MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

«C" TREATMENT OF RHEUMATISM BY j BEE SIMM (IS. Du. F. 11. M.\ni<;ni,Y relates his ex peri- I once with a number of scve',o c ! rheumatism which refused to respond to ; any of the usual methods ot (.rcatme-nt and j in which bee stings gave relief. In i elderly people he starts with about six : sting* tor the first three applications, and then increases tho number gradually up to a couple of dozen. Thi) stings should remain m for a few minutes before ; removing them. He> concludes from nis experience that this remedy, if it does j not effect a complete euro, gives relief in ! almost hopeless cases. j

WHEN WE GROW OLD. In the museum at Stockholm there is a very interesting collection of eyes taken from human beings at different ages. They are cut acrows in such a way as. to exhibit plainly the internal and tho external eye. In these specimens it is easy to observe that the eve of the young chiid la as transparent as water; that of the young man is a little let>s so; in the man of 50 tlio eye begins to be slightly opaque ; in the man of 50 or 60 it is decidedly opaque; and in a man 70 or 80 it is dull and lustreless. This gradual development uf opacity is due to tho increase of fibrous tissue and tho deposit of waste mutters in the eye. The degeneration of the eye is simply illustrative of the change that takes pluco in the whole body. There is the same loss of transparency in the muscles, the bones, the glands, the brain. It is due to tho imperfect action of the eiiminative organs, giving rise to the accumulation of debris in all parts of f.ho body. In early lift isse puilmonnry arte.y is krgcr than tho aorta. This, facilitates the circulation of the blood to tho. longs, and h»cu::i-s perfect, aeration and purification >v the blood. With advancing ago the pulmonary artery diminishes in size, and becomes smaller than, the aorta, and thus the blood is lees perfectly oxygenated than in youth, and the tissues are less highly vitalised. The blood vessels have muscular fibres in their walls. When the individual begins to grow old, this muscular tissue begins \to disappear and fibrous tissuo takes its place.

LARYNGITIS. Laryngitis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane which lies in the larynx : a disorder which attacks all ages and conditions of people, but is likely to bo more serious in. the case of children than in that of adults.

In grown-up people an attack of acute laryngitis is rarely : fatal, although its symptoms, which include breathlessncss, and sometimes complete loss of voice, often give rise to much alarm. In children tho passages are narrower, and they are less able to throw off the secretions, with tho result that an attack of laryngitis may become croupous in character and consequently dangerous to life. When a child develops a tendency to attacks of laryngitis a thorough examination of the air.passages should be made by a specialist in throat disorders, and in most cases some contraction of chronic inflammation will be found, which calls for correction. The importance of this will be recognised when it is understood by parents that one attack predisposes to others, until the unfortunate child becomes tho victim of so-called croup with the 'least exposure or indiscretion, and all tho time the trouble may be caused by the mouth-breathing, which keeps the throat and all the air passages in a state of irritation and delicacy. An attack of acute laryngitis in one predisposed to it may be brought on in various ways. Sitting with wet feet will often do the mischief. So will inhaling dust or gas, or getting too cold, or going too long without food, or, in short, doing anything or permitting anything that server, to depress the general vitality: for no organ of the body resents any' insult offered to the general system more thoroughly than does an irritable throat. In the case of adults the trouble is often caused by straining the voice. This form is seen in the case of what is known as "clergyman's sore throat," but it is not necessary to be a clergyman to have it, and the. average university man the day after the boat-race may be trusted to ltave acquired a fair case of laryngitis. Sometimes the voice is only hoarse or husky, but in severe case*; it may be completely gone, owing to the local thickening and "congestion of the parts. The treatment of this disease is both general and local. Local applications ,->r > first for the thorough cleansing of the fected parts. After that has been accomplished sedative and astringent remedies axe applied. This treatment shookl-^al- ; ways.' Jby.,tho. physician* * J