HEALTH NOTES.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4407, 13 July 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

HEALTH NOTES.

PLEURISY . (By Dr Andrew Wilson.) There is no ailment from which we are more liable to suffer in the winter season than pleurisy. I fancy most people complain of this ailment as a “stitch in the side,”.but it is a far more serious disorder than is indicated by that term. A “stitch in the side” may mean anything from a mere muscular pain to that due to flatulence. Pleurisy is a very different ailment, and one which demands our best attention when we are unlucky enough to suffer from it. We should, in fact, teach ourselves the difference between one lung trouble and another if i.e ar e to be successful in discovering what is wrong. From a bad cold up to inflammation of the lungs, many persons aro unable to say exactly what is wrong. The great value of ail information of this kind is not that it supersedes the doctor’s work or advice, but enables us first of all to be more on the alert to call him in a case of real urgency, and to second his efforts in an intelligent manner for tne relief of the pgtiont. This has always been my argument for the gaining by the people of knowledge of diseases in the same way in which they obtain a knowledge of 'first aid or ambulance workTo know when a person suffers from inflammation of the lungs, and to obtain medical assistance «at once, is surely knowledge of as valuable a kind as thawhich enables us to put a broken Dg 'in splints or to dress a burn.

WHAT IT IS. The lungs themselves are enclosed in or covered by a membrane called the pleura. This’ pleura is really double in its nature. One layer lines the ribs, ana the other covers the lungs, so that when the lungs move in the act of breathing it is the layer of the pleura lining tue chest which rubs against the layer that covers the lung. Between the two layers we find a little fluid thrown out so as, to render the movements smooth and free from excessive friction. Now, pleurisy is inflammation of the pleura, and this being so, it is evident that it is not'the lung which is affected. But in a bad case of pleurisy the lung may suffer as well, and it is not an uncommon thing to find that where a pleurisy has been neglected serious lung troubles (and consumption among them) may result. It is not wonderful to find that the pleura’s nearnn-s and intimate relationship to the lung should bring about this result. THE SIGNS OF PLEURISY.

Pleurisy is caused by cold and chill. It may arise from other causes, no doubt, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred it is cold which is the cause of the ailment. I should say the most common form of chill which is responsible/for pleurisy is that acquired by sitting in damp underclothing. We tan understand how this should be when we think of the contact between the clothing and the walls of the chest. But ordinary chill may bring on this complaint, and damp feet may have a similar effect- Thfe first sign of pleurisy will probably be manifested in a shivering fit. The patient feels cold and chilly. B, has great difficulty in keeping himse i warm.' He is restless and anxious, and feels feverish. If his temperature be taken it will be found to be above what is natural, and this will especially be the case if the temperature be ascertained at night. Then comes pain in the side of the chest. The pain at first is usually onesided, and you will notice tnat when the patient takes a deer breath the pai» is increased by the act of. breathing. He" will find relief by lying on the opposite side to that which is* painful. The ‘ cough is also an important sign. It is a short, sharp, hacking kind of cough, and one feature of it is that little or no expectoration is brought up from the lungs. Thess are the chief £igns of pleurisy. Insimple muscular ‘‘pain in the side” we of course have pain, hut there W’ll ho no cough and litjtle or no fever. THE TREATMENT. There is one golden rule to be followed in all diseases beyond the most simple, and that is to make the sick person go to bed at once. Believe rue when I say that many cases of illness (and many fatal cases, I may add) might be averted, or, at least, rendered much less serious if the patients went to bed early in the course of their’ ailment. Strength saved is so much to the cred’t of thet person, as it were, and we all know what this means in illness. It is equally the same with typhoid fever as it is with pleurisy—the sooner the person affected goes to bed the sooner ho will he well. Put him in a warm room. By warm I- do not mean overheated. Many people cannot sc« the distinction between the one thing and the other; but it is an important difference all the same. The patient .’ants to be kept warm; h e does hot eqinre to be suffocated by the heat. Th;n yo’. will find great relief given by strapping the painful side with strips of stickingplaster. Put them right round one half of the chest from the backbone to the front. Each stripe will be about three inches in breadth, and the one will slightly overlap the other. The chest in this way is partially fixed, its movements are restricted, and the rest does good to the affected parts. If there is much pain, in place of. the strapping apply flannels wrung out of hot water and sprinkled with turpentine. Jn a bad case your.doctor will probably order linseed meal poultices. See that the poultice is not allowed to cool unduly oeiore the next is applied. SOME OTHER HINTS. The food will require to be of a light character. Indeed the patient,will not be able to take much of anything solid at all. Milk will be the backbone of the feeding, with'soda in it to relieve thirst. Beef teh and bovril will be advantageous, and light puddings' may be taken. The doctor will attend to what medicines are required, but I should say it will always be wis e to see that a purge is given, so as to clean the bowels and to reduce the fever. The medicines that will be given .will probably be these to ease the cough, and to make expectoration easy. One prescription of this kind is made up as follows : —Carbonate of ammonia, one drachm; tincture of squills, three drachms; compound cara- - pnor tincture; half an ounce; infusion of senega to make ur> six ounces. Label —“A teaspoonfuf every four hours.”