MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13485, 11 May 1907, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

- DANDRUFF. Dandruff is a disease of the sabaceous glands of .the scalp. The > cure of dandruff will depend upon cleanliness of the scalp, and a stimulation of the glands until they put on healthy action. The former may be accomplished by washing regularly with Castile soap. The second may be accomplished by treating the scalp with the electrical brush, or with a , clean hairbrush, once a day. The following. lotion may be used with benefit: Quinine, 20 grains; table-salt,, half a teaspoonful; bay rum, 4oz. Add enough rain-water or soft water to make a pint. Hub on with fingers daily. TEA-DRINKING AND INDIGESTION. A Hackney coroner, holding an inquest recently on a woman who died suddenly after a meal of ; meat and tea, stated that tea checked the flow of gastric juice required for the digestion of proteids. As a matter of fact,-it also interferes with starch digestion. Tea should, "therefore,, not be taken at meals, if a healthy any reasonably rapid digestion of food is desired. But taken between meals, physicians tell us that the tannin it contains has an injurious action on the stomach walls. Evidently tea is not an ideal drink, physiologically considered, and with a fuller understanding of the laws of hygiene, it is likely to be dispensed with in the majority of homes. The use of strong, stewed teas, which is becoming so common among the labouring classes, is to ;be specially, condemned on the score of health.Good Health. "'■', "'. ' ; BRAINS AND BREAKFAST. J A person whose work is . mental requires as food, according to an expert, much less carbon than another. Beef, mutton, poultry, and game" are recommended, j Sugar or starch in excess ; should not be; eaten.' Rice is a better form of starch than potatoes. '.',- For breakfast a little sub-acid fruit, a cereal, if it is liked, ;? a soft-boiled egg, and a cup of coffee made in the French way ■ and taken . without sugar or cream, or at least without cream. At noon a bowl of cream soup, with some pieces of pulled bread, and at six, when the day's work is I over, a good, simple dinner soup, a broiled steak or chop or a roast and two vegetables, one starchy/ the other a green vegetable, a salad with French; dressing, and a little cheese and " a wafer: or a few nuts, with a seeded raisin or two. ; The breakfast may be varied with a chop or a little piece : of; broiled fresh fish instead of the egg.' ' ■ ";/',' - . ECZEMA. .. . . ■• /- In view of the extensively-held modern opinion of the probable parasitic etiology of eczema, the necessity of cleanliness becomes an important factor in its treatment, while the long-known injurious influence of water on eczematous surfaces raises a difficulty in carrying this idea into effect. The use, of olive which, as a substitute for ■ water for cleansing the skin, and, indeed,; in- also removing the , grime of manufacturing trades, is commonly knownis strongly advocated for this purpose. Recent experience with this method of cleansing has impressed the writer with its adaptability for constant use, and of its value when persevered in. 1 '; A case in point is cited in which the disease was obstinate, and tending to spread under the use of water for washing. When cleansing with the oil was adopted, the disorder rapidly subsided. The method i consists in smearing the parts well with ■ a i pledget of cotton-wool saturated. with olive oil. The oil is then removed by gently rubbing the surface with a corner of a dry, 'soft towel covered with toilet oatmeal. In pustular eczema the writer found the occasional use of soap and water also necessary.