MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15504, 10 January 1914, Page 8 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

SCARLET FEVER. WflE? scarlet fever if prevalent, and an individual who has never suffered from it is attained by severe sore throat, sickness and fevcrishncss, it is as well' that medical advice be sought, to ensure the safety of the other members of the family, as ■when present the infection soon spreads if isolation be not speedily carried out. The vivid starlet, rash usually comes out within the first, 48 hours, and so quickly gives a confirmatory sign. In the early stages of the malady the patient usually feels very ill, but after the first week or so the average individual does not suffer much discomfort, and one of the chief dangers at this .period is that the- adult invalid will disregard the doctor's orders as to absolute Test. Where proper rest is not taken the poison of starlet lever is liable to damage certain internal organs and produce a constitutional weakness which may irretrievably injure the system. Tho chief precautions to be taken are rest in bed until tho doctor says convalescence is well established and all avoidance of chill. It is a serious thing for anyone suffering from scarlet fever to take cold, as pneumonia or other diro complications may very. likely result, WATER AS A MEDICINE- , There are numbers of persons of all ages who do not drink enough (says an English doctor). Women are the chief offenders in this respect. They take very little fluid during the day, ami what they do take is generally in the form of strong Ida. When I complain that you do not drink enough, do not immediately start off for the- Pig and Whistle on the doctor's recommendation. It is water to winch 1 refer. Do you know that a great deal more than half the body weight is made up of water? If you weight eleven stone, about six ■ stone- is water. Water is constantly being lost by tha body, through the breath and through the skin, as well as by way of the kidneys. This constant loss must be made up by drinking. Try drinking a largo glass of water every morning and night. The best time-to drink is between meals. The food is digested by various chemical juices, and it is better not to dilute them too freely with liquids at .meals. Take a ... drink about one hour before meals. If there- is not enough water in the body, constipation results; moreover, tho various fluids of tho bod/ are too concentrated. Stones form, if the Water is not taken in sufficient quantity to flush the .body. The bile becomes ,too thick, and gall-stones may, form, Auyway, it is a simple experiment to try. .You will not poison yourself by taking > water. You know that thousands of rich people go abroad every year to take the waters. Well, believo me, it is not so much thejjmiraculous effect of. the ;. : mysterious things contained in the water as the water itself. . The '"holiday' of ~,. coursei. is pleasant, and ; does good; '•- but, J- the medicinal;, power ,'resides: chiefly;.- in the water, and ,not in the salts it contains. So n'ext year we will all drink a bit more cut of the kitchen - tap, . and tell' all. our friends we have been taking the. waters, chehlj waters. i ; They will surely notice an ■ improvement," if we drink- more water. a " "■:' CURING WHITLOWS. ... \

