HEALTH NOTES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21775, 14 October 1932, Page 11

HEALTH NOTES

Written for the Otago Daily Times. By R; j. terbt. ' ; ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. « Agony ” (Balclutha). Rheumatoid arthritis is not contagious. - I have heard it suggested- that it is dus to bacteria* but 1 do not agree that special bacteria causes the trouble. It may be due to bacteria in a secondary, manner. Bacteria which seta up acidity,, flatulence, etc., may bring about a mild chronic acidosis, which extracts the lime salts from the fibrous tissues, muscles, cartileges, nerves and bones, teeth; etc. The extraction of, lime salt from fibrous tissues causes them to swell and their, vascularity to increase. Losk -of lithe, isalts causes irritable weakness of the muscles. Under such a loss the muscles waste and contract readily. They frequently cramp, and deep reflexes are exaggerated, often accompanied by rhythmic .tremor. Neuralgic pains result from the extraction of some of the very, small amount of lime present in the nerve tissue. With the continued absorption of the lime, the particular tissues swell, and there is-a fusion into the joint. The cartilege -soon her comes involved, and this,, if' followed by thinning and erosion. The lime and other mineral salts are so necessary to the neutralisation of the. acidi elaborated by the average forming food of civilised man that they surrender ~ themselvei .to the actual destruction of bones and tissue in ~ order that, as long as possible, the unnatural conditions may be tolerated.' There is abundant proof of this, for if all these mineral bases, as -we term them, were withdrawn from our food, the phosphates and sulphates would continue to appear in the urine, showing that the. body has had to steal the alkaline bases from, its own tissue in order to carry on life’s process. Notv, surely, you are not so blind as to assume that this stealing can go on continuously without encountering, disaster? In. simple language, rheumatoid arthritis is brought about through certain essentials being withheld from the body over an extended period and through the system having to rob itself in its endeavour to prevent, collapse., “ Catarrh.”-—Proper attention to dieting and the general health will lessen catarrh. Catarrh is .an attempt of Nature to throw off useless waste, matter from your system. This disease-produc-ing substance is a partially-digested, der caying semi-liquid known as mucous. Everyone living on a mixedv diet who cats more food than the body, requires creates ' mucous. This does not necessarily mean tremendous bulk food, because if you eat the wrong food for your particular requirements it is ■' an excess, and waste matter has mucous, more or less. , It really means that .the system is clogged whether you are sick or ,not, and ■ 7 0U are not now, you .will be .in time, when the accumulation reaches.* certain stage. This foundation ‘ cause of, every disease ig going on from childhood until premature death, unless you wake up to the fact and remedy the evil. The .mucous which is not absorbed is - formed into a . toxic mucous which decays, fefnaentfi, produces gas, acidosis, and many kinds, pf toxins. It has a sticky or gluey condition, and clogs the circulation so that the body • needs a shock like a “ cold to start the elimination of a portion of it. Uthers have chronic catarrh, while others , again have occasional bouts Of bronchitis or asthma in the attempt to rid the body of this more or less useless waste mucous. “ Clerk ” (Otago) .—There is no, objection to your tunning; in' fact, it will benefit you, provided you do not make it too strenuous at the commencement, unfortunately, too many amateurs try to run fast before they have learned how to run or balance the body. The same r marks apply to many other strenuous exercises. - As I have often pointed- out, easy simple movements are the ideal. You will then find that you have a quick reserve of strength in case of emergency. Be content to lope for two or three-weeks at least, running easily and smoothly, studying balance .rather than speed. At the end of that tune you may make short, quick dashes, and increase. It would be a waste at > our nse to go for fast time un lew you put yourself in the hands of a trainer, and by a trainer I do not mean a man who would simply encourage you to attempt tiine, but one who would know sufficient of the human body to realise if you were injuring the heart or other organs by this strenuous attempt. When yo u practising do not get into the bad habit of , placing your hands at your side °r in front and running. with , tense Let the arms swing almost full length to and fro alternftely with the movement of the feet. If after a few weeks running about three-quarter speed w is not a pleasure, adopt some other exercise. p «P j Sun bathing is not injurious to a blonde person. Naturally you should not expose the skin to strong rays / until it becomes accustomed to it; otherwise-rt only causes irritation, Statt . early in, summer and gradually lengthen the. periods of exposure and be guided by the heat of the sun. You become freckled in most cases through exposing the new skm : to the sunlight after peeling and before., it has time to become hardened or toughened. If you are sun bathing, when lying down, move the body about, \ minutes so that all portions are exposed, for short periods. Tanning,, or simply, t reddening, depends on, your pigment, in a dark person the pigment is increased, by the sun’s rays; hence what u termed darkening or tanning of the skin. - . “Rheumatism.”—A properly, administered Turkish bath would assist in re-; lieving rheumatism, but you should dw., in addition. What is,the use of trying to, eliminate the acids which cause rh?uraatr » ism if you continue to manufacture more.' j “Pimples.”—You can, eat .too much fruit, especially acid. fruits, snA not only injure your bone structure,. .but brm^, about an acid condition, and there may ; be an outcrop of even pimples or boils. ~ If vou are working hard you need more, concentrated foods than fresh fruit, lou , will not be really well if you become a faddist. ’ • ~ ' i