TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOE.

THE MORNING AFTER. Alcohol is a much-abused drug. I am not going to discuss it at length: but I want to impress upon my readers one - maximum in respect to it. That is that alcohol has two effects —first, the effect of stimulation; and secondly, the aftereffect of depression. The best way to find out the effect of a drug is to take it, or to watch somebody else who has taken it. For instance, examine from a scientific point of view the case of a man who goes to a smoking concert and drinks not wisely but too well. Stimulated by the alcohol ho imbibes, he is willing to sing a song, to make a speech, or to light anybody and everybody. His energies are supreme, and though, perhaps. a feeble-minded creature in reality, he wants to perform feats of valour. All this is stage one. Next morning the whole picture is changed. His pulse, instead of being full and bounding, is weak and slow; his face, instead of being flushed is pale; his eye, instead of being bright, is dull and fishy; his mental activities, instead of being abnormally brilliant, are reduced to zero; his appetite, which was hearty only yesterday, is now nil This condition is in the main duo to the alcohol, because his friends, who sat up just as late and partook of the same food without drinking to excess, are not in such a parlous state. If you earn a pound a week, and one week you spend two pounds, borrowing a pound from the week to come, you will have a grand time during the first week and find yourself horribly poor in the second. Action and Reaction. If you have a certain amount of energy at your disposal, alcohol will help yon to spend that energy at double speedy but afterwards you must be consent to find yourself robbed of your energy to make up for the expenditure before. This principle of action and reaction applies to the people who partake of small quantities of alcohol, and . that is why a doctor is alwavs careful to avoid giving more than is absolutely necessary to old people who are weak. He has to remember that stage of reaction and see to it that the depression that must follow the stimulation does not do his patient harm. One word more. It has been proved over and over again that alcohol does not keep the cold out; it lets the cold in. If you like alcohol on a cold night, take ityou are your own master—but do not delude yourself into thinking that 11 keeps the cold out; it does exactlv the opposite, and all the medicine bookagree on this point. Extreme fanaticmm on any subject does more harm than good: but 1 am prepared to take my stand on this recommendation all young prsons be total abstainers until they are twenty-one; then they must make up their minds for themselves *** ' ♦ Lead-Poisoning. The aches and pains and disorders ■that follow in the wake of lead-poison- ■ mg are so numerous and far-reaching in . their effects that scrupulous precau- • ticns should be taken by all those who . are exposed to the risk by reason of I their work to avoid contamination bv i the lead. Painters and plumbers arc more liable to suffer from "‘painter’s i colic/ ? as it is called, than workers in itmy other trade. Acute pains in the . wels, accompanied by obstinate con- ; stipati.cn and headache, are the com- ' munest symptoms. Sometimes the lead attacks the nerves and causes paralysis 1 of the muscles on the back of the fore!arm, so that when the arm is held out 'the wrists drop and t-annor be raised. Along the line where the teeth join the . gums a blue discoloration may often be jseen. Chronic lead-poisoning, lasting lover many years, may bo associated with gout and chronic Bright’s disease of the kidneys, and there have been a number of cases described of insanity, loss of memory, and other cerebral affections. Prevention Better than Cure. AH these troubles could be avoided. No great effort or profound knowledge :s necessary. The only precaution to be observed is to wash the hands after touching paint, white lead, etc. Men working amongst paints or lead are much more careful than they used to be, with the result tear painter's colic is not nearly so common as formerly. But still, unfortunately, one meets with this dreadful disease in careless subjects, especially boys who have not reached years of discretion. At every meal the bread is broken and put into the mouth by hands that are soiled bv i particles of lead. The amount of lead absorbed into the system at one meal I must be very small, but in the course ,of weeks, months, and years the total j gradually rises, until sufficient of the I metal accumulates in the body to gi ve :rise to symptoms. The doctor"can help ■his patient in relieving most of the : sv-mptonjs, but it is almost an impossibility to dissolve and eradicate from jthe tissues the lead which has steadily collected during the past ten or fifteen i years. IVith increased care and f'D{lightcnment w e hope that before long icad-poisoning may be an unknown dislease. The list of diseases is quite lon©- ; enough: it would be a splendid work to {cross off such a serious item as lead ■ poisoning. * * * * An Injured Knee. i An injury to the knee, with a forma-