HEALTH NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3293, 25 April 1917, Page 61

HEALTH NOTES.

GASTRITIS. Gastritis is an acute inflammation of the coats of the 6tomach, especially of the mucous membrane. A very usual cause is the taking of indigestible food, and failure to masticate food properly, this being bolted iti lumps, and too quickly, so that the gastric juico is unable to mix with it. Too rich dishes, iced drinks in hot weather or in conjunction with hot food, are also quite likely to cause an attack of gastritis. In young children it, is often accompanied by inflammation of the mucous membrane of the intestines, and is then known to medical men as gastro-enteritis. The trouble generally makes itself known by severe vomiting and .much pain in _ the region of the stomach. The'sickness is -really_ the best thing that can happen to the patient, as It removes from the stomach the cause of its irritation. In many cases there is no need for drugs, and the best treatment is to keep the sufferer in bed, and without food so far as is possible The stomach, in fact, wants rest, and to supply it with food is to set it to work. A little milk or milk mixed with water should be taken in very small quantities at first, and later this may be supplemented by easily digestible farinaceous foods. Anyone who has suffered from several attacks of gastritis, especially if these have been neglected, is liable to become a victim to chronic gastric catarrh. People* who will persist in taking certain irritants to" excess, such as tea, alcohol, highly-spiced foods, and pickles do so at the risk of constant gastric disturbance. But sometimes it! is due to anasmic conditions and c6nstitutional maladies, especially such as are tubercular, .rheumatic, and gouty. Closely related to gastritis is enteritis, or Intestinal inflammation. This may take the form of a mild attack or it may prove fatal after a few days. In children enteritis is sometimes accompanied by fits of convulsions, which alternate, with a state of forpor: - There is a great danger of colapso; indeed, enteritis is largely responsible for the high rate of infant_ mortalitv Bad feeding, which not only disturbs the digestive organs, but also causes the child {o fall into a condition of general ill-health,, is more often than not the real cause of tho malady.

AFFECTIONS OF THE: LIVER. Many correspondents have written asking for information and advice on various liver diseases, especially on what they call " congestion of the liver" and "enlarged liver." Now, morbid conditions of this very important organ vary in seriousness from the most trivial to the most dangerous. The merest excess either of eating or of drinking' is apt to bring about a temporary derangement, the symptoms of which make it quite alarming, yet the gravity of whichmay be very slight, the- condition passing away when the irritating cause ceases to operate. Slight temporary congestion is .generally of this character, though even congestion when due either to disease of the lungs or heart or to a sluggish circulation of blood through the liver may, long continued, assume the most serious character. It is useless, therefore, to make many < general remarks or lay down many general rules either about the treatment or the cause or the outlook in cases of liver disease, since all these vary so enormously. Even suoh definite symptoms as jaundice may be brought about by a number of ■violently-differing causes, from the merest temporally catarrh of the bile-duct to such grave conditions as cirrhosis or even cancer. And usually only a doctor who has carefully examined and watched the individual case is. in a, position to express an opinion ar to wliich of these causes is present. Rarely can amateur treatment of the slighter abnormalities of the functions of the iiver go much beyond the taking of moderate exercise and' the use of aperients. <■. ! Of the chronic liver diseases perhaps the most common, as it is also the most serious, is that known as cirrhosis. In nearly every case this is due. to the over-indulgence in alcohol, especially in spirits. The_ early svmptoms of this disease are similar to those of ordinary 'congestion of the liver—that is to say, headache, depression _of spirits, irritability, an uncomfortable feeling of tightness in the right side, a coated tongue, loss of appetite, and vomiting. If the disease progresses beyond this early stage other symptoms show themselve. Thus there may be a certain degree of jaundice, with yellowness of the skin and whites of the eyes. Dropsy Is very common, and later there is progressive weakness and emaciation. An important sign—though thn is not so easily recognised by _ the layman —is that the surface of the liver, when felt below the ribs on the right side, is hard and irregular. Needless to say, the treatment of this condition is no matter for amateur efforts. Apart from drugs, the principal features hi the treatment . are usually the avoidance of all alcoholic stimu lants, the adoption of a simple, bland diet, taking, in the early stages at auyrate, of a moderate amount 'of daily exercjse' in the open air, and the careful regulation of the bowels and the other excretory organs. INCREASED SENSIBILITY. Sometimes the sense of touch is affected in a peculiar maimer, and people suffer from an increase of sensibility which is Exceedingly painful. Even a light touch oji the skin will hurt them, and they find it impossible to wash, becaiise the sensation is as if a raw sore were beiiTg touched. Thi<- condition sometimes occurs in connection with neuralgia, perhaps only in a slight degree, and a patient will complain that he cannot lay his head or cheek on even the softest pillow without this peculiar pain. It is. moreover, quite confined to thf surface of the skin, and is distinct from the- pain of the neuralgia, which usually seems to be inside the head. Sometimes it takes the form of increased sensibility to heat and cold, as is not uncommonly seen in neuritis. It is only, amenable to treatment by a medical man, but some relief may bo found in the application of chloroform and belladonna liniment.