MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

. INDIGESTION.—I. Those readers -who, glancing at the title of our article this week, expect to find that we shall tell them of some marvellous medicine which will cure all cases of indigestion are likely to feel disappointed. There is no one kind of medicine, whatever quack advertisements may say, which will cure indigestion. Why is this? Because indigestion or dyspepsia may arise in many different ways, and just as there may be many causes, there may be also many varieties of the disorder. Some people, whose thoughtlessness is equalled by their want of knowledge, seem to imagine that whatever indiscretion they commit in the way of eating and drinking there is sure to be some medicine which will put things right if they go to a doctor for it ! After eating a plateful of tough beef and hard potatoes, followed by various rich pastries, the whole washed down with a pint of rough beer, some individuals seem aggrieved that they suffer pain and sleeplessness. They repeat this kind of thing, perhaps, for weeks together, and then are disappointed to find that their doctor, instead of prescribing a magic draughts, tells them quietly that they must be more careful in their, diet and refrain from over-eating, unless they desire, not only to get no better, but to lose their digestive powers altogether! Now and then people require a severe little lecture about themselves, or they will continue careless until they have ruined their health. Among the poorer classes, how many hundreds of women and men there are whose lives are miserable to them on account of dyspepsia? The cure of indigestion, then, lies largely with the sufferer himself. Find out what agrees with you, and eat it. Take care to eat slowly, and bite up the food well. Avoid too much drink. Never eat or drink between meals. Those are the main points to be thought of. Now, there are many whose digestions are already nearly as bad as they can be. So we shall give a few directions as to how to relieve one or two of the worst symptoms. Heartburn: This means a regurgitation of a nasty acid, burning fluid into the back of the throat from the stomach, and is very painful while it lasts. It is very often brought on by over-eating. Now, it is no use to give much of magnesia or chalk to correct the acidity, because a little acidity is necessary if any digestion at all is to go on. So first of all in a very bad case of heartburn take something to make you sick, such as mustard-and-water, and so empty the stomach of all the fermenting substances which it contains. Then wait a while, and thenceforward take small quantities of easily-diges-ted food only for some days. What are indigestible foods? you may ask. Such are cheese, pickles, cocoanut pastry, nuts, pork, unripe fruit, over-ripe fruit, cheap sweets, cockles, whelks, hard potatoes, cheap sausages, veal, stale tea, strong coffee, cheap ices, and so on. And such drinks as fruit syrups and such made-up beverages. Of course, any food can be indigestible if it is not properly chewed. Next week we will go on to some other symptoms and how to treat them.

POTATOES IN DIABETES. The routine treatment of diabetes mellitus usually comprises the elimination of potatoes from the dietary, along with other farinaceous articles of food; but, according to Dr. Mosise, of Toulouse, the potato may be eaten with advantage as a substitute for bread in most cases of diabetes of moderate intensity, especially in the so-called arthritic cases. In a number of instances he found, indeed, that patients could take from two to three pounds of potatoes daily for weeks together, not only without inconvenience, but with positive advantage in respect of the general health. Even in the diabetes of pregnancy some latitude is permissible in this respect, and when one reflects upon the grievous discomfort and even suffering which curtailment of the carbo-hvdrates causes in such patients this permission will be welcomed. SPRAINED ANKLES. The ankle is a very complicated joint, and when it has been sprained the pain, swelling, and weakness may last even longer than if there was a fracture of the small bone of the leg. When a sprain has occurred the patient must at once go to bed and keep the joint motionless, so as to avoid inflammation so far as is possible. A surgeon should at once examine the parts to make sure that the injury is only a sprain, for if there be also a fracture splints must be applied to ensure union of the broken bone. Should the injury be only a sprain, the joint must be kept constantly covered with some cold application, such as layers of lint steeped in an evaporating lotion of spirit and water, or vinegar, spirit, and water, or with a cold vinegar and bran or linseed poultice; in either case the cold and moisture must be continuous for several days, and it must not be left off so long as there is acute pain and swelling. When these symptoms have passed off the ankle will require to be compressed with calico bandages, or with an elastic mdiarubber bandage, or by strapping with layers of adhesive plaster spread on leather or on moleskin— speciallv - made strong fabric of cotton. The swelling will lessen under continuous pressure, and so the bandages or strapping will need occasional change. When the swelling has all subsided the ankle will be weak for a time from the necessary confinement it has undergone, and then there must follow a period of shampooing with baths of cold salted water, used every morning. If real sea water is not available, Tidman's sea salt in water will form an excellent substitute.