Talks on Health

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16984, 7 March 1923, Page 9

Talks on Health

± •> S By a Family Doctor 5

HEALTH AN ASSET. \ou can borrow money on a life in suranee policy, but. your life must »>e a good one from the company’s point ot view. 11 you are expected to di.-*. of consumption next month, you will not Ik' able to borrow much. It dis appoints me to find you neglect my advice and present yourselves befoio me to be examined without having first taken such steps as are possible :.o make your bodies as health v a> you can. You co-pie to me with enlarged tonsils, a husky voice, a mouth full of rotten teeth, a heart affected Lv smoking too many cigarettes; perhaps a red nose or a hob-nailed liver: or you have a cough which you have neglected for six months ancl a rupture fer which you are wearing no t.ru : some of you hold yourselves like old men with stooping shoulders: and you expect me to overlook tin* fact that your ear has been running for thr years. Well, there is the nice house and here is the nice little wife : ail von need now is to put through the house purchase scheme with the aid of a life policy. And then T. liko some horrid ogre, stand before y vu with my stethoscope and other instruments of torture, and actually turn you down because you are not healthv. 1 do it in sorrow. And then T sit down and write a paragraph to ease my scienee. imploring vou to remember that your health must not be forgotten as an asset. EAR DANGERS. Imagine yourself to be a small by creeping into an car. First of all, yon are in the passage that lends down 1o the drum : this is lined with . bristles which impede your progress, and the wax secreted, by the skin further clogs your steps; you will find that Nature objects to insects and other “foreign bodies” entering the ear-passage.- You may find the ear blocked with a wad of wax; after saving for six months on end, every morning and every night that the hearing is getting better eve.-v day and in every way. the possessor may get disheartened, and have i h • wax removed. Our little fly may now reach the drum, and here he finds h:s way completely blocked, there is no hole in the drum : so the fly turns hack or finds itself drowned in the oil that some unkind person pours into the car. But drums are not always per feet: there mar he a hole or “perforation. as it is called. If the fly crawls through the perforation he will find himself in the cavity of the ear. the middle ear. and a- strange place it Is : for hung across the little cavity o; room, from side to side, he will sec three little bone*, the stirrup. the hammer, and the anvil I must show you these minute bones one day ; th.-.w are most beautifully made. The foo*. of the stirrup fits into an oval hole and. if the fly will make himself v small, he will be able to creep through the hole and he then finds himself in the inner ear. Here he will discover a small shell similar to those found on the sea-shore curled into a spiral : he will also see three hollow tubes cur red into half-circles ; these are named th > semi-circular canals, and their use is to enable the human being to maintain his effect posture. Y FFECTS OF WHIE LI GIGGING If you ttfrn yourself round ana round.quickly, vou will so.confuse, your canals that you will not be able to stand upright: disease of this portion of the ear causes attacks of giddiness. If now the fly will kindly tap on the walls of the middle and inner ear he will discover that they are very thin: only a slender partition divides him from the brain. And that, is what T set out to tell vou when T began this story T want to teach you that the interior of the ear is very near the brain. We’.l. what of it? Only that a discharge frum the ear. if neglected, will very likely lead to the development of an abscess of the brain. Have 1 ever seen such

j a case? Oh. yes, quite a lot ; 1 co-os 4 . ; take you into the ear hospital now ar.u j show you some very sad cases. If 1 J I have now succeeded in persuading- you ] to take steps to get your running far j cured, T shall not have lived through • j to-day in vain. SEER EXPERT ASSISTANCE. Experience teaches us that both thin and fat men live in health to a good old age. so there is no reason to attach ; too much importance to height and j weight. For a. man of live foot nine ■ inches the average weight is eleven stone eight pounds. \ aviations occur : according to the amount of exercise . : taken and the amount of hem* drunk. | A man may enjoy his tennis in. the j summer and reduce his weight- by the . j activity put forth in trying to beat his j growing son in n strenuous bout of ; three sets. Tu the winter he puts his ; racquet away—and proceeds to grow j fat. A steady rise in weight is prnc- j ticallv always due to habits, and is not of much consequence unless the waist- , coat- measurements are allowed to exceed all reasonable proportions. The waistband can be controlled by very : simple measures provided the willpower is firm enough to adopt the right | course. On the other hand. a. stead\ fall in weight , unless from s-ome' oh- I vious cause such as I have mentioned j above. is more alarming. If a man is , leading bis ordinary life and each qnar- j ter shows a loss of flesh, the reason j j must be carefully sought. The first < : sign of eertain diseases is continued > i loss of weight. Diabetes, tuberculosis. I an internal growth, may not he shown j i except by a falling off of weight. The j I doctor will know what to look for. and ! his help should be asked. Do not rely I on your own knowledge, which may he !at fault. Let the doctor examine your j water, your lungs, your abdomen, and i ho will tell you what to do. POINTS ON VACCINATION. j Some young ladies prefer to be vac- i cinated on the leg. where the scare will 1 not. be seen ; a pretty arm was made to . be looked at and admired, not to be ; marked for, life, they say. There is no reason why the leg should not be chosen as the .site for the small opera- 1 tion. provided that the patient, can af- 1 ford to rest while the inflammation is ; |at its height. It is a comparatively < easv matter to keep an arm quiet, hut i voii cannot rest a leg unless you lie ; j down : you cannot walk along with ! your leg in n sling. run-: thr pa by room. : We fully recognise that muscular exi ercise is good for us who arc full J grown : sometimes we forget that ba- ! hies. too. can benefit from gymnastics, j | During the day the poor baby is so . ! swaddled in masses of garments that j ho has no chance of moving a. limb. , Mothers take a special delight- in wra-jv ping their offspring in layer after layer of flannel. In watching the operation of undressing a baby, the waiting doctor often wonders if the baby will ever be reached. However, we genera 11 y get there in the end. and a very tiny baby remains on the mother’s lap. with an enormous heap of clothes on the ' floor at the side. EXERCISE BEFORE BED When evening comes, you must lay a * warm blanket in front of the fire and , let the baby lie on it without any , j clothes at all just his skin. Ho will i cordially approve of this conduct- on your part, and will show his pleasure j J bv waving his arms and legs about, j These are the gymnastics Tam keen on. j Every little joint in his body is being j moulded: every muscle made strong: | every bone encouraged to grow straight. Limbs wore made to be j moved, especially a baby’s. His little j back is made strong, and his heart and i lungs benefit from the exercise. Give j him about five or ten minutes of this, j and he will sleep better.