HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2985, 31 May 1911, Page 76

HEALTH COLUMN.

Points for Paients. So grcus is the load of responsibility laid upon the modern parent that one hesitates to lay special stress upon any single aspect of it. Yet (writes a medical authority) the ultimate shapeliness of a child means so much to himself and his relatives that it seems worth while to devote soma spaco to hints concerning tho detection of icj urious tendencies in their earlier stages, when arrest and cure are still possible. Rickets, the disease which is responsible for most cases of bow-legs and very many of the twisted figures met in the streets, appeals in infancy. Tho artificially-fed baby is much proner to it than the ohftbd at the breast. Indigestion and a lack of fat in the diet seem the chief sou toss of the disease, but doctors still differ about tho actual cause. The essential feature is a,n abnormal flexibility of tho child's bones, which grow thicker in certain situations (the knees, wrists, and ankles look abnormally big), but from lack-of mineral matter are too soft to endure weight or strain. Henoe follows yielding and deformity if the disease goes unrecognised, or if exercise be allowed before recovery is complete.. Symptoms which suggest rickets a.nd" should make a mother seek medical advice for her child are: (1) A peculiar and untbabyish aversion to be lifted from tho cot and nursed; (2) a notable inclination to kick off all bedclothes; (3) marked sweating about the head, sufficient to damp the pillow; and (4-1 slow closure of the "opening of the head," slow getting of the- teeth. It is not necessary that all four features be present. If one of the first three be observed, and the knees or wrist-bones seem big, it is wiser to have an exnert's opinion. Caught early, there need be no vestiges nor <a.ny weaknees to remind the youth or the adult of incidents in babyhood. —Spinal Curvature. — At least three conditions are popularly known as spinal curvature simple roundness of the shoulders, lateral curvature, and "angular curvature, or proper spinal disease. The first is the simplest, and most easily recognised in its early stages, end the least likely to produce permanent damage or deformity. The parents soon perceive the stooping shoulders, and can themselves by continual encouragement, gymnastics, tonics, and change of air correct the fault and its causes. If a support should seem necessary, it is better to take the child to a doctor than commence a treatment which, by taking away some of the work of tho muscles, may leave the spine permanently weak. Lateral curvature results from careless attitudes in sitting or standing, from rapid growth and debility, from unequal lengths of legs, and from severe chest affections. Signs which may herald its onset are incessant complaints of weariness in the back; awkwardness in walking, a high shoulder, a projecting shoulder blade, or a prominent hip; when the child is stripped and stands erect, the arms do not hang equally in relation to the trunk; and above one haunch may be noted a marked incurving of the side; and a difference may be observed in the shape of fche right and left ribs. Once a defect is suispected a doctor must be seen without delay.

“Angular” curvature, or Pott’s disease, is duo to actual bone disease in the blocks or vertebrae which build up the spinal column. The tubercle bacillus is the cause, and finds its opportunity in some small injury or - want of tone or weakening disease or unhealthy surroundings; hence these eases, even mono than those of ,-at-oral curvature, i cquire immediate medical care. That 60mothin.g is going wrong in the spine may he inferred if there is tired back, an inability to flex and extend the back with readiness, a tendency to hold the body “all of a piece” in walking (a stiffness sometimes described as “military”), pain when anyone’s hands are pressed upon the shoulders, pain in the back at other times, and a redness observed over the skin covering one region of the spine when the child rises every morning. —About the Hips.— Two common, afflictions arc apt to commence in or about the hip joint cf c'hi&dren ; one a tubercular disease cf the bone or joint, the other an inflammatory condition (often rheumatic) of the area specially concerned in the- growth of the young bane. Since both arc maladies which result most seriously unless skilled attention and proper rest are secured for the parts, and since only a medical man could clearly distinguish between the two diseases, I shall here simply enumerate points which may warn parents that danger threatens. There is often a loss of energy and an increasing paleness; the child gtets tired soon, and .may say that one leg is ured; there may be a limp, or some dragging of the limb; and in standing the weight is always thrown upon the sound leg. Pain may be referred to the hip, but quite often the knee is pointed out as the sore spot, and distressing ikneo-paina may occur in the night. If the child be undressed, told to stand erect, and viewed from itiho back, two facts appear—the tendency to save one leg, and the obliteration, more or less, of the fold which runs horizontally across the thigh just below the buttocks. In walking, naked, an unusual play of the pelvis (or haunch bones) will bo noticed. From what I have said, it will strike most mothers that Saturday night, at the .hour of the weekly thorough bath, should be selected as the time for the periodical inspection. Done then, the survey cannot take more than a few moments; but it mav save months of misery—maybe, even, a lifetime of regret. Winter Cloth in?. Whenever the body is exposed to a cold atmosphere, as in winter, it adjusts itseif to the altered l conditions by a diminished flow of blood to the skin, and consequently the loss by evaporation is less. We perspire less freely in winter than in summer and therefore do not require quite so much liquid. But evaporation still goes on, and clothing, to be suitable, must not interfere with it. If thick, non-porous materials be used, the vapour given off the body becomes condensed, and remains upon the surface as moisture, thus reducing the temperature of the body, which is generally the last thing we wish in winter. Many people heap clothes on their own bodies and on those of itihoir children in cold weather, not only when going, out of doors, but also in the house, and then they wonder why, in spite or all the wraps and eo-called precautions, they catch cold so readily. It is those very precautions which do the mischief, though it is hard to convince people of tlbe truth.- Instead of aiding the healthy f ction of the skin the overload of clothing checks it, and interferes with the escape of the moisture thrown off by the body. —What to Wear. — Winter clothing should be thicker than that used in summer, but still porous, loose flannel or woven woollen garments are best; but ventilation should be provided, under - the arms especially. Two thin garments worn one over the other will be found warmer and more healthy than one thick, heavy one, because between the two there will be a layer of air, which helps to retain the warmth of the bedy. It is important, moreover, in cold wieather to keep as much of the body covered as possible. Children should wear -longstockings or leggings out of doors, and infants ought to be given the protection of long-sleeved and high-necked bodices. To allow a baby to wear short sleeves which expose the upper arm is nothing less than running the gravest risk of losing the child from congestion of the lungs or bronchitis.