HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24817, 17 January 1942, Page 4

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

XXVI—MEANING OF A HEADACHE (Issued by the Health Department) Headache can be indicative of quite a number of frightening troubles, but, in the great majority of cases, it is simply headache, and a timely dose of acetylsalicylic - acid will fix it up. That’s just another way of saying “ aspirin.” Usually it is combined with other drugs, such as phenacetin and caffeine, and the result is the little tablet which many people who are prone to headaches keep within easy reach. Perhaps you get a touch of indigestion when you take a headache tablet. If so, never take it on an empty stomach;—try half a glass of milk or a little food beforehand. Alternatively, take some sodium bicarbonate with it. - Some people are what you might term “ headachy ”; others, though they may not be first-class insurance risks, never get headaches. Children rarely suffer from headache without some cause to which a name can be given, and, among adults, casual headaches have no special significance. They are just an annoying upset which can sometimes cause much distress. Heat, stuffy or thundery atmosphere, worry, fatigue, indigestion, insufficient sleep, and slight infection are the common causes of the common headache. A chronic headache needs investigating. It’s a job for the doctor. Consideration of the more serious types of headache shows the necessity for overhaul. For instance, some j hidden infection might be causing it; it might be toxaemic, that is, the body may not be functioning properly —the kidneys may be diseased—and the toxins, circulating through the system, instead of being eliminated in the ordinary way, remain in the body and give rise to headache. Again, the cause may be neurasthenic, through anxiety or a depressed state of mind; or intercranial pressure (head tumours), eye strain, disease of the nose and sinuses, absceses in the brain or outside brain coverings, certain ear diseases. And, as a sole manifestation of one disease —migraine, which runs in families.

However, don’t let all this scare you. It’s handy to know these things sometimes.