MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15175, 14 December 1912, Page 7 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

JjtS INFLAMMATION OF THE BOWELS. :'f ||<| Cavses : Indigestible food (especially in children), irritant poisons, alcoholic ex.f '^'ccsses,'impacted f«eces, peritonitis, and inW ' tes'tin&l" obstruction. It may be confined X; !r\ to special parts of the intestines, when, according to the situation, it is indicated by V .. . «U' h terms as duodenitis, ileitis, colitis, and |$|;f proctitis. ji. • In simple cases only the mucous memt brane is inflamed in others, the whole thickness of the intestinal wall may bo ■ affected.

'1 Symptoms: Vary according to part >, affected and the degree of inflammation ' £. present. In most cases severe recurring attacks of colicky pains, tenderness on pres- '' 1 | rare, flatulent distention of the abdomen, gurgling sounds, and diarrhoea. The stools I, M vary greatly, but biood is rarely present l4 _ ". unless there be wms ulceration. As a re- ; v .salt of tho intestinal conditions, the gene- , 1 A ral health suffers, and there is fevei; anaemia, depression, loss of appetite, and pro- '>/ 1 grcssiv® cmanciation. When the duo- > dcnum is affectcd there may also be some *' jaundice. When the lower parts of the bowel are attacked there is usually much , . straining. When tho disease becomes chronic, the chief symptom is prolonged ■\[t diarrhoea.

" Treatment: Light awl rairritating diet. m' In simple coses bismuth, bicarbonate of ;V I soda, and spirits of chloroform in a mix- " ture often proves beneficial. . In'other cases Av'-, opiates and astringents are neceesary. As '$■/< 't a preliminary, when the cause is known ;,-X ■ to be indigestiblo food, castor oil. For the relief o; pair., hot stupea or poultices » f \ are useful.

. DIET AND CHARACTER. J t t The relation of diet to health has long been known. An English medical journal '-I-,' Kuggesta a systematic: study of the influence i ~;<s of diet upon national character. Nietzsche, a German writer, suggested the connection j. long ago when he asserted that the world .1, weariness of the liuddhist East could be 'raced to a vegetarian diet, chiefly rice, , 'J,, which is deficient in nitrogenous substance. Japan has demonstrated what amazing 'hi' energy a nation can develop on a diet of u , ricc. • j» Diet is subject for .scientific inquiry and perhaps another possible means for_ the control of national evolution. What influa ence for instance ha« a potato diet on the J. character of the poor of the nations of 1 . hj; I ', northern Europe? What is the relation between the dejection of the American people iVi'i in summer and its consumption of tender ' young cabbage? England has long ascribed 1 the general superiority of the nation to i roast. beef. And there is the Germans y*v hwr. which is food as well as drink. It the real cause of German efficiency as ,■■■■>'< ' as of the, trend of German philosophy? ,r .'t And how far does the fermented milk, now JM f IL sc> popular anionl; us, modify our national $j* hl »racter? , The problem, once faced, leads us far "field. A nation's food is, after all, largely |raj§jjg"idetermined by its climate and its soil. ' phajl we be able to regulate these local' i& conditions once it lias been proved that diH really does determine national char;®||M®°!:er? Will, moreover, the feeding of our children become a part of our educational J\ ' '".fy ß^ 4ol with which parents will not be all|fl?»ed.t meddle? Life is growing more complicated every day.