MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12419, 14 November 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

SLEEPLESSNESS.

Remedies for sleeplessness are promulgated so freely that one would think it an easy matter to provide one, unless he has been a sufferer in this respect himself, in which case the absurdity of the sweeping character of the remedies^ will be apparent. No one device ,i or procuring sleep is suitable for all alike; what will do for one person will not do for another. It is a question of the cause of sleeplessness in each instance, and not the fact alone that one cannot sleep.

Some persons have trained their minds so that they can forget things at will. If the judge undertook to remember all the details of testimony at a trial he would be overburdened with work that would be unnecessary. He merely remembers the facts that have a direct bearing on the issue. Just so with the editor who reads many exchanges; he remembers what he wants to z and no more.

But the art of forgetting required as a remedy for sleeplessness goes further than this ; it is a forgetting of consciousness itself —a difficult matter with but not with others. Some persons can go to sleep at will, so disciplined are their minds; but perhaps they could not do this in case of long-continued overwork, resulting in irritation and fret-fulness.

It will be interesting to collect the many remedies that have been suggested- for sleeplessness. A hot shower-bath at bedtime cleanses the skin and predisposes to sleep, it is claimed. The " one sure and safe way" is to take a brisk walk of a mile or two before going to bed, and then, after the walk, holding the head under a stream of cold water. This, however, should be done when the habit of sleeplessness first begins. , A business man with a mechanical turn; of mind should fit up his attic as a carpenter's shop, and spend an hour therein after supper. A walk of two or three miles a day is sufficient, saye one writer, while another maintains that nothing will do but horseback riding. Again, relief for sleeplessness can be found by wetting a linen handkerchief, folding it, and placing it undei the back of the neck, with a dry cloth under the kerchief to protect the pillow. Still again, warm the feet by friction, extra wrappers, etc., and cool the head, either in a draught, or with cold water or ice.

A physician writes that the evening should be a period of relaxation and recreation, relief from care and anxiety to be found in cheerful conversation, pleasant games, and light reading, while persons of sedentary occupation are to take plenty of open-air exercise. A feeble circulation is to be overcome, and cold feet are to be warmed. The stomach is to be attended to, if its digestion is not good. If it is overloaded, easy and refreshing sleep is impossible. Weakly persons and invalids often find a cup of hot broth or gruel, or some other light and easily digestible food, taken on retiring, to be the best promotive of sleep. The bed should neither be too hard nor too soft, nor the clothing too abundant nor too scanty. All unpleasant sights, sounds, and smells should be excluded. Regular and early hours of retiring are essential.

JAUNDICE. Jaundice is one of the secondary diseases, the result of a primary one. That is, some cause, in the first place, stops the flow of bile from the liver; and jaundice, which consists in the absorption of the bile into the blood, is the effect. > The presence of bile in the blood is quickly manifested, by the colour of the skim and also more particularly of the white of the eye, the shade of colour varying from the slightest perceptible tinge to deep golden yellow, or even brown. At the same time, the stools become white and chalky looking, and the urinesometimes the perspiration is deeply tinged with bile, the patient often describing it as like porter ; the constitutional symptoms are generally those of disordered digestion, headache, and languor. For many reasons jaundice is a disease which ought, when possible, to be under proper medical treatment, not so much from the danger of the affection itself as from its being symptomatic of disorder elsewhere. Should gall-stone or spasm be the cause of jaundice, the case is generally plain, but should the presence of a tumour or disease of the liver be the origin, it requires medical examination for its elucidation. The treatment of jaundice which unprofessional persons may adopt in the absence of a medical man ie very simple. From five to eight grains of "grey powder" may be given at bedtime, either alone, or, if there is pain, made into a pill with extract of henbane, and followed by a dose of castor-oil or senna in the morning. When there is much acidity of the stomach carbonate of soda may be given. A mild attack of jaundice will generally yield to an aperient like the compound rhubarb pill, taken every night for a few nights in sucoession. We also now possess most valuable aids in the treatment of jaundice in comparatively recent medicines, which exert a most potent effect upon the liver functions. The writer, has effected a complete cure of a case of jaundice of eight months' standing, which had resisted every form of treatment, by the free administration of a strong infusion of dandelion. The diet should be simple, devoid of milk, fat, or saccharine articles, whilst the jaundice exists, and all alcoholic stimulants avoided.

A SIMPLE TEST FOR MILK. The importance of having proper xilk for the children can be appreciated, as one-fifth of the deaths among babies can be traced to the milk supply. Sickness among children in summer is generally traceable to the food. . . . \ Normal milk is neutral in reaction, or varies but slightly from neutral. Milk that comes from diseased cows is very frequently alkaline in reaction, or will become so in a short time after it is produced. Milk that has undergone fermentation will very quickly become acid in reaction. These facts can be readily determined by testing with a piece of iitmus paper, which can be procured at a very slight cost from any chemist. If it is alkaline in reaction, the red litmus paper will be turned blue ; if it is acid in reaction, the blue litmus paper will be turned red ; if jt is aormal ; neither paper will be changed in colour.