MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13134, 24 March 1906, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

WIND V. DRAUGHT. Why should one current of air be healthful and another injurious? What is the difference between a wind and at draught? All authority on ventilation thus replied : — " Draughts are currents of cold air which, owing to imperfect ventilation, pass across a room, and are generally due to winds blowing outside and sucking out the air in the apartment. A draught -is always felt as colder than the wind itself, and is a fruitful cause of chills and other disorders. "A perfect gale may blow through a, room front an open window, and Ik- not only harmless, but really bt-netieial to the inmates. It is the icy currents passing out through cracks and chinks in a stuffy chamber that do the mischief. PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY ARE ILL. The ordinary hea.lthy man is quite unconscious of the existence of his own physical mechanism. It is the last thing be thinks about. This is partly due, no doubt, to the fact that he is healthy, but his health, in its turn, is partly due to the fact that he does not worry about his interior. Most sincerely to lx- pitied is the man who looks at his tongue every morning and keeps a clinical thermometer. Hut it is certain that the number of such folk is incieasing. Formerly the doctor paid his visit, wrote an illegible prescription, and forthwith departed. Not so to-day. He must name the disorder and explain the name. He must describe the ingredients of his prescription, explaining the purpose and mode of action of each. His remarks form the staple of the patient cogitations until his next visit.

v ! Any doctor will tell you that the pa.- ' lieiit" who did not inquire, that simply trusted, was far more likely to make a good recovery than lie who is always on the lookout for adverse symptoms. i THE CAUSE AND CURE OF INFLUENZA. Influenza is a specific infectious disease, ! | occasional! 1 v epidemic, characterised by ' marked febrile symptoms and a tendency 1j to respiratory complications. It causes ' severe and prolonged bodily and mental ' prostration. Symptoms: The onset is generally sudl den! There may or may not be a feeling of chilliness or cold down the spine, be- , tween the shoulders; there is pain in the ' head (particularly' ill the eyeballs), chest and extremities, and great prostrations of strength; there may also be some sore i throat and a cough. As the disease pro- ' gresses there is a copious discharge from 1 the nose, the breathing is accelerated, and th" cough becomes more frequent. Headache" is often a very distressing symptom. Mental depression, inability for mental exertion, and great restleness are prominent features of the disease, 'Ihe bowels are confined, and the appetite in many 1 , cases entirely lost. Diarrhoea, however, frequently sets in during the emirs'? of the disease. Quinsy, bronchitis, laryngitis, and pneumonia are common complications of influenza. Convalescence from this debilitating disease is usually protracted, and good health may not be regained for months or even vears. Treatment: The patient must have a mustard foot-bath and go to bed a.t once. The solution of acetate of ammonia should be given in tablespoonful doses every three or four hours for the first day or two. Pain in the chest should be relieved by mustard plasters. Sooner or later stimulants will be required, and nourishing, easily digestible foodparticularly beef juice, raw —must be given frequently and in small quantities. The ammoniated tincture of quinine should be: given in -spoonful doses every three or four hours for the first few davs. Depressing drugs like antipvrin .should not be given indiscriminately. During convalescence, quinine, iron, and cod'liver oil should be administered.