MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16098, 11 December 1915, Page 6 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

ts CONVALESCENCE.IS< Is convalescenoo | from | each | disorders of ■the respiratory tract as pneumonia.. and bronchitis, there is danger that theeverpresent germ of tuberculosis may -.gain _ a foothold, and after scarlet fever groat care must be taken lest the kidneys become inflamed. The way to avoid ail these dangers -is to make haste, slowly. Unwillingness to remain t a. partial invalid for few weeks has often caused lifelong invalidism. Therefor* give "up - every form of social excitement for a time, go to bed early and sleep late, take a nap every, afternoon; ;7 and t; follow % absolutely ; year doctor's advice. That is the way to a safe and happy recovery. SEASONS . TOR DAILY EXERCISE. Any one who * does not take time for, exercise will ! probably; have to make - tune to be ill. Exercise gradually increases the. physical powers, and gives more strength ?to i resist- sickness.,; Exercise will do : for tout body! what intellectual | train-; ing . will do for your, mind—educate. and strengthen it. • Plato called a man. lame because he exercised the mind while the body V; was allowed to? suffer." A sound body '. lies at the foundation "of all that goes to make life a success. .Exercise ■will help to give it. Varied, . light and bride exercise, : nincfc to deep, will rest the tired brain better than anything eke. Metal will rust if not used, and the body will become diseased if not exercised. A man "too' busy" to take care of his health is .-like a workman too busy to sharpen his tools. v TREATMENT OX* D£ARRH<£A. ? Krst give a dose of castor oil. This may, :, at first sight, seem a curious cure for such ani ailment, , but the . reason why it. does good is that it clears away the irrritating fens entire matter which is causing the trouble, and therefore ; stops it going further, but you must, of course, find out what is wrong with milk 'or bottle. After the castor oil ' has acted, give this mixture. It is a most excellent and safe ; diarrhoea medicine . for infanta and children: , Recipe ; aromatic ,*• chalk powder 60 grains, dill-water 3 tablespoonfuls, sugar £ teaspoonful. Blend these well together and keep in a corked bottle. . Dose : For babies, one teaspoonful. every two," hours. ' Double ' the quantity " for children over two. If the - little one is having barley-water. this , should be stopped—as it is a laxativeuntil the diarrhoea ,is cured. Its place should be taken by lime-water. vhealth and the skin. In the condition of j the . skin and', the ] complexion the . results of ...» defective % hy-! giene are perhaps more, plainly seen ithan ! anywhere 'else. Farfect ; -cleanliness, * inter- \ • nally and externally, is absolutely neces-! sary to keep the skin and complexion j pure. Sedentary habits are not conducive i to internal cleanliness, and they generally reveal themselves by the ' saUowneaa Which results. Those who take little or no outdoor; exercise, who eat | too much and too often, ; and .whose ? diet is ; the outcome of custom :or of environment rather; than of one's requirements, become the victims of faulty elimination. - The -waste products -. of the body are not effectively got rid of; constipation, indigestion, ' and? various nervous troubles wrack the constitution generally, ; and are - particularly relentless ' as regards the complexion. Quite a large proportion f our ruined skins are easily preventable if the unfortunate owners would only spare the time to be good to themselves. •' i ssLi iPSK sssfSyi i>-*g iMJ tfellS Slfe Isslfil] iA. MUCH-ABUSED WORD. ' ? Neuritis is ;v a word which Oiice. had. a very, distinct and definite meaning in medicine. Now, ;to English doctor writes, so far aa I can make out, it has none. It'is ' merely fashionable word for : any 'ache or pain you like." But it is fashionable, ana that is enough. In the old time it denoted a very serious and -severe inflami mation of verol-tissne. There waa a gouty \ neuritis; the worst was": the alcoholic. After excessive | drinking people? found| a sort of . creeping paralysis coming on— could not walk, and gradually lost the use of all their limbs. -, It was* very grave . complaint indeed. But now one hears 'on all hands of people suffering from neuritis —told, by doctors they have that—whose symptoms axe of the r most trivial order ; imaginable. sAti a ~ rule they j are - merely ran down a little—bellow par as to their general health. ; All they want is a little j change of air :? and especially if they happen to Kve in a big town. A fortnight at the ; seaside is then a sovereign 7 remedy. NEURALGIA. / .V. /Neuralgia denotes pain in and along the track of some particular nerve. Some particularly imaginative doctor once described it as " the prayer of a nerve of healthy blood." The notion is poetic, ; but/: like lota of poetry, only . partially true. The pain is of very variable degree; from a slight and occasional "stab'" or "prick'" to unspeakable agony. : A -.noted London physician, some eighty, years ago, was known to have stamped 6ut the bottom of his carriage during ait Attack. He eventually proved, by the way, to have a small bony growth pressing on one of the nerves passing out of . the skulL, . This : was a very exceptional case. A*' a role the cause of neuralgia "isi a ; very trivial one,' and easily remedied. In v some 90 per cent, :of ; the ; casesv the I neuralgia ?is 1 felt ] about the face, and is primarily ; due • to a defective tooth. The canine teeth are the worst offenders. You should at once go to the dentist and have your teeth overhauled. failing that, take five grains of butylchloride and ten drops of tincture of gelseinium (Carolina jasmine) in. an ounce of water every three hours until the pain ceases. You may have neuralgia at the back ;; of the head. Then it depends .en the general health, and is; , not - ' connected in any way 'with the teeth., , You may have neuralgia wherever, ..- of course, -/- there is a sensory nerve; and few such no cure-all can ,be given. Attend to the general health, One peculiar form of neuralgia attacks the intercostal nerves, and is accompanied by a local, eruption—herpes zoster, the shingles. ISOLATION OF WHOOPING COUGH. ,' Whooping cough Cases are the great spreaders of infection, ; remarks the Cursing Mirror. The mother who gives up the front: parlour—a more .useful.> room th.m is usually admitted—to a fever case rarely thinks : it.- advisable that the :whopingcough child should sleep ; Mid spend his indoors .tune , there. It is a > suggestion worth making, and ■■ a mother who understands the ?; danger • of > whooping-cough as an infantile disease will do her' best to prevent other children, her own -or strangers, from catching it. The most difficult patients ,to keep isolated are those who live in houses which 1 are back to bid: Or in two or three-roomed cottages. If the family consist of father, mother, and three or four children, the most > that can be done in • the way : of isolation is to arrange for the patient to sleep in a bed or on a sofa by himself. In any case some measures ; for ? the safety of " others are possible. . On 3 woman ;l\ bow taught her : four-year-old daughter- to cough into a piece of . paper which was ; burnt ; immediately ; after use. A fresh ; piece of , paper was then placed where the child could set at- it, within the- child's reach, -or it might have been tied to her with string. The baby in that house escaped. The patient's mouth should be rinsed with "disinfectants after every paroxysm of coughing, and the - mother ? should - wash bar > own hands after doing . anything for the child, such as holding his head if he is sick. And, as in other infectious" diseases, the healthy children - should : disinfect. It is well Ito state that the patient must not drink out of anyone else s cup, nor must anyone drink out of his. Otherwise this inter'change is sure to happen. V!' ■ ; % - r . ■-.• W. • .z: 1". '