MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 13948, 2 January 1909, Page 7 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

A RED NOSE. § I'Acoormng to the Medical Press and Cir- . cular a, red nose is by no means a sign of ■ drunkenness, and ie as common among teetotallers as tipplers. Indigestion is responsible almost, more than any thing «lse for -red no&ee, while excessive tea drinking is apt to play havoc with the complexion in general and with the nose in particular. Sometimes the congested nose is a sign of some serious disorder of the heart, or it may point to a sluggish circulation.^ " INDIGESTIBLE FOODIn estimating the value of food, it is not alone sufficient to take into account its nutritive elements. A substance! may contain every desirable element ■of food, or tome particularly valuable one, *nd yet be totally unfit for eating, on account of its • inherent indigeetibility, or the tendencies of the digestive organs of the eater, that which may be eaten with satisfaction and impunity by one person may he nauseous ami injurious to another, 'lndigestibiliiy may be broadly alleged against everything unripe, and against most things uncooked, though tome persons can eat raw or even unripe fruit with impunity, enough tocauee ill nets to others. ACIDITY. Dr. J. F. Goodhart believes that all the clinical forms of acidity arc due simply to ' uric-acid excess. This'acid should be re- | garded as an ash common to the various 1 metabolic processes going on in the body. ' The \ausef. of the condition which presents . itself - for treatment include visceral slugl SrsATness from nervous exhaustion, a. here- ; JSntai'v condition which works itself out in ! gouty attacks, a sudden shock, an exhausting illness, or a primary manifestation of ' advancing age. The author finds that many persons who try to remove their acid tendencies by strict "adherence to a vegetable diet will rind far quicker relief from a ' diet containing a generous allowance of ; beef and mutton and less vegetable matter. This is a protest against wholesale dietetic rules without reference to the problems <u ' each individual case. DIET AS A METHOD OF DIAGNOSIS. Spivak sneaks of the necessity for decretive ability a la Sherlock Holmes in vhe physician, especially as regards the diet. He concludes as follows :-l. Every patient, suffering from gastrointestinal ! troubles should" be interrogated in the ; minutiae of his diet and its probable relation to the disease. 2. Since,' as a rule, i the answers are not satisfactory, therefore '.diet tests should be instituted for as long /i period as may be necessary to elicit all • the required data. 3. Impress on your patient the fact that it is impossible to , make a snap diagnosis. You may at the ! first visit suppose, guess, surmise, suspect, \ and presume as to the nature of the 'malady, but it will be for his benefit to wait patiently until you have ascertained i the cause of his trouble. A CHILD SHOULD BE HAPPY. i A child gets peevish and troublesome j when not employed, amused, or bis atten- '; tion otherwise engaged. Then let a child I be employed, take an interest hi his emi ploy-merit," let him fancy he is usefu', and he ', in useful; he is laying in a stock of health. ' He is much more* usefully employed than i many other grown-up children are. A child • should be happy ; he must in every way be made happy ; everything ought to be , done to conduce to his happiness ; to give him joy, gladness, and pleasure. Make a child understand that you love him, prove it in your actionsthese are better than words.* Look after his little pleasures, join in his little sports. The hearty, ringing laugh of a child is sweet music to the ear. . There are three most joyous sounds in Na- ! lure — the hum of a bee, the purr of a cat, and tho laugh of a child. They tell of peace, of happiness, and of contentment, and j make one for a while forget that there is to much misery in the world. A man who iislikes- children is unnatural: he-has no ' milk of human kindness" in him lie ihould be shunned.