',\'."A':i' gathered" finger, or whitlow, seems ft peculiarly tempting object for the application of a poultice. The. bread ; poultice ; ?appears' to be popular favourite; although a ■ linseed one is, occasionally used. Both of these' axe worse than useless ior ;such•;•*' purpose. They' simply serve to make matters worse, the moist heat encouraging the I rapid? growth of the germs'which; are . the f cause them. '■ -} l A little intelligent appreciation , of;, the natural 1 forces at work in this turo.o£ aUeh an.Ailmont will 'show how best to manage the treatment. The "gathering," "<{r whitlow, is simply the |: battlefield; { where a terrific engagement is' ;. taking -place between the microbes which have •forced an entry;into the tissues, and . .the' white' blood" corpuscles. ' ; What wo must do is'tp bring more of the defenders on the scene, and at tho same timoheip -to weaken force*'of the foe. &«£ of all, get' a; basin of ' really'Tiot water—as hot as you can bear—and keep dipping tho : affected finger into* it."; ,It may^Tje, thatyou can,only keep it.in. the,- hot.water for the fraction of |'a* second at '* the beJ ginning of the process, but later on it will : bo' easy to retain: it;' in the hot fluid for quite an appreciable time. r .After giving ,it aj ■ good,' hot _ bath,' which :• dilatos' the blood-vessels - : ..' and .' brings ' , • countless thousands of additional white blood cells to tlio spot, you should now apply a proper antiseptic poultice. This, will not 'only; encourage a plentiful i supply of: the white cells, eager, to devour, the marauders, bat the antiseptic material of the: poultice will weaken , the germs, and render • them more "ready.' for immediate annihilation. % Such a poultice is.easily prepared. A piece of boracic lint is all thai is required; except a little oiled sflk or guttapercha tissue to keep the dressing moist. Wring the lint in warm water; apply it around th?' part, and cover with '?• the. ? impervious \ tissue. -Around : this ■a f little cottonwool .may -".- be wrapped, and ■ then s a bandage ': to keep everything;/ in f position. y'Tne^ dressing should be renewed, morning and night. If the "gathering" ; comes to ■'. a? head ;iti is necessary to puncture the, skin in, order to get rid of the pus. -; This can be done with 1 a darning needle, which should either; be well boiled or passed through the flame of tho gas-stove, -to sterilise it.' -: After evacuating the 'apus p the moist, :■ boracic dressing should be used as before. Boracic j lint is really indispensable, r and should be j kept in every ; medicine-chest. '; '•-•' ■' \\

; V ' RADIUM AND DISEASE. 'h-T, Sir' William Ramsay had much that was ; ' of publio interest to say about the proper■'i.. ties of radium in the course of bis. remarks ;// at a recent aieeting'pf the British Radium } Corporation. With regard to the ,; appli- '; 'cation' of radium to /: medical purposes, he -7 stated that there .Were other substances ia 3. tlie.-Treh.with v pre—and, indeed, in all '' ; . Tadtum" ores—which had : not, jo far, been exploited from the therapeutic point of ■'■■■ view: They were polonium, ionium, and actinium. <- Iliey were at present chemical ; 2 curiosities, which had not been : extracted .in any great quantity, though there Ms, nt very great difficulty in extracting them.' Ho was in hopes, however, that polonium, •which was perhaps most easily produced, might prove to have therapeutic qualities which would enable them to treat diseases which up to that point had ; not ' been' treated. All he could say was that polonium was somewhat, analogous to selenium, tellurium, and also-to oismntn; the therapeutic qualities of which had been tested. Those -three ' elements remained " in the system for some length of time, and were then excreted, but they had practically no therapeutical qualities. Polonium differed from litem entirely in that it gave off alpha rays just the same as radium, and they could not. help believing 'that the •potency of radium for therapeutic purposes depended upon the alpha rays. Radium Ncpuld not be administered as a medicine to. human beings." It" was too expensive, and probably too dangerous, as he" did not believe it would lie easily eliminated from the system.' But the three substances he bad mentioned were eliminated*in about three' months, and his- impression was that': polonium might produce its effect for about ] that time and. then be eliminated. It was, of ; course, speculative, but he thought that. they ; should ■ put some polonium -on the marked so that' experiments might be made '' -i—first" on • animals and,then.on.men—ol ! ionium and actinium he could say less, but possibly'. they might replace , radium for the ■.uses for. which it ' was- at 'the.moment employed. V It - : was ', explained ■ recently .how, ; the emanations ; of radium could f,dfe- ,; solved: in water and :used in ,the form of ; takes in the treatment of disease., • Touchy -: ing ?on this aspect the subject, ■"sor'Btinisaysaid those emanations rj&p.re* sented in » 'concentrated form i what .occurred in most of. the spa water* at places I such 'as Bath, Buxton/' and, Carlsbad. Those waters were supposed to owetHeii activity ; to radium or. niton. He .-pleaded from his , own special point of view that the com-; panyjj should, when it became exceedingly prosperous, place at • the ' disposal of \ scientists and medical men considerable doses of that emanation at a moderate figurira j .*: ■ v .