HANDICAPPED LIVES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7977, 7 December 1911, Page 2

HANDICAPPED LIVES

By AY. S. C. "Be your best, do your best, and always have tho best.’’ This is a very good motto to put in ono s nat, ana to endeavour to live up to. ihe nearer we can approach to its realisation, the fuller and happier will be our lives. Never be satisfied with anything is second-rate. It is true that wo often have to put up with conditions, and tilings which fall short of being the best, but ‘‘putting up with" and being satisfied with” are two very different terms Tho most important part of the motto is “Be your best.’’ You cannot do jour best nor generally have tne best without being your and to bo your best you must have good health. It is impossible for anyone who is not in first-rate hoaltxi to do as good work or to get as much enjoyment out of life as he could if h* s health were all that it should be. Yet, when you think of it, it is surprising how many people seem to not only have poor health, but also to have settled down to a state of. if not # satisfaction, indifference regarding then* condition. ’They seem to have come to tne conclusion that poor health is a normal condition and that it is useless to repine or to do anything to effect improvement. Now it is to these people, as well as others who are sick and are also dissatisfied, that we desire to give some information which will, probably, radically alter their outlook on life. . Most of the ills from which we suffer have their origin within our bodies and are due to interruption of .Nature s laws. Knowledge of these laws is necessary to everyone, but. unfortunately, most people have but a nodding acquaintance with them. For instance, how many of us fully realise the fact that every instant of our lives our blood is being continuously contaminated by various poisons actually created l>y tho wear and tear of our flesh or tissue? These poisons must be expelled from the system, by natural means, as fast as they are produced, or we must suffer from disease. Each movement wo make, each breath wo draw, necessitates waste of tissue, and the tissue wasted, or. used up. is converted into poisonous waste material. It is just as essential to life that tho body should waste away as it is that its substance should be constantly renewed, or replaced, by an adequate supply of fresh air, water, and food. AVe, therefore, give ,a few typical examples of the manner in which waste takes place. When a man draws a breath, . he fills his lungs with air. Fresh air is composed of oxygen diluted with nitrogen. When a man empties his lungs by breathing out, it is found that oxygen has been taken from the air, and that the breath exhaled contains' a large amount of carbonic acid. The man did not breathe in tho carbonic acid. It would be impossible for him to do so, as this gas, when pure, is highly poisonous. It is carbonic acid which sometimes fills the workings of coal mines, and causes so many lamentable deaths amongst the miners. So deadly is it that a flame will not burn in it. The carbonic acid in the breath is actually made in the body from carbon taken in tho form of food, etc. The quantity of solid carbon thus exhaled in tho breath every twenty-four hours is equal to eight ounces of pure charcoal. Another way in which our bodies waste is through tho skin. Tho skin, which looks passive, is really always working hard, ridding the body of poisons, which, if not removed, would be just as dangerous to life as carbonic acid. The skin expels these poisons in tho form of perspiration; and, although it may not he visible, perspiration is oozing from us all tho time. If a man were completely covered with a coating of waterproof material he would live but a very little while. The skin, lungs, kidneys, and liver are the organs upon which we aro dependent for:-the extraction of poisonous matter from the blood, and its removal from tho system. It is, however, not with the skin ana lungs that we now propose to deal. The skin, as a general thing, needs but regular treatment with good soap and water, and it will do its duty perfectly and without complaint. 'The lungs are vigorous organs,' and we are soon made aware of any interference with their action by a fit of coughing or a choking sensation. It is the importance of looldng after the health of tho kidneys and liver which it is desirable to emphasise. These organs are tho most delicate of all those engaged in extracting and removing from the blood the. waste poisons as fast as they aro produced in tho body. Unless the kidneys and liver are in a fit state to thoroughly perform their task tho particular poisons, which it is their duty to make and extract, will remain in tho system, and, as the kidneys and liver are often unable to tell us directly, by a sensation of pain, that there is anything the matter with them, we are probably unaware of their failure until we begin to suffer from rheumatism, gout, neuralgia, lumbago, backache), sciatica, blood disorders, anaemia, indigestion, biliousness, jaundice, sickheadaohe, general debility, gravel, stone or bladder troubles, all of which complaints are caused by tho retention in the body of urinary and biliary poisons. In order that life may bo sustained, a certain quantity of nitrogen must bo contained in the food we eat. Tho nitrogen in the air is not absorbed into the system through the lungs. The body is continuously demanding a fresh supply of nitrogen to replace the constant waste of this element, and such fresh supply can be derived only from digested food. As tho body tissues waste, nitrogen is liberated in the form of uioa and urio acid, which should, in duo course, bo eliminated by the kidneys. AVhon urea and urio acid are not formed in excess, and tho kidneys are working healthily, the two poisons leave tho body in solution in tho urine, and aro consequently harmless; but if the kidneys, through weakness or disease, are incapable of performing their duties, or if nitrogen is contained in our food in quantity so excessive that even healthy kidneys cannot cope with it, the blood is not properly purified, and we suffer from urio poisoning in some ono or more of its numerous forms. Headache, Depression, Low Temperature, Anaemia, and Asthma "are all associated with the preenco of an excess, of urio acid; whilst Rheumatic and Gouty affections coincide with the deposition of urio acid in the joints and tissues. Digestive troubles and defective, nutrition are often due to tho presence of this acid, tho contaminated blood being deprived of its power to absorb food. Uric acid crystals deposited in the bladder form Gravel and Stones. In cases of nervous breakdown, insanity, or epilepsy, urio acid is frequently shown to be in excess. In fact, an excess of uric acid accompanies half the ills which afflict humanity; Even a person who is in moderately pood health—and most people have but moderate health —would feel far better and enjoy life more. completely if tho extraction of urio poisons wore properly performed by the kidneys: whilst a per•'fti who is feeling out of sorts, miserable, and generally run down. has. in all probability, an excess of urio acid in tho blood. Tho kidneys are situated in the small of tho back, one on each side of the spine. Human kidneys aro similar in shape to those of a sheep but are somewhat larger. They are encased in fat, and are supplied with arteries which convey blood to them from the heart. By a process akin to filtering, tho kidneys take any excess of water from tho blood, and they also extract from the blood various waste poisons with which it becomes laden in its journey through the veins. AVhen a person is in good health these waste poisons aro dissolved in the water taken from the blood by tho kidneys, and the solution is passed through narrow passages leading from each kidney into tho bladder, and thence expelled from tho body. This solution is known as urine. Some of the poisons contained in urino are animal matter,, such as urea and uric acid; others are mineral matter, being salts, of lime, magnesia, potash,' and soda. Unless the kidneys do their work

