HEALTH COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3215, 27 October 1915, Page 73

HEALTH COLUMN.

By A FAMILY DOCTOR.

ABOUT BREATHING. You may be surprised' to know that a great many people do not know the right Way to breathe. The nose is not only paean t for smelling, but also for breathing through. We are meant to breathe through our noses, so that the air may be warmed by the passage through the nose, and special bones covered with blood-vessels are arranged in the cavity of the nose to carry out this purpose. The blood is warm, and the air is warmed by passing over the blood-vessels, just as the air entering a building can be warmed by passing over hot-water pipes. Take a quick, short breath through the mouth at an open window, and you will find that the air strikes cold at the back of the throat; now, take a similar breath through the nose, and you will not experience that cold feeling—the air has been warmed. The throat is very sensitive to cold, and troubles like tonsilitis, quinsy, and rough throats with hacking cough, may arise from the bad habit oi breathing through the mouth. —Adenoids and Polypi.— In children adenoids are the chief cause Of mouth-breathing; they consist of a growth of the same nature as the tonsils at the back of the nose, and block up, more or less completely, the air-way through the nose. Adenoids cause snoring at night, a thick speech, stuffiness in the nose, and the child keeps his mouth open all the time. Many troubles follow in the train of this growth, but, fortunately, the adenoids can be removed by a operation. In older people obstruction in the nose is the result of some injury ;_ boxingmen frequently suffer from inability to breathe through the nose, and an operation is sometimes necessary to rectify the deformity of the bones inside the nasal cavity. Polypus of the nose can only be detected by a competent medical man examining the nose with special apparatus. There are often more than one polypi. The growths can be removed, but it is never safe to promise that they will never come back. The nose should be inspected every few months after the removal of polypi to see if there is any sign of recurrence. THE CAUSE OF “ BLAOKPIEADS.” Of all the organs of the body I always think the skin is one of the most wonderful. It may seem merely a dead covering to the body, like the leather binding to a book, but when seen under the microscope it is found to be of a most complex structure. There are the little coiled-up sweat glands, whose duty it is to secrete the perspiration; the sebaceous glands, which give out the natural grease for the skin and hair; a minute network of bloodvessels; and, finally, millions of tiny nerves to provide the skin with sensation. A book could be written on each of these points, but I want to talk about the sebaceous glands especially. Their action is most important, as they help to got rid_ of impurities from the body, and ..anything which interferes with their function is deleterious to the health. These glands are like little pockets let into the skin, and very often these little mouths get blocked up by the dust and dirt which collects on the. skin, especially in those whose work is in a dusty atmosphere. When this happens the secretion of the gland cannot get out, and is pent up in the gland, forming what is commonly called a “blackhead.” This at once suggests the proper treatment for blackheads—a thorough cleansing and massaging of the skin, using a thick lather of soap, and then having a good rub down with a fairly stiff towel. This clears away the plug of dust at the mouth of the glands, and permits the glands to resume their healthy function. —Microbes in the Glands.— The skin is full of germs. Anyone who has had to go through a surgical operation will never forget how- the surgeon or the nurse cleaned up the skin by scrubbing it, shaving it with a razor, scrubbing it again, and then applying two or three kinds of antiseptic lotions, and even then the skin is given a most thorough and careful cleansing when the patient is under the chloroform until the wretched germs, hiding in the skin for the express purpose of making the operation a failure, are sorry they spoke. Now, these microbes flourish in the pent-up secretion of the sebaceous glands, and that is why blackheads often become red and inflamed, and finally turn to small pimples and abscesses. You see how 1 necessary it is to keep the skin and its glands healthy by frequent ablutions LOTION FOR WEAK EYES. Boracic lotion is very useful for weak eyes. This is the way to make it. Buy loz of boracic powder and xaut it into a clean bottle. Fill up the bottle with wate - and shako it up. Now leave it to stand, and leave the sediment to settle down. When you want to use the lotion do not shake the bottle, but pour the liquid off into a clean receptacle and mix it with an equal quantity of warm water, and it is ready for use in bathing the eyes. Fill up the bottle with water again, shake up, and leave it to stand as before. This process may bo repeated several times before the boracic powder is exhausted. TEETH AND HEALTH. If I were asked to what particular branch of the healing art the younger and more advanced school of doctors were paying most attention I should unhesitatingly say the care of the teeth and gums. Every man’s health depends on his digestion, and every man’s digestion depends on his teeth. If I can convince some of my readers to have their teeth put in order I shall have done a good morning’s work. When an article has to be manufactured the most important process is the first one; if that is done badly all the subsequent process** are thrown wrong. Now, the body is nothing but a manufactory, -’- I a very won derful one, too. It n:- umufaoture bone and blood and mns , brain out of bread and butter, bacon and- eggs, and the first process takes place in the mouth. If the food is not properly masticated and mixed with the saliva, the stomach, the liver, and the intestines aro thrown out of gear. —A Simple Tooth-powder.— Personally, I am a terrible coward at bearing pain. Most, men are: it takes a woman to boar pain bravely. I go to my dentist every six months, not because I enjoy sitting in the dentist’s chair, but because it is the only way to avoid pain. If there is a small spot of on pne

of my teeth it is remedied in a few minutes and without pain; but if I "were to wait until the small area of decay had burrowed into the centro of the tooth, where the sensitive nerve is, I should have to suffer pain in having it put right. It will be many years before it bocoines a rule with everybody to visit the dentist twice a year: but this is the ideal which we whoso duty it is to care for the health of the people keep before us. It is what all doctors and dentists do, and they know best how to look after themselves. _ A simple toothpowder is made by mixing 30 grains of powdered soap with loz of precipitated chalk, and adding a couple of dirops of oil of cloves. .