HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3031, 17 April 1912, Page 76

HEALTH COLUMN.

Congestive Headaches.

Headaches are of various kinds, and numerous causes are responsible for these different kinds. Congestive headaches are perhaps the most unpleasant of all. • Their chief symptom is a feeling of congestion, pressure, and throbbing in the head, wj»ich is increased on lying down. The face is generally flushed, and the veins are full. Usually there is some giddiness and disturbance of vision. This condition is attributable to various causes, among which are over mental strain, anxiety, worry, and over-eating, or over-drinking. As to immediate treatment, the application of cold to the head in the form of an ice cap or cold sponge sometimes gives relief; in every bad case a blister or a mustard poultice at the back of the neck will be found useful.

In a Baby's Face,

The infant's inability to say what he feels and suffers is often a source of needless pain both to himself and to his parents. Every mother, at least, ought to make a study of the little ways by which a baby shows where and how he ails. Even »the face has many a message for those who care to read it. In rough arrangement, it has been said that the upper portion of the face displays signals from the brain and nerves; the middle, signals from the chest; and the lower, signals from tho digestive apparatus. All generalisations are faulty; but a wrinkled forehead or down-drawn brows often mean headaches or some similar distress; distended and woiking nostrils and bluish or dusty cheeks go with serious bronchitis or other lung trouble; and a drawn or restless mouth may mean some gastric complaint; dry lips also go with that or diarrhoea. A squint often foretells an attack of convulsions or some other disturbance of tho brain; and muscular twitchings of tho corner of tho mouth or eyelids have tho same significance. Bluencss of tho lips denotes M>me defect in the breathing apparatus (windpipe or lungs), or in the heart. Biting of the gums and steady dripping of the saliva are iboth signs of teething. So is a hot flush upon the cheek, though this (if associated with quick respiration and moving nostrils) may spell pneumonia or broncho-pneumonia; or, associated with a tendency to hold the head on one side atid an endeavour to rub the head on the shoulder, it may mean earache or suppurating ea r.

Teacher's Throat.

Improper methods of using the voice lead to certain affections of the throat, chief among which is that popularly known as " clergyman's or teacher's sore throat." This consists in a congesticn of the .mucous membrane and muscles of the throat, with enlargements of the minute glands which secrete the lubricating fluid that keeps the surface of the throat moist and pliable. Tliese enlarged glands are visible in the form of prominent groups of projections irregularly distributed upon the surface of the mucous membrane. The openings of these glands being choked by swelling, the secretion is unable to escape, and thus accumulates and distends them. The first symptom of the trouble is usually a sensation of dryness in the throat, with a disposition to expectorate; there may also be hoarseness and difficulty in fwallowing, followed by inability to depend on the voice for any unusual uso of it. There is rarely any actual pain, but rather a constant sense of discomfort. In moat instances constitutional treatment is required, in addition to local treatment of the throat. A tonic is often beneficial, and rest from vocal effort is frequently imperative. A spray may be used with advantage, and the diseased follicles should be painted with some application that will have an absorbent effect. Anyono who suffers from this form of sore throat should take a course of Instruction in the proper uso of the voiqo, in order that there may bo no recurrence of the trouble, but care must be taken to place oneself under competent guidance, as quackery in voice production is rampant.

Crust or Crumb ?

Which is the more digestiblo, which is the more nourishing? Probably a good many readers may be inclined to think that there can be no difference, certainly not in the nutritive value, since both the outside and inside portions of any loaf must bo composed of precisely the same material. The

crust contains much less moisture, howover, and so it is richer in solid constituents. Crumb of a wheaten loaf contains on an average 43 per cent, of moisture, while crust contains cnlv 20 per cent. Another important point "is that crust conu"j 9 an ' ncrease d amount of soluble carbohydrates, owing to the accion of the intense- heat which the crust receives compared with crumb during baking. Then, as to digestibility. The crust has a mare appetising flavour than the crumb, and Uns stimulates the flow of the digestive juices. In addition, the first process of digestion which takes place in the mouth is more likely to be complete when crust is eaten, simnly because one is compelled to chew it well, if new broad wew ag tho . roughly masticated as dry, stale bread must be, there would be no reason why it should be less digestible. But it never is; therefore crusty bread is always to be preferred, and "lis is also the reason why toast is so useful in oases of indigestion.

