HANDICAPPED LIVES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 8054, 7 March 1912, Page 7

HANDICAPPED LIVES

(By W.S.C.) • (

"Be vour best, do your best, and always have the best.” This is a very good motto to jmt in one’s hat, and to endeavour (o live up to. The nearer we can approach to its realisation the fuller and happier will be our lives. Never be-salisfied with anything that is second-rate. It is true that we often have to put up with conditions, ami things which fall short of bo ing the best, but “putting nfi with” and being ‘‘satisfied with” arc two very different terms. Tho most important part of the motto is ‘‘Be your best.” ’’ You cannot do your best nor generally have the best without being your best, and to bo your best you must have good health. It is impossible for anyone who is not in first-rate health to do as good work or to get as much enjoyment out of life as ho could if his health were all that it should be. Vet, 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 their condition. They seem to have come to tho conclusion that poor health is a normal condition, and that it is useless to repino 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 wo desire to give some information which will, probably, radically alter their outlook on life. Most of the ills from which wo suffer have their origin within our bodies, and are duo to interruption of Nature’s lawsKnowledge of t>£»e laws is necessary to everyone, hut, unfortunately, most people have but a nodding acquaintance with them. For instance, how many of us fully realise tho fact that every instant ,of our lives our blood is being continuously contaminated by various poisons ac-, tually created by tho wear and tear of our flesh or tissue? Those poisons must ho expelled from the system, by natural means, as fast as they are produced, or wo must suffer from disease. Each mo’ve--ment we make, each, breath we diaw, necessitates waste of tissue, and the tissue wasted, or used up, i§ converted into poisonous waste material. It is just as essential to life that the body should waste away, as it is that its substance should he constantly renewed, or replaced, by ■ an adequate supply of fresh air, water, and food. tVc, therefore, give a few typical examples of the manner in which waste takes place. When a man draws a breath, ho 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 oxygon has been taken from the ail’, and that tho breath exhaled contains a largo amount of carbonic acid. The man did not breathe in the carbonic add. 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 ooal 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 llio skin. The 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 the form of' perspiration; and, although it may not be visible, perspiration is oozing from us all tho time. If a man wore completely covered with a coating of waterproof material he would live but a very little while. i , Tho skin, lungs, kidneys and - liver are the organs upon which we are dependent for the extraction of poisonous matter from the blood, and its removal from the system. It is, however, not with'the skin and 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 looking after tho health of tho kidneys and liver .which it is desirable to emphasise. These organs are the most delicate of all those engaged in extracting and removing from the blood the waste poisons as fast as they are produced in the body. Unless tho kidneys and liver are in a fit state to thoroughly perform their task, the particular poisons; which it is their duty to make and extract, will remain in the 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, wo are probably unaware of their failure until wo begin to suffer from rheumatism, gout, ncuralga, lumbago, backache, sciatica, blood disorders, anaemia, indigestion, biliousness, jaundice, sick-headache. general debility, gravel, stone or bladder troubles, all of which complaints are caused ,by the retention in tho body of urinary and biliary noisons. f ■ In order that 'life may be sustained, a certain quantity of, nitrogen must be contained in the food we cat. The 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 tho form of urea and uric acid, which should, in due course, be eliminated, by the kidneys. When urea and uric acid are not formed in excess, and the kidneys are •working healthily, tho two poisons leave the body in solution in tho urine, and are consequently harmless; but if the kidnoys, through' weakness or disease, are incapable of performing their duty, 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 uric poisoning in some ono or more of its numerous forms. Headache, Depression, Low , Temperature, Anaemia, and Asthma are all associated with the presence of an excess of uric acid; whilst Rheumatic and Gouty affections coincide with the deposition of uric acid in tho joints and tissues. Digestive troubles and defective nutrition are often due to the presence of this acid, the 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, uric 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 good health—and most people have hut moderate health—would feel far better and enjoy life more completely if the extraction of uric poisons were properly performed by the kidneys; whilst a person who is feeling out of sorts, miserable, and generally run down, has, in . all probability, an excess of uric acid in the blood.

The kidneys are situated in the small o£ the hack, one on each side of the spine. Human kidneys are 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, the kidneys take any excess of water from the 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 are dissolved in -the water taken from the blood by the kidneys, and the solution is passed through narrow passages leading from each kidney into the bladder, and thence expelled from the body. This solution is known as urine. So mo of the poisons contained in urine are animal matter, such as urea and uric acid; ethers axe 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 ns to suffer from disoders which cannot be cured until the kidneys are restored to health and activity. After the blood is filtered and purified by the kidneys it enters the v.ejns, and is in due time returned to the heart, having, in the meanwhile, traversed the body and taken up a fresh supply of waste matter. The heart again sends the blood to tho kidneys, which once more filter it and extract the impurities. This process goes on without ceasing day dr night. The kidneys of the average man filter and extract from the blood about three pints of mine in twenty-four hours. .In this quantity of mine 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 tc nearly an ounce.

The blood, in the course of its circulation, carries nourishment, derived from the food we 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 kidnoys is the work performed by the liver. The liver may be described as a chemical laboratory. The blood which enters the liver through the portal vein is loaded with the products of the digestion of food. These products the liver deals with in such a manner that the composition of the blood when it leaves the liver is very much changed, a sort of secondary digestion having taken place in the layer. Bile 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 an,d removes from the blood red corpuscles, which are worn out and are of ho further utility. The liver makes and extracts from the blood two or three pounds of bile every day. The bile is delivered into the intestines, and acts ns 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 of the body in a condition which is inimical to the welfare of the body. In other words, the blood is laden with "biliary poisons, and the presence of these biliary poisons in the blood causes us to suffer from indigestion, dyspepsia, general debility, biliousness, blood disorders, sickheadache, 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, therefore a medicine which possesses a healing and restorative influence on those vital organs is a boon to mankind. Such a medicine, is Warner’s Safe Cure, which acts beneficially and equally upon both the kidneys and liver, restoring them to health and activity when they are diseased or feeble. Even disorders diagnosed os 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, anaemia, indigestion, biliousness, jaundice, sick-headache, general debility, gravel, stone and bladder troubles. The explanation is 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 kidneys and liver to health and activity, Warner’s Safe Cure enables those organs to properly perform their functions and _ to free the blood from urinary and biliary poisons when pain and sickness caused by 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 oases of restoration to health when other, means had failed, will be 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,” non-alcoholic form. . _