HEALTH COLUMN

Otago Witness, Issue 1987, 24 March 1892, Page 44

HEALTH COLUMN

Heart Disease.

"Yep," said an eminent physician, "heart disease is common ; it is, perhaps, much more frequent than is generally realised, if you take into consideration all the forms of heart disease. The heait, like other organs, is the seat of a Urge number of diseases, and the expression, ' heart disease ' is as indefinite as the term skin disease; it may have a score of different meanings. I am inclined to believe that heart diseases aro more common than they formerly were," he continued. " This is due to the great nervous and physical strains which . attend our modern modes of living. But it is a great wonder that the heart is not more frequently the seat of disease than it is when we consider its delicate mechanism, its ceaseless labour, and I might add the abuse to which" it is subjected. The heart is one of the most exquisitely constructed machines that can be conceived of. With its four chambers, its four sefs of valves, and supplying its own motive power, it toils constantly, faithfully, for its three-score years and ten without rest, without^ repair, responding to every demand, however unreasonable, until, finally exhausted by labour or degenerated by disease, it is co longer capable of carrying on its functions. It falters, then resumes its work, falters again as if to warn its host that he must be less exacting ; again resumes and again faltere, until, sooner or later, the last point of endurance is reached and it ceases to beat."

A TIBED HEART.

" Did you ever hear of ' a tired heart ' 1 No one ever thinks that the heart may become fatigued. Butitistrue, and frequently the fact. The heart is just as liable to suffer from fatigue ss is any other muscle in the body. I have never seen it mentioned in the books, but the condition may be recognised almost as positively as ,any other abnormal state of the organ. A positive diagnosis cannot be made at once in mi3b cases, because of the resemblance of the physical conditions to those present in dilation of the heart. But under rest and proper treatment the heart returns to its normal condition in a comparatively short time, which is almost an impossibility in the case of a dilated heart. Not a few cases of so-called nervous V rostra ti° n ' ar e nothing more than fatigue of the heart.

" Life would be prolonged by a little more attention to the heart ; by paying a little respect to the most faithful servant we ever have. A good deal of good might be done, also, if parents would teach their children the danger of overtaxing the heart. They should teach them to stop and rest a few moments during their play when they are able to feel the violent throbbing of their hearts against the chest-wall."

Soeb Feet. — Pedestrians, either amateur .or professional, who suffer from sore feet after an unusually long walk, will experience great relief from soaking the feet once or twice a week in a half pailful of hot water, to which a piece of nitrate of potassium the size of a small walnut has been added. * Death from A Sting.— A honey bee'a sting has caused the death of a Williamsport (Pa.) man within 15 minutes after its infliction. The physicians who were called with mystified, but expressed the belief that the bee's sting bad entered a nerve or blood vessel, and that the poison was quickly carried to the vital organs, causing almost instant paralysis.

A New Disinfectant. — A recent discovery, which is the outcome of the investigations of Dr H .Opjermana, and which be has also patented, is the application of dolomite to antiseptics. The dolomite, after a special preparation, is mixed with a certain proportion of oxide of iron and iron pyrites, and the mixture is employed in the foroa of a powder. According to the experiments made at the Hygienic Institute at Kiel, it seems likely to substantiate its reported efficacy.

Yeast and Typhoid Feveb. — Yeast has been successfully tried as a remedy for typhoid fever by Drs Emblinp, Lemprii're, and Thomson, of the Alfred Hospital, M«lbourne. Thirty-seven cases were treated, 10 being severe, the temperatures reaching 104deg; 8 were moderate, the temperatures being 103deg; 11 were mild, and 8 werj very mild, the temperatures reaching 102deg. In every case the recovery took place without a relapse. There is a theory to the effect that relapses are due to reinfection from the intestine, and Dr Thomson remarks in his report that yeast should destroy the bacilli in the intestinal tube , and so prevent reinfection.