Ka ilium in the Treatment of Disease.

The possibilities and some of the limitations of the use of radium in the treatment of disease were dealt with by Sii James Mackenzie Davidson, a distinguished worker in that field of research, in a lecture before the members of tho Royal Institution, Jxmdon. By its use the poisonous effects of the toxins of various diseases such as rabies were retarded or destroyed, but, strangely enough, it had no similar influence on tetanus toxin. Rodent ulcers, which X-ray failed to touch, were rapidly cured by the employment of tubes containing five milligrammes of radium bromide. It palliated but failed to cure cases deeply seated or of old standing. In the lecturer's own case chronic ray dermatitis of the hand, which threatened to become malignant; was speedijj cured by the use oP a tube containing 20 milligrammes. Some ■diseases, like lupus, were very resistent to its action, but there was a wide field for it in superficial cases, both of tho eye and of. the skin, and its use left hardly any mark. Rapidly growing tumours were much more rapidly destroyed than slow-growing ones, as young _ cells were more susceptible to its action. While radium might be regarded as usefui in cancer, it could not be looked upon as a cure. It would destroy it locally, but rarely completely, and did nothing to prevent the usual secondary deposits. Waters containing the emanation, like that of Bath, were very useful iii treating gout and rheumatism. Illustrating his remarks, Sir James showed photographs of tumours on which it would be quito impossible to operate, and which had yielded to radium. Among the exhibits on the lecture table was radium bromide, worth something like £6OOO.

Does Work Kill ?

Rather frequently within the past fewweeks there lias been uttered again the old axiom that hard work nover did, and never can, kill anyone. " The human brain," said one authority. " gains nothing from repose but rust. The really busy man of wide interests does not suffer from overwork. The men who suffer from exhaustion are those who work. very little or work badly. It is through badnabite, through worry, not overwork, that most people break down." Now, this is true, but it is not the whole truth. Most people, either by their own inclinations or by the circumstances in which they work or by the laws of the land, are protected against the possibility of overwork. They may labour very hard, but their expenditure of energy is strictly limited; they have ample time, in each day which passes over their heads, for feeding and recreation and sleep. Only \' orry or mismanagement or sheer perversity or accident knocks these folks over. But our civilisation i:s not perfect. There are heaps of honest souls, possessed of good ideas about living and a philosophy equal to every trick of that demon, worry, who yet collapse from overwork—either die from a disease invited by their exhaustion or pass into the living death of a hopeless neurasthenia —because their occupation or their personal responsibilities entailed duties which stole hours intended for sleep and clipped and shuffled the times devoted to feeding. —A Warning.— Some of these folks pay too dearly for tneir whistle —perhaps secure too fine a whistle, —but very many of them have no alternative. Existence seems offered to them only on these terms, and their fate ought to serve as a warning to such as might (if they would) alter their way of living. You set out with a set of nerve) cells, electric batteries stored with a certain amount of energy, and the intontfon is that daily yoa shall use a reasonable amount, and that daily, by food and variety in occupation and rest and sleep, shall make good that amount. On odd days you may exceed your juat. supply, and still find Nature willing to roeharge your cells; but persistent, unremitting over-use is another matter —to such a course there is but one end, a breakdown; and you may recover or you may not. Sometimes even an ideal rest fails to renew the exhausted cells. That is the tragedy of many lives. Tonics, cliango of air, a sea voyage, and finally the long tedium of a thorough rest cure, ure undergone, and always the old energy and capacity seems within reach. But a week of work brings back the hateful incapacity, the fears, the hopelessness -the instrument is spoilt. Hence my urgent warning to those who can be wise in time.