thoroughly the waste matter is incompletely extracted from the blood, and becomes actively poisonous, causing us to suffer from disorders which cannot be cured until the kidneys are restored to health and activity. After the blood is filtered and punned the kidneys it enters the veins, and is in duo time returned to the heart, having, in the meantime, traversed the body and taken up a fresh supply of waste matter. The heart again sends the blood to the kidneys, which once more filter it and extract the impurities. This process goes on without ceasing day or nig* l *. The kidneys of the average man filter and extract from the blood about three pints of urine in twenty-four hours, in this quantity of urine are dissolved about an ounce of urea and ten or twelve grains in weight of uric acid, together with other animal and mineral matter, varying from a third of an ounce to nearly an ounce. The blood, in the course of its .circulation, carries nourishment, derived from the food wo eat, and oxygen, to every part of the tissues of the body, and receives from the tissues matter which they have consumed, and for which they have no further use. This waste matter it is the duty of the skin, lungs, and kidneys to throw off and get rid of. In the form of carbonic acid, the lungs throw off the equivalent of eight ounces of pure charcoal every twenty-four hours, and the kidneys do their share by eliminating urea, uric acid, etc., as described. Closely associated with the work performed by the kidneys is the work performed by the liver. The liver may be described as a chemical laboratory. The blood which enters the liver through tho portal vein is loaded with the products of the digestion of food. These products the liver deals with in such a manner that tho composition of the blood when it leaves the liver is very much changed, a sort of secondary digestion having taken place in tho liver. iiilo has been manufactured out of the blood; a substance called glycogen has been made from the sugar in the blood, and stored in the liver for future use, and various other transformations have taken place. The liver, also, probably destroys and removes from tho blood red corpuscles, which axe worn out and aro of no further utility. ' The liver makes and extracts from tho blood two or three pounds of bile every day. The bile is delivered into the intestines, and acts as a natural cathartic, besides assisting in the digestion of fatty food and retarding the decomposition of such food as it passes along the intestines. , . "Now, if the liver fails to do its work thoroughly, it follows that tho blood, instead of having its substance dealt, with and cleansed in the manner described, is carried by the veins to every part oi the body in a condition which is inimical to the welfare of tho body. In other words, the blood is laden with biliary poisons, and the presence ot these binary poisons in the blood causes us to suffer from indigestion, dyspepsia, general debility, biliousness, blood disorders, sick-headache, jaundice, anaemia, and a host of other biliary troubles. The importance of the kidneys and liver being in a healthy condition cannot be too greatly insisted upon, ‘therefor© a medicine which possess a healing and restorative influence on those vital organs is a boon to mankind- ouch, a medicine is Warner's Safe Cure, which acts beneficially and equally upon, both tho kidneys and liver, restoring them to health and activity when they are diseased or feeble. Even disorders diagnosed as Bright's Disease —one of the most fatal of diseases —frequently have yielded to treatment by this remarkable medicine. Many people have failed to understand why' Warner's Safe Cure cures so many complaints, seemingly so different, as rheumatism, gout, lumbago, neuralgia, backache, sciatica, blood-disorders,ana-emia, indigestion, biliousness, jaundice, sick-headache. general debility, gravel, stone and bladder troubles. The explanation ds very simple. All the disorders cured by Warner's Safe Cure are due to the inability of the kidneys and liver to extract and expel urinary- and biliary poisons. By restoring the kid--neys and liver to health and activity, i Warner's Safe Cure enables those organs I to properly perform their functions and to free the blood from urinary and biliary poisons when pain and sickness, caused bv the presence of such poisons, necessarily ceases. Thus the cures effected are natural cures. A pamphlet, containing full particulars relating to Warner's Safe Cure and accounts of many remarkable cases of restoration -to health when other means had failed, will bo sent post free, on request, by H. H.. Warner and Co., Limited, Australasian Branch, Melbourne. Warner's Safe Cure is sold by chemists and storekeepers everywhere both in the original (ss) bottles and in the cheaper (2s 6d) "Concentrated, nonalcholic form.