Baking- Soda as Medicine.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 34, 4 May 1917, Page 2

Baking - Soda as Medicine.

Baking pcv.lfi. which is known to physicians and -druggists as sodium bicarbonate, is extolled by Dr. Vi. 1. Herrick, of New York, in the “Medical Journal” as probably the most generally useful of all drugs used as medicines. This not merely because of its value when need a’or.o, but because of Ibe great numb!’,' of important combinations into which it enters, its effect seeming to be to increase the efli- immy of the drugs with which it is combined. Dr. Herrick describes the multifarious uses of bicarbonate of soda. These may be summarised as follows : It is a valuable skin lotion, relieving itching, allaying the pain of burns. It is a non-irritant antiseptic for wounds. In warm water it is the best method of removing hardened wax from the ear. As a nasal douche it is unsurpassed. As a mouth wash it is antiseptic and alkaline, it cures canker sores. It makes a grateful gargle in tonsilitis and diphtheria. As a douche for the stomach and other parts it is most valuable. In the stomach it dissolves mucus and neutralises acids, and ranks first among stomachics. It is good for the hyperacidity of rheumatic conditions, flatulency, gastric ulcer, diarrhoea, and increases the alkalinity of the blood. As an adjuvant—which means an addition to any drug in order to increase its effect—the most valuable of all is bicarbonate of soda.