MEDICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17336, 6 December 1919, Page 4 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

A CASE FOE GLASSES. The styes that appear at the edge ot the eyelids are generally a sign that the sight is weak and that eyeglasses are needed to relieve the strain. .It is the slight defects, in sight that cause irritation of the eyes after some hours of sewing or reading, and the styes that t«rm will not be cured by ointment as long as the true cause is neglected. It does not follow that you -do not need glasses because you can see what you are standing next to. CANNED VEGETABLES. Some of the results of " canning' vegetables, from the point of view of vitamine content, have occupied attention. It is not surprising to learn that the greater part of the original anti-scorbutic properties of the raw vegetable is destroyed in this proceeding; indeed, the strange part is that any anti-scorbutic vitamine remains at all. In the case of runnerpods the loss is estimated at.9o per cent, of the original value; in the case of cabbage at 70 per cent. This loss is primarily due to the heating involved in the process of canning; and a further loss may be 'expected to occur during the period of storage. In the case of greenleaf vegetables, which possess, in addition to the anti-scurvy vitamine, the " fatsoTuble" growth-promoting accessory lactor, the latter- substance is also lacking in the canned material unless the liquor be also taken. It is strongly emphasised that the value of canned vegetables, as regards scorbutic and growth-promot-ing properties, must be regarded as negligible. THE EFFECT OF MIND ON MIND Habit is everything in life. Good habits should be formed early in life. Later our actions pass from the conscious stage until they become automatic, such as the habits of washing and putting on clothes, etc. The growing organism 'is more plastic and easily impressed. Professor James says that children are " walking bundles of habits.'' Armed with this knowledge parents and teachers should give more care to what habits are formed. Touchiness is another characteristic which children can pick up from their parents, and ( irritability is a first symptom of nerve' fatigue, and is worst for the person who feels it. It is due to a hyper-sensitive condition, which reacts too quickly before there is time to exercise control. It is not common to health. Irritability makes a bad atmosphere for children. We all know the thoroughly uncomfortable, feeling of unrest and something wrong that some homes give us. We, as adults, can get away- from it. It is infinitely more dangerous to a child in its plastic condition, because it cannot generally get away. Fussiness, also, which is usually concerned with the small things of life, and worrying of "any sort, should be avoided, especially by parents and teachers. Suspiciousness is very catching, and is a tersible atmosphere for a child. Unrest and excitability: A child is naturally happy and does not • need artificial excitements, which often make him sick and unable to sleep. He needs restfulness. Depression : Children should not be kept in contact with anyone who looks on life from a gloomy standpoint, who is always apprehensive. If a mother is suffering from temporary depression she should, if possible, go away from her children, for their sake, as well as her own. Of great importance, therefore, is the mental background of the nursery, the home, and the school, and the psychological atmosphere which prevails there. More important than what we are taught is the atmosphere in which we are learning. Teachers must consider the effect of their temperament on the children in the same way that it is the duty of a nurse to remember the effect of her attitude on her patients. HEADACHES. With a great many people headaches are such common occurrences that they regard them as inevitable, says a medical correspondent. Many women acquire a quite remarkable—l was going to say indifference to them. Certainly they accept them with little more resentment and sense of undeserved affliction than they do the advent of grey hairs,, of obesity or any of the more normal accompaniments of increasing age. This apathy is, to my mind, a symptom in itself. .While lam ever advocating the avoidance of . morbid preoccupation with symptoms, I do not by any means sugI symptoms, I do not by attitude towards gest that this passive attitude towards physical discomfort is either desirable or wise. To begin with, the ordinary headache may be simply a warning of impending trouble, the vanguard so to speak of an approaching fever, or the outward and appreciable sign of some concealed trouble elsewhere. I do not propose to go into technical details here' regarding the more obscure causes of headache. These are essentially the province of the specialist or should figure in personal consultation. Sufficient to say that headaches may occur ■ as the result of some abnormality in the blood pressure, of nervous disturbance, of some poisoning of the blood by toxic matter, eye strain, indigestion, excitement, and fatigue. These by no means exhaust the list. One of the most frequent forms of headache is that described as Migraine, often, referred to as a sick or bilious headache. It occurs at intervals rather than continuously. It is more common in women than men, and if this be any consolation to the sufferer, it has often been supposed that persons of more than ordinary intellectual keenness are particularly susceptible to it. The pain is usually confined to the forehead or eyes, beginning over one eye and gradually spreading until one side of the head is involved. It is called a sick headache because vomiting very often concludes the attack. " It was customary in oiden times to apply leeches to the head for the relief of headache or to bleed the patient. This was sound if to our way of thinking somewhat drastic treatment.. The result aimed at was the relief of local congestion, and by this means the removal of the pain- To-day, \v e employ other methods, whose purpose is not dissimilar. Instead of actually removing the blood, we do use means to withdraw it from the head to other parts of the body. For example, temporrry relief may b e obtained by immersing the body up to the neck " in a hot bath and placing cold water compresses or a bag of ice on the head. The sipping of very hot water or tea will \erv often produce much the, same effect. If drugs are taken, they should be taken as early as possible in the attack, for the reason that once the headache ' is fully i developed the absorbent capacity of the I digestive processes is arrested. The drug* I most commonly employed for the relief of I this form of headache' are phenacetin and | eaffein citrate. The dose depends upon ! the condition of the patient and the seventy of the attack. Thev are neither of thern drugs to be taken indiscriminately. The patient should lie down in a darkened room and keep as quiet as possible. I referred earlier to a poisoning of the blood by toxic matter as a frequent cause of headache. Poisoning is perhaps rather a strong term to use. The blood in such a. condition is clogged with uric acid pro- , ducts, the result of an excess of these bodies which the digestive and climinatorv systems have successfully disposed of Persons who suffer in this wav should adopt a careful dietry, avoiding as far as possible meat, tea, coffee, rich stews and substitute milk, eggs, cheese, butter bread, potatoes, and green vegetables' I Any tendency to constipation should be i corrected by an occasional Blue pill and i by salts taken first thing in the morning. ! Exercise in the open aii is particularly beneficial. The meals should be light but nourishing. In all cases of persistent headache, commonsense in the matter of diet and exercise will go much further > towards effecting a cure than anv number ' of prescription. . Keep the benefits of fresh air in mind rather than a despairing faith in drugs. Cultivate the exercise habit, not so much of the bedroom athletics order—though these are better than none—but of the simple outdoor order. If necessary, get up half an hour earlier and walk before breakfast. The habit, bejrun as a duty will end bv becoming a pleasure. The effects, felt in* the abolition ' of chronic tendencies to indigestion nnC. headache, will muri . than reply the tune and effort thus expended.