TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16323, 12 January 1921, Page 6

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. THE BOY! WHAT WILL HE BECOME ? Tlie choice of a calling gives anxious moments to parents when their sons reach an age when they must go out in tho world and earn ~ money. The parents ought to think the problem out very carefully; they should ask the advice of the .schoolmaster, and they will do no harm if they ask the help of a doctor. T have to examine some. Young men who intend to become bank clerks, and many of them arc very misguided to choose in indoor occupation. They have narrow chests; they have a winter cough: thev stoop; they are lather pale: but no* one of these characteristics is fixed: they are still young enough to improve. Thev ought to be out in rjje air. The towns are overcrowded : do try and persuade your sons to take up farming. Farming is a prosperous business nowadays. You ought, to think of vour son bronzed at harvest time ; you cannot be pleased at the prospect of vour own son pale and anaemic, eating a bun ami drinking watered milk. Hesitate before it is too late Tell your tailor Hi at the black coat will not be wanted, but what is the price of a pair of corduroy bleeches ? VARICOSE VEINS. Legs that show a. number of varicose veins under the skin arc easily injured; a tap that an ordinary ruan would laugli at may cause an ulcer ou a varicose leg. I iiave seen ulcers form so often after a slight injury, and I have seen them so troublesome to heal thaL 1 try to persuade men with varicose veins who are exposed in their work to slight injuries and knocks to wear a protection. It is not much bother to wind a thick bandage once round the leg from knee to ankle, and it saves such a lot of lost time. Never run an unnecessary risk. Working men aro very careless; they prefer to take their chance; they are not very keen on using preventive measures. But this plan of covering varicose reins is a piece of sound advice and it ought to be followed.

THE TRIUMPH OVER CONSUMPTION.

It is cheerful reading to learn from tlie published statistics in Britain .that the number of deaths from consumption has materially decreased during tlie last year. I sometimes scan these figures, and then turn to look in the mirror to see if T am likely to last to see the end of tulmrculosis in New Zealand. The demon of tuberculosis is evidently feeling very ill : lie is bound to die in the course of time, and I, for one, shall semi no flowers to his funeral. 1 want to to read in the paper that great excitement was caused by the appearance of a very rare disease known as tuberculosis; the doctors crowded round to see an example of what was a great rarity; tremendous precautions taken to prevent the spread of the disease. This extermination of the disease can bo accomplished, and 1 want you all to helpj fresh air, good food, sunshine, sleep and exercise are the great requisites. Meanwhile, I shall keep my eye on tho official figures growing each year beautifully less. Ten thousand, eight thousand, one thousand, one hundred, and finally not one death from consumption. IX) help. I am getting old, but- I want to last just a little longer than the demon of tuberculosis. A SONG OF GLADNESS. An old doctor of eighty-two, still in active practice, stopped me in the street once and said: “My young friend (he is eiglity-two, mark you), have you ever felt grateful as you passed from bedside to bedside that yftu yourself are free from, all the diseases you see in others?” I rtplied that perhaps I did forget to lie thankful for my health, and that perhaps, seeing so much illness, I took it all as in the. day’s work without giving it much thought. The old doctor was right. We ought to slap ourselves on tho back every morning and say, t£ Thank goodness I have not got whoop-ing-cough, nor housemaid’s knee, nor paralysis; I am not blind, nor deaf nor dumb; what a blessing!” It is the one great cause for hope that, in epito of our being surrounded by disease, thousands of us are not touched by it. A healthy body must be very strong to overcome all the attacks made on it; disease does not have it all its own way. If only wc could take a little more care! We never know how precious a thing health is until we have lost it. How many people there are who would give a, thousand pounds to be free, from pain for a day, or who would give ten times that money to be able to walk a mile through the fields! We must first remember to be grateful for our health, and then we shall try to preserve it RINGS ON SWOLLEN FINGERS. If you hurt your finger and you wear a ring on the injured digit, remove the ring at once. Do not wait uni il the finger has swollen and the ring is obstructing tho circulation. You may have to make a journey to the jeweller to have the ring filed off- Even if the ring happens to be your wedding ring or your engagement ring, let no sentiment prevent you from taking it off. An inflamed finger sometimes swells to double its size : a ring will prevent the blood circulating, with disastrous results. On your wedding day, promise your husband that you will never remove the golden sign of your union from your finger: it will please him to hear you say so: but add under your breath “unless my finger is inflamed.” TWINS ALIVE AT SEVENTY-FIVE. An English doctor has under his care at an almshouse an old soldier aged seventy-four, who is still going strong, although past work: There is nothing remarkable in that, you may say. But wait. This old man has a twin brother, also alive and well, and these two old boys joined the Army at the age of eighteen. I cannot remember a similar example of long-lived twins. a The two old boys had their photographs taken the other day, and they still look as like as two peas. Twins alive at seventy-four! Can any of my readers beat that? Maybe .someone knows twins at seventy-five alive and well, but I think these two old men must be a record.