TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16353, 16 February 1921, Page 6

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. CONFLICT FOR HEALTH. We onglit never to forget that health is a state of conflict. You think that when a fine-looking young man sit-s at table eating up a good dinner he i 9 at peace with all the world and that his Health is a matter of no great concern to the various organs of his body; he is healthy, and that is all that there is to it. Believe me. that young man’s body is a fierce battlingground of health against disease. There is no “ stand easy ” night .or day. *>nTnmer or winter 7.1' only you had eyes to see with, you would perceive a mighty and Titanic struggle going on. Disea-so germs are omnipresent. Only they stand no chance in the combat against such a strong man. From every patient T see 1 got a. little dose of disease Recently I went to sec a Tulle friend of mine who was down with diphtheria. I suppose the germs came rushing at me with glaring eyes and hungry, snapping; jaws ; but I very soon rolled them in the dust. Foot, horse and chariot, I downed the whole lot of ’em. My health triumphed over the germs. Some day they will have me, but not yet. DON’T WEAKEN YOUR ARMY. If I could convince you that health is conflict, 1 should have done you a good turn; that piece of knowledge is worth more than two guineas. You wear the wrong clothes for the time of year ; the girls put on ridiculous tliir. shoe? for winter wear. You eat too fast, your teeth are decayed, you go to i.ed too late, you smoke too much, you take no trouble to get breaths of fresh air. your bedrooms are • uffy, arc; vou c< mmit a hundred other crimes against health. And what are you doing? Weakening your own army, interfering with the commissariat, giving hope and en» ouraeemenl to the enemy. The time to think of vour health is when vou are well : it is too late when you' are ill- You must remember the conflict and keep doctor of health, not a doctor oi disease. Anatomy dealt with the structure of the body, ..ud 1 do no* mind telling you that it is a very difficult subject. As f ind' in-., 1 -• •. • .list of all and all their lumps what muscles the bones are attached to. what, joints they form with other bones. We spend about two years oj hard work at anatomy, and then we have io pass nil examination. If we fail to answer the questions we are sent back lor three months. You want to know if I ever failed? Ah ! that would be telling. Anyway, it is a long time ugo. But 1 have never forgotten the value of what I iearnt. As I had to spend my life in dealing with human bodies, it gave me a sense of confidence to know what was inside them. It muct bo jolly to be a quack : all you have to do is to pay a newspaper a few pounds xo publish the fact that you know tho cure of everything, and you ride about in a motor-car and splash the doctor with mud as he tramps by on his feet. No need to spend two troublesome years learning anatomy. How jolly ! SCIENCE IN EVERY-DAY LIFE. The study of anatomy teaches us what muscles are used in performing different movements or in maintaining tho body in a given position. Even if we are standing still, our muscles are being employed to keep ua upright ; il : wc are sitting on a stool, our spinal muscles are working very hard all the time to Keep the spine erect. If we are standing at a bench, our leg muscles, cur Rack muscles and our aiir. muscles are working But think for n moment what a saving it would be if wo could reduce the* muscular strain. Here is a problem in which anatomy car. help us ; and T am happy to sav that science is being applied to our everyday life in order to make us more comfortable, more happy, and more efficient.

PRESERVE YOUR ENERGY. It took years and years for you people to provide stools for yourselves in shops. If you had understood the muscles of the back, what a lot of aches would have !>een saved. Of course, stools ought to be provided, because a different set of muscles are used in sitliug than in standing. After you have been sitting a long time, as on a railway journey, it is a relief to get up and stand or walk aboutChange ol : attitude is rest. This is a new idea, and, like all new ideas, it will take years to sink in : and it will meet with pudding-headed resistance, especially if it is a good or helpful idea. The proposal to limit the cruel hoars or child labour met with a most bitter md determined resistance. But this new idea oi studying the muscular movements of workers and devising means of affording more rest- to the muscles and so preserving energy and health, ought to be taken up enthusiastically. When the muscles are tired the week is poor : accidents occur when tho muscles are weary and do not respond so quickly io tho will-power that governs them. A fraction of a second’s delay will enable the press to catch tho tips of the fingers and crush them. To avoid accidents. muscles must be in good trim and their movements smart. AIDS TC. COMFORT A strong young man may bo able to do his day’s work without fatigue : an eight-hour shift is not very long, with one hour going to work and one hour off to get home, and a couple jf hours for meals, and a few little rests thrown in. and time off to attend important strike meetings But the older men begin to teel f a Ague at an earlier hour, and any effort to spare their old muscles would raise tho standard of comfort and efficiency. A man who has worked at a bench for tiiiiry years in a certain way is not going to alter his methods in a hurry- If he lias always stood at his vork, ho will feel as though a revolution had taken place if someone suggests fh.it, he should sit down. Nevertheless, it is true that ho could work just as well at sharpening files, or whatever ; t is. in a sitting posture, provided that the chair or stool is adapted to his work He must have foot-rest© placed in the right position for him to press against : he must have the height of the chair carefully adjusted to the height of the beii- h ; he must have a back-rest adjustable to his needs; arm rests can be attached if necessary. Each chair must be devised after a- study of the workman’s actual job. A hundred different kinds of chairs might be needed The whole principle is that the wooden supports should bo made to do part of the work of the living muscles. DON’T GET FATIGUED. Industrial fatigue is a question of enormous importance If a man can do the same quantity of work with a less expenditure of muscular energy, he will be the gainer and no one will be the loser. He will have some extra energy left at the end of the day to expend on his garden, or in any other form of pleasant occupation; that would be better than arriving home dead-beat. In n few years we shall see all sorts of energy-saving devices introduced into factorv life. Unless you have studied anatomy, you are apt to forge 4, that your movements are the result of expenditure of muscular energy 4 . If you want to cook a hot dinner, you have to expend the energy of a shovt-l or two of coal: if you hate a good oven and grate, loss coal will cook the dinner: an old-fashioned cooking apparatus will use twice the am.rant of coal for doing the same

amount of work. It is exactly the same with the muscles: you have a limited amount of muscular energy at von disposal, and you want tc use it