9991, 30 November 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

GIDDINESS.

Giddiness may be important as bo ibs proof ol a serious disease, or ib may be only an unimportant symptom of nervousness, biliousness, or intemperance. No one bub a brained physician is ab all likely to be able to judge rightly how serious this symptom really is, and even skilled doctors may be in error. Serious and fatal diseases of the brain may cause giddy attacks, and so may disease of the internal parts of the ear; some eye complaints also give rise to giddiness. When due to really organic disease this symptom is more constant, and t-lio attacks become regular events. Several well-known drugs will produce giddiness, such as opium and belladonna. Alcohol in excess causes giddiness soon after drinking ; this is becauso it diminishes tho control of tho mind and brain over the body muscles ; and, secondarily, ib produces giddiness many hours after a debauch by having j induced a form of congested stomach and i liver, and has so brought on a bilious attack. Pationts with weak hearts often have giddy feelings preceding fainting, Profuse bleeding also, especially whon sudden, has the same effect. Sheer weakness of nerve will make persons unsteady and giddy ; nnd, indeed, there is a special form of giddiness, most often seen in weak-nerved persons and persons of delicate nerve fibre ; this is observed when one stands on a high place, lor looks over a hill side, or into a pit. The [ symptom is present in fover, and may accompany delirium, and is very well marked in bhe weakness following prolonged illness. In such cases a patient may be unable to raise the head, even from the pillow, without being affected. Nervous hysterical patients aro often subject to a recurrence of giddiness when they find themselves in the same circumstances as existed when they had a former attack ; some sufferers will for long periods refuse to walk the streets simply from fear of being giddy. Another class of cases is that of men, just at or beyond middle life, who are too .full-blooded, and may be on the verge of apoplexy; such men are often giddy, especially on stooping. In such patients the blood-vessels are all over tense with fluid blood, and the coats of tho veins are Weak; and so, when the head is j lowered, the voins become over full, and so press on the brain substance. A wise doctor will treat giddy attacks by purgation and partial abstinence from tho customary food and drink before alarming a patient with tho idea thab the symptom is neces-. sarily vory serious. When the sufferer is obviously thin, scanty-blooded, and weak some stimulant: is required. Doses of sal volatile in water will often produce immediate relief.

NERVOUS DISORDERS. At this end of the nineteenth century, when everyone seems to be suffering from nerves, ib is more than ever necessary to try to cultivate reposeful habits. When you sit down to rest bo still, and don'b start at every noiso. A long-continued noise might have a wearing effect on the nervos; but the little noises, which are over in a moment, hurt' no one, and ib is quite absurd to jump and start, as some people do, ab bhein. Control of nervous movements acts beneficially on the nerves themselves ; whereas, if the nerves are allowed to run riot, bodily health is impossible. Uncontrolled nerves are responsible for terrible disasters caused by panics in fires,' and othor accidents, which often result in the loss of hundreds of lives. Giving way to nervos without a struggle for mastery over them is therefore nob only very bad for oneself, bub exceedingly selfish to one's neighbour's. Everyone should strive to attain a quiet even manner under all circumstances, and then when an emergency comes the chances are thab they will be able to act with cool courage, even in the face of real danger, and be helpful to others, perhaps, instead of being a source of peril, as is so oftan the case.