TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17832, 28 April 1926, Page 14

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR-

NOSE-BLEEDING. The nose-bleeding of schoolboys is not a very serious matter. It may mean that the lad has plenty of blood and to spare. It can generally be stopped by such simple measures as bathing the face and neck with cold water. Do not let the child hang his head over a basin, as that encourages the blood to run to the head. A frequently repeated bleeding from the nose may owe its origin to an ulcer or some small growth. This condition can be detected only by shining a light inside the nose with a special mirror. The application of the cautery or the removal of the little growth will bring about a cure. Occasionally we find nose-bleeding is accompanied by other symptoms, such as headache, lassitude, and a general feeling of depression. The nose-bleeding observed in these circumstances should be taken seriously. It may be a premonitory sign of typhoid fever. Take the patient’s temperature, and never accept further responsibility. You must let the doctor see the case, as a patient with typhoid fever runs a very grave risk if he struggles back to work. Moreover, he is a danger to others—one case may start an epidemic. The Medical Officer of Health must be informed at the earliest possible moment. AGE AND THE ARTERIES. Nose-bleeding in old people is quite a different matter from nose-bleeding in schoolboys. The older we get the more brittle our arteries become. The day comes when the old vessel is no longer able to bear the strain; it bursts, and out gushes the blood. The commonest place for the burst to take place the head. The burst may be outside the skull in the top of the nose, or it may be inside the skull in the substance of the brain. The nose-bleeding of old people is severe, and may have to be stopped by plugging the nose, but it may give relief to the high bloodpressure, and the patient’s head may feel clearer after it. It is also fortunate in the sense that if the bleeding had not come outside it might have taken place in the brain and caused an apoplectic stroke. Severe haemorrhage from the nose of an old man may be a warning of an approaching apoplectic stroke. GALLSTONES. It is very common for stones to form in the gall-bladder; sometimes there is only one, sometimes a hundred. They may lie quietly in the gall-bladder and never give any trouble. I have often seen gall-stones in a gall-bladder at a post mortem examination on a paient who never showed any signs of gallstones during life. On the. other hand, if the stones get into the duct which leads from the gall-bladder to the intestine, they give rise to most excruciating agony. If they get stuck in the duct and completely block it, the patient then suffers from jaundice. The bile ought to escape along the duct into the bowel, but when this blockage occurs, it cannot escape, and it gets into the blood-vessels, and is carried all round the body. The bile, being yellowish, gives the well-known tint to the skin. SOME CAUSES, The chief causes of gall-stones are indigestion and dyspepsia, .constipation, sedentary habits, over-eating, insufficient. exercise, tight lacing, and not 1 drinking enough water. When once a gall-stone is formed, nothing will spirit it away. Sometimes, after several attacks of colic and jaundice, the gall-

I stone passes of its own accord, to the great relief of the patient. After a bad attack it is expedient that the stone should be looked for in the stools. If it is found it should be carefully preserved for the doctor to see. for by examining its shape it is easy to tell whether there are more to come away. The operation for removing gall-stones is now quite common, and has afforded relief to hundreds of patients. The desirability of operating or not can only be decided after a careful examination of the patient. A healthy gall-bladder cannot be felt. If there is a tumour over that region it is a sign that something is wrong. If there have been many attacks the patient’s strength and endurance may be exhausted, and an operation is undertaken to relieve the patient of further trouble. If there are a dozen stones in the gall-bladder there are a dozen attacks of colic waiting in store for him. To remove them all in one operation prevents these twelve attacks. A WORD IN YOUR EAR. The real organ of hearing is not the external ear on the outside of our heads, but the internal car which is tucked away inside the skull out of harm’s way, at the bottom of the earhole. I will not weary you with a long description of the ear, but there are two facts which are of importance for you to know. One is that there is a tube connecting the car with the back of the throat, and that therefore an infection of the throat may travel along this tube and cause inflammation of the ear and deafness. Never, 1 therefore, neglect a sore throat, as, though slight in itself, it may lpad to destruction of the precious organ of hearing. The other fact of importance is that the internal ear is very near the brain itself, and a running from the ear, due to an inflammation of the internal car, may, and not infrequently does, lead to the formation of an abscess of the brain. A running car should always be syringed most carefully every day with warm boracic lotion. Unfortunately, the running may last for many months, but patience and perseverance will triumph in the end. HOPELESS CASES. Some people are rendered completely deaf by a long-continued discharge from the ear or from some other cause, which has resulted in the destruction of the organ of . hearing. Tn these cases nothing can be done, and it is merely throwing good money after bad to employ expensive means of treatment. If the eye were destroyed by an accident, you -would think it the act of a lunatic to try and restore the sight by pouring drops into the dry socket of the eye. It is just as unwise and ineffectual to pour drops into the ear in cases where the ear is dead. It is less cruel to tell the patient that nothing can be done than raise false hopes of cure which ’are foredoomed to disappointment. SOME USEFUL MIXTURES. A good dusting powder for sore and hot feet is made by mixing one part of zinc oxide, one part of boracic acid, and two parts of starch powder. • All the ingredients must be very finely powdered—-no little lumps to feel gritty. A useful application for eczema is made by mixing the following:—Resorcin, 20 parts; zinc oxide, 20 parts; starch powder, 20 parts; and liquid paraffin. 40 parts. Stockholm tar soap is useful for chronic eczema. f