TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12405, 24 August 1918, Page 12

TALKS ON HEALTH.

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.

.DUST AND SORE THROATS. Tonsilitis. or soro throat, as it is genoially cailou, is a troublesome coiuplnml., and may attack anyone, but tho clucn victims arc. children. A hot, dry joason is favourable for the devdopi!>i, in, 01 soic throat, as Hie dust flies aboiu, ami gets mio iho children's Vinoats, and as Uio duss contains all sin-ls oS genus tl-.o inflammation results, .mat is why a wot sen,son, though verv unpopular with holiday-makers, boneitcial 1 o the health of the community. Unulren, oi course, swallow much more dust than grown-ups, as they are neaier t!ie_ ground. Tho experiment has been tried of placing plates of gelatine., or sonio other substance which; germs line to grow on. in tho pathway lor a Jew minuter., so that tho dust can sctrlc on thorn. Then tho plates arc put in a warm incubator to oncourage. the germs to grow; each lifclte group of germs is called a colony, and on every plate treated in this wav several colonics of microbes of every dosciiption manifested themselves. BREATHE THROUGH THE NOSE. ' .Hue of Iho best, preventive methods of combating the dust nuisance is to breathe through the uoso. The importance of breathing through the nose, cannot bo overrated, and children should be taught it, irom early iniancy. When the tonsils are inflamed it mav be due to ono of three- diseases—simple tonsilitis, scarlet fever, or diphtheria It is necessary to settle which it i s as early as possible, for iho .sake, of tho isolation, and also because tho sooner tho proper treatment for diphtheria is started the bettor is the chance of recovery. HOW TO HOLD A CHILD, The doctor often has the utmost difficulty in seeing the child’s throat proi perly. He knows that the little one’s life may depend on what he sees, and ho persists in trying to get a good lookwhile the child is writhing and struggling, and the mother is getting red ami cross. There is a right way and a wrong way of doing everything, and there is certainly only one way of holding a. child. It must be taken on the nurse’s lap, and sho holds the little one’s legs between her knees; the child’s hands must ho held by the nurse’s left hand, and the nurse’s righthand must be used to he placed on the child’s forehead so as to hold the child’s head against the nurse’s chest. This method does not hurt the little patientat all, and it enables the doctor to see all that he wants. Remember that tho rash in scarlet fever comes out- in the live-b twenty-four hours, and that at good, rough-and-ready sign of diphtheria. is that the white patches spread from tho tonsil itself on to the surrounding parts, such a s the uvula, which hangs down in lire middle line. NASAL DOUCHE FOR- CATARRH. Tiro naso-pharynx is tho name given to the part of the anatomy situated at tim junction of the nose and throat-. It is just behind the little soft curtain that hangs down at the hack of tho throat. It is an important part of tho body, because it is so often the seat of catarrh. This catarrh cannot be i treated by month-washes or gargles, as they do not reach the naso-pharynx; it is too far back. Hence it is that Hie catarrh goes on for months nnd months, and nothing seems to euro it, because it is so difficult to get at. The: ••ih way the trouble can be reached is -.hrough the nose. If a probe were to be passed through the nostril and pushed in for about three inches, its point- wou.d then ho in tho nasopharynx- The real importance of treating the naso-pharynx is sometimes overlooked- For instance, the unhealthy muscles from the back of tho nose may fall down into the throat- and voicebox. giving nso to hoarseness, and then the proper way to treat tho hoarseness is to apply remedies to the back of the nose and not to the throat, because if vnu can cure the nose you cure the hoarseness. I nnd a useful prescription lor a nasal douche is the following:— Bicarbonate of > soda, seven grains; borax, seven grains; Listerino, two teaspoon fills, and water to ono ounce- 'The host- way to use it is to dispense with al 1 douches nrd svrinees and'apparatus and simple Knife the solution out of the palm of the hand. It should ho used twice or three times a day. “A STROKE.” Apoplexy means a sudden seizure caused by the bursting of a blood vessel in the brnm. As we grow older our blood vessels lose their elasticity and suppmucss—-they begin to get stiff and cnalky, until, instead of being like india-rubber they are more like pipestems When they arc in this condition they are not so well suited to bear the pressure of tho blood inside the vessels. Ir any of you have seen an artery spurt you will Know under what high pressure the blood works. Tho brain is so soft that it affords no support to the blood _ vessels running through it, and so it is in tho brain that wo most often and tho vessels bursting. Old ago is Hie commonest cause of apoplexy, but Hie decay of tho walls of the arteries is hastened by intemperance, above all things, and the process is helped bv gout and a- hard life. There are old men of lOity and young men of sixty. danger of heavy falls/ If you arc present- when a man has a seizure, the first thing, if it is possible, is to prevent him from falling to the ground with a crash. Put vour arms round Jmn and gently lay him on the ground. _ A severe wound on the head may bo inflicted if the man falls heavily on tho Kerb. This is a common expencnccy a cabman, for instance, may nave a nt and fall off his bos, strikin'’* lu.s aend op thy ground- When ho is pickeo up it looks as though the wound on the .head hail made him unconscious. As a matter of fact, the bursting of the Wood vessel made him unconscious first, and then he fell, so that really tho wound on the scalp lias nothing to do im-n ins unconsciousness at- all. When the pauent i s on the ground, loosen ci eiything around tho neck, carry him *mo a Eiiady place, out of the „un P.ace a coat under his head to prevent o idwn^T n ?- , '{ 3 head ’ but do Dot wr /r nh M "T T 1; , sp . lasll SOffie cold t 10ad T 1 tllc<? ’ m «*e no 2fc pt a f pom ‘ , brandy down his f ni nd * a - ft<?r - he ilns lain quiet in t *“ u ; .P laco w about half an hour have mm removed with all care anci -oSd is not mud! tfOod "“ um S him to recover consciousness, as he may be in a demw condition i or hour*. H k ! py ( import™, to pul] tl,c Ljk