HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3040, 19 June 1912, Page 76

HEALTH COLUMN.

She Kclief of Chronic Bronchitis. Sufferers from bronchial catarrh often have a distressing cough, especially evident in the morning on rising, together with difficulty in expectoration; this may be greatly "relieved by taking a tumblertul of hot milk and Vichy water in equal parte, i which exercises a soothing effect on the ': bronchial passages. The hot milk mixed i with mineral water may be taken indeed ' several times a day wiflj, excellent results. ' It is Specially important that bronchial £uojects should avoid told or over-heated rooms, an equable temperature should be | maintained as far as possible. The clothj ing should be warm and light in weight, i while special care should be taken to avoid ! getting the feet damp. In cases of chronic 1 bronchitis, where there is profuse secretion with nn unpleasant odour, antiseptic preparations should be used either in the form of sprays or inhalations, or taken internally. Terpinol or terebine may be taken in capsules, and creasote used as an in- } halation. Sometimes a liniment applied to the chest will give relief by counter irritation, a useful one being:—ol. terebinth loz; lin. eamph., loz; liquor ammon., loz. Bronchial subjects who can choose their place of residence are fortunate, for climatic treatment, often does wonders. Erysipelas. All who have ever suffered from erysipelas will agree that it is a most terrible complaint, accompanied by pain that is at times nearly unbearable. The skin at the affected part becomes very red, while in some easee it asumes an angry purple hue. Intense heat is produced, and the whole system frequently gives way to fever of a more or less pronounced type. The cause of erysipelas is not always bo easy to determine, but, generally speaking, the trouble may be said to be the result of overwork, worry, or anything else liable to produce a weak and run-down condition of the sufferer. Consequently, one of the first measures in a case of erysipelas is to secure absolute peace of body and mind. The next step is to exclude air from the affected parts. This may be done as follows:—First see that the skin is perfectly clean and dry, then dust it thoroughly with clean, fine flour. Now cover the whole with soft wadding—plenty of it —and secure it in position with a carefully-tied bandage of lint. It is now well to apply hot fomentations at intervals to the neighbourhood of the trouble, taking care that the water does not soak into he bandages described above. In oases where erysipelas ia confined to some part of the head, relief is felt almost immediately the fomentation is applied round about, the reason being that the inner skin is stimulated by the comfortable feeling of warmth. It is very important that the patient should be kept warm, and, should the feet or legs be cold, they should be subjected to hot fomentations as often as required. They should afterwards be thoroughly dried and rubbed with warm olive oil. The Care of the Eyes. Considering the delicate nature of the eye it seems remarkable that this organ is not more often affected than really is the i case. Failing sight is an affliction that often causes muoh unnecessary anxiety on the part of the sufferer. As a matter of fact many forms of failing sight are due 6imply to over-weariness of the body and the mind, unless, of course, the subj/x:l} is an aged person. The first step to take is to rest the eyes as much as possible. Perfect rest and abstinence from all reading are really essential, but we are not all in so fortunate a position that we can lightly forgo all close eye work. Therefore wo must do our best to nurse the troubled nerves in what time we can obtain. A hot bran poultiSe should be applied to the back of the head, while the brow and neighbourhood of the eyes should l>e cooled by means of cold-water cloths. The opposition of cold to heat in this manner produces wonderful effects. There is no comparison between the effects of either cold or heat used separately and their use conjointly. This treatment should be carried i out twice or three times daily, and the i patient should endeavour to keep his mind nee from disturbing thoughts. Tobacco and alcohol, especially the latter, are bound to have a detrimental effect on the eyes, and anyone sufftering from eye trouble of any kind will do well to forgo anything in the nature.of drugs. With regard to j inflamed eyes, the hot and cold applica- ■ tions ment'oned above are excellent as a remedy. The cold cloths, however, should be pressed gently over the eyes themselves and their sockets. A boracic wash used in an eye bath is also to be recommended to those whose eyelids are liable to become inflamed. * Sick-room Nourishment. When one considers the importance of diet even in the case of a healthy person i it is not difficult to understand the consequences of faulty food administered to an invalid In the first place all food, to be properly digested, must be mixed with a sufficient supply of saliva. It often happens, however, in the case of fever, that there is little or no saliva in the mouth—a fe&ate of affairs accompanied as a rule by violent thirst. It is well, in such instances, to endeavour to promote "watering of the mouth." One of the best means of accomplishing this end is to place a cold cloth over the stomach, changing it every few minutes. Where the stomach itself is weak a series of small doses of hot water will often make up for the poor supply of gastric juices. Tako care, also, to keep the stomach at a moderate temperature by means of hot or cold cloths as the caso ma v. be.

Many people labour under the mistake that in ilk is at all times easy to digest. So long as the patient can take a good quantity of fresh pure milk all seems well. A greater error could not easily be made in the matter of food. Milk, of course, has excellent nourishing powers, but, when given without due care, it overwhelms its own good qualities and at once becomes an evil. The best plan of administering milk to a weak person is to dilute it with either once or twice its own quantity of boiling water, according to the state of the patient's digestion. The water used should nave its lime removed as much as possible. This is whv boiling water is _recommended, since the lime is deposited in the process of boiling. By placing a minute piece of soda in the water while boiling a still better effect is obtained. The use of alco-

holic stimulants in the sick-room is much to bo condemned unless it be advised under special circumstances by a medical man.