MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15521, 31 January 1914, Page 7 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

AFRICAN LAME SICKNESS.

:; 'Ah investigation o» the South African «]faea«c known as larnziekte, or lame-sick-ness, suggests that it is due to a special I plant poison that is generated under ab'J normal conditions in grasses or other | plants that are normally harmless. Its development seems to he associated with 1 unusual weather and soil experiences, of f frhich summer drought is important. Through such conditions wilting would favour the formation of the poison, and thi» srivcu explanation for the common belief that the discaso results from eating "wilted plants. A COLD IN THE HEAD. We often hear of a cold "going through the house," and many people are content to take, no stops to check its progress. They see one victim after another succumb to the infection, and calmly await their own turn. An ordinary cold in" the head is an infectious fever just as dipthcria is. though fortunately much less severe, and as a rule unattended by any complications. Its cause is not, as was formerly supposed, exposure to fresh air, or rain, or fog, for workers in mountain observatories are often exposed to such conditions without any ill effect? The enemy is really a microbe, or rather various microbes, for while diphtheria, for example, is always caused by one special germ, a cold may be brought about by many germs totally "different from each other. There are predisposing causes in thfi raso of certain individuals who take cold more easily than others. It would ho well for such people to try and track their frequent colds to the real source. In many cases it will be found that they spend the greater part of their time in close, hot, over -rowded, ill-ventilated, or dusty rooms. These conditions tend to lower the •yalem's power of resistance to germ attacks of all kinds, and the man who gets off with nothing worse than a cold in the head may count himself lucky. Then again, the victim of constant colds may j possibly suffer from some abnormal growth it) the nose which lowers the vitality of the mucoun membranrr, making it specially susceptible. In Bur a rase an operation may be necessary, but frequently this is not a very serious one, and when it is over the sufferer lias no more trouble with colds. Where there it no such reason to account, for -olds in the hoad thev can generally be warded off if caro bo 'taken to keep all rooms, including the bedroom, thoroughly ventilated. There should be no actual draught if ,-, window be fitted with * board some 3in deep that rests on the lower part of the frame, so that the sash shuts down upon it. In this way there is always an opening in the middle of the window that insures a freo current of air In addition, whenever the room is empty '°r a short tune the windows may be opened wide, It is not. a good thing to wear 100 mm heavy clothing in winter, for this tends to make the skin sensitive to draughts. Wear woollen garments certainly, but let them be light and not too 'many. Kxerrise will supply the boat kind lOf wurmt'i because it makes the blood cir- ' J?' at * freely. And if, despite such precautions as have been suggested, a cold attacks l'|?<w, go to bed for a couple of days, and* away from the rest of the WO%, pparo them exposure to infection.