TALKS ON HEALTH

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18947, 18 December 1929, Page 7

TALKS ON HEALTH

By A FAMILY DOCTOR =-=-

WATCH THE CHILD’S EYES. Preserve the eyes of your growing children. See that the books they read are printed in good plain type. The sort of cheap “ shocker ” that the boys get hold of is generally printed on bad paper with small type. As the light fails the child may not be allowed to light the light for himself; he goes on reading because “ Bronchitis Bill ” has got “ Sitting Bull ” by the throat, and he wants to know what happens next. Reading by a poor light is a fruitful source of damage to the eyes of the young. They have no sense, and the parents must provide the deficiency. The eye is a very sensitive piece of mechanism; it cannot stand rough usage; it is strange to watch a crowd of people get out of a packed tram at a busy terminus and note what a large number wear glasses. Care in childhood might save some of those tired eyes that now peer through spectacles. Dangerous Ruptures. It is not safe to neglect a rupture. You may have an operation or you may wear a truss, but you must not leave it alone. Sooner or later it will grow larger, and it may give trouble. A rupture is a loop of bowel that comes down through a hole in the wall of the abdomen. The food has to travel through this loop. If it became closed a stoppage of the bowels would occur, and that is a serious complication. You may be able to replace the rupture by a little gentle pressure; it may go back of its own accord when you lie down in bed. All sorts of varieties are seen; the most troublesome kind is the large rupture which cannot be replaced. Some day a little extra exertion or a bad cough or an accident may cause a larger loop of bowel to be forced down, and then it is so tight that no effort can get it back. I see far too many men and women who take their chance with a rupture; either they -wear no truss or they have a useless contraption sold to them by a rascal who makes money out of mugs. Sometimes I find an old worn-out truss that is of no use whatever. Insurance companies very often make a man pay more for his policy ii he refuses to wear a proper truss.

A Specialist In Happiness. I am a specialist. No, not in diseases of the nervous system nor in eyes or ears or throats. I am a specialist in happiness, and a very good one, too. I like my patients to leave my consult-ing-room in a happy frame of mind. My plan is simple but efficacious. I present the patients with a ten-pound note. It does them a lot of good. It gets them out of a hole; it enables the tired mother to have a little holiday; it clears the worried brain of the harassed clerk of the fear of not being able to pay the rent; it gives mother a chance to give a “ blow-out ” to the growing and hungry family; it means boots and shoes that prevent colds: it means a seaside holiday—it means hundreds of things. I have never known the treatment to fail. No one comes back to say it has done no good;

indeed, some return to announce that the treatment has been partially successful, and they would like to repeat the dose to complete the cure. “And what is your fee, doctor, may I ask?” “ There is no charge, madame, I pay you; please accept this ten-pound note.” Is my practice increasing ? Do I have' a squad of mounted police to keep the crowd in order? Don’t ask silly questions. lam a specialist in happiness. How We Get Chills. In the autumn, when colds are so common, the clothing that is best suited to avoid chills may well be discussed with advantage. It must be pointed out that it is not so much the cold weather in itself that is dangerous as the sudden changes from a warm house to a cold street. We could easily stand a low temperature indefinitely if we were in the same temperature all the time, but no organism can resist the heavy strain put upon it by the rapid alteration of heat and cold. First the cold bedroom, then the warm breakfast-room, then the cold walk to the tram and five minutes standing about in the draughty shelter shed; then the stuffy journey with ten people breathing the same air over and over again, all the windows being tightly closed—no wonder we get chills.

Cold Bath and Warm Overcoat. Everyone has some plan or fad whereby we may never have colds again as long as we live. My own fad is that everyone who can stand it—and most of us who are in ordinary health can —should have a cold bath in the morning. Do not grumble and shiver, just go and do it. Have a good rub down, and make your skin glow, and sing at the top of your voice because it is good for you. Stop when the neighbours complain. My other recommendation is to have a warm overcoat. When you are sitting in a room beautifully warm by a fire, you do not really need those enormously thick underclothes that you wear. As a matter of fact, the temperature of a room with a fire is higher than the summer temperature. No, it is not in the house that you need so much extra clothing, it is when you go out. Nasal Deformities.

You all know what a nose is; you have one yourself, and you have seen others. But your knowledge is limited to the outside of the nose. You have never taken an electric light and looked inside the nose like I have. The nostrils lead into two cavities, one on each side, separated from each other by a party wall. Doctors call the party wall a septum, but that is only because they like to give grand names to simple things. This septum, then, consists of gristle, not hard bone, and it is easily bent. One good punch and the trick is done. It is astonishing what a lot of us have had punches on the nose at some time or other. Football, a bicycle accident, a blow from a cricket ball, a fall off a tree in boyhood, a quarrel with another gentleman about a girl, boxing, electioneering, and many other sports are responsible for a damaged septum. And what is the result? We expand our lungs and the air rushes through the nose. It should go through both sides equally. If the party wall is “bosky” and leans right over to one side, the air can go easily through the open side and is prevented from passing through the small or compressed side. This causes catarrh. The flintlllllllltlllllllllllllillllNllU

wide or open side may become drff and covered with crusts; the narrow or closed side is always stuffy.

Nasal Catarrh. What is the treatment? You have a nasal catarrh due to a damaged septum, so you buy some thick underclothing to keep your body warm, or you rub your chest with embrocation, or you have a Turkish bath to cleanse your skin, or you take a dose of salts to clear out your liver, or you buy a rheumatic ring to wear on your finger, or liiiinuniiiiiinniuiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiniiiniminmiTinnniiiiiiniimiiiiiiinniinm a

you carry a potato in your pocket; in fact, you do anything except the right thing, which is to go to a surgeon and ask him politely if he will put your septum straight. It is a common operation and very successful. The first time you can take a deep breath after having had one side of your nose bunged up for years is a grand sensation. It is more exhilarating than a glass of champagne. If you are bothered with constant colds, make sure that your nose is healthy before you undertake any other form of remedy.