TALKS ON HEALTH.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20277, 11 April 1934, Page 11

TALKS ON HEALTH.

Strokes and Their Cause. BY A FAMILY DOCTOR. A stroke is the bursting of a bloodvessel in the brain. Sometimes the blood-vessel bursts just outside the brain and in the top of the nose. It is not unusual for an old person to suffer from a severe haemorrhage from the nose. It is not altogether a bad thing; it may relieve tension, and the patient is to be congratulated on escaping with nothing worse than a few drops of blood on the carpet when a difference of an inch or two in the position of the burst would have caused him to be paralysed down one side of the body. It may be necessary for the doctor to plug the nose; the loss of a small quantity of blood may be beneficial, but it cannot be allowed to go on indefinitely. The nose-bleeding may be a warning. The patient should avoid being in the hot sun with the head uncovered; he should be careful to avoid excess of alcohol; he should not run for a train; he should not lose his temper or fly into a violent rage. He may go quietly on, leading a placid life, for many years. In the end he will have a stroke, but he need not look for it, and expect it, and worry abopt it. Coughs and Coughs. There are two kinds of coughs, which are of opposite natures. One is the dry, hard, barking cough, in w-hich no phlegm is brought up, and the other is the loose cough which results in a copious expectoration. In the latter case the bronchial tubes are choked up with phlegm, and the cough should be encouraged, because if the bronchial tubes remain blocked up the patient will not be able to breathe. It is plain that these two kinds of coughs require two different kinds of medicine. The loose cough must be encouraged; the harsh, dry cough must be stopped This points out one very real danger in taking a cough mixture which was ordered for somebody else, the prescription of which has been handed on. Suppose you have a cough which should be encouraged in order to clear the tubes, and you take a cough mixture which was intended for the other kind of cough, you run the risk of getting your bronchial tubes blocked up worse than ever. Each patient must be studied carefully, and then the medicine ordered—a haphazard swallowing of any old cough mixture may do harm. Hemorrhoids. If you suffer from hemorrhoids try the following:— 1. Get up ten minutes earlier than usual and go through some simple exercises. Bend up and down and from side to side, pressing the hands well into the sides—that has the effect of rubbing and massaging the liver. 2. Drink, a large tumblerful of water on an empty stomach. That has the effect of washing out the stomach and cleansing it as a good start for the day. You wash your face—why not your inside? Water is valuable inside as well as outside. 3. Eat your breakfast very slowly; avoid bacon that is too fat, and avoid greasy things, such as fish done in oil. 4. Regular habits. The human organism appreciates time-keeping. 5. Reduce the quantity of food taken by one-third. Only one meat meal a day. 6. Attention to teeth. 7. Avoidance of alcohol. 8. The dietary should include plenty of fresh fruit.