TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 115, 17 May 1930, Page 7 (Supplement)

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR

MASTICATE WELL It is important that the food you swallow should be finely divided, so that the digestive juices can get at the food and act upon it chemically. If a large lump of meat is swallowed only the outside is bathed in juices, and the inside of tho lump is untouched. If you have no grinders of your own get a mincing machine and pass your food through that; it is an excellent substitute for teeth. I have quite a number of patients who have been benefited by using a mincing machine, and I can recommend it. Young people with good teeth generally cat too fast, but the cure for that is greater care. Compete with each other to sec who can finish lastWear Suitable Clothing Clothing should be as light as possible in every season of the year. 1 frequently find children dressed in ; summer time in seven garments, one on top of the other. In the winter the number may be doubled, and the children’s movements hampered by fourteen garments! Illnesses were never kept away by a multitude of coverings. The natives of the South Sea Islands began to suffer from chest complaints when the missionaries I;; taught them to wear European clothes. Clothing should be light and warm, but never in excess. Corsets arc quite unnecessary’ for children at school. The way to get a good figure is to develop the muscles and hold oneself well; corsets are mere artificial aids which no healthy child should need.

Try and Be Kind This week I must write you a few words about kindness. Kindness is a most valuable medicine. If you turn up the index of a medical dictionary you will not find “kindness” mentioned under the Ks, and yet more cures have been brought about by this form of treatment than by any other. I have often examined women who complain of loss of appetite and loss of sleep and of feeling depressed, and they ask me for a tonic. A little patience and enquiry elicit the fact that she has had a quarrel with her husband, and I, in my perplexity, realise that no drug will help her unless the husband shows her some kindness. How often we poor frail human beings long for a little consideration! We cannot always be perfect; we make mistakes, we are unhappy about our errors; but we do not like to be abused. Wo should bo all the better forjiaving our ruffled feathers smoothed down.

The Dangerous r.wult A fault is like an ulcer on the' skin; we know it is there and it distresses us, but it raa'xcs it ten times worse if someone pokes it with a stick and says, “You have got a nasty’ ulcer there.” Perhaps he calls the attention of other people to it, and they' jeer, too. If only kindness ruled the day a good friend would cover the ulcer with some soothing balm and wrap round it a protective covering, and perhaps it would disappear- It is the same in the grea'c world as it is in some of our homes; tho nations seem ready to rush at each other’s throats all the time, and we aro never •without rumours of wars. The knowledge that frightful poison gases are to be let loose on us from aeroplanes in the next war does not seem to deter anyone. We are unconsciously corrupted; a nice young man, who would not hurt anyone if he could help it, in his ordinary daily life, knows- that it may' one day bo his duty to destroy’ a town with all its inhabitants, young and old, with his special bomb of noxious vapour. In these circumstances it is not of much use a poor old doctor writing a few paragraphs appealing for more kindness in the world. But, as my job is o prevent illness, I make so bold as to set down as clearly as I can, in black and white, that many of my patients arc ill from lack of kindness on the part of their friends and relations. I do not refer to the gross acts of wilful negligence which bring tho machinery' of the law into operation; a child may be found in a condition calculated to cause it unnecessary' suffering, and the magistrate deals with the matter. In the Old Tomb It is very sad! What old Tutankhamen will say r when he is told that three thousand years after he was buried the foremost nation of the world still has a Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children I blush to think. No; I refer to the little forgotten acts of courtesy that are left undone; they mean so much to the sensitive folk that find their way into my consulting-room. I do not k<ow how [ could have struggled through my busy life without the kindness I have met with. When I am very' tired 1 have sometimes felt that the kindly offer of a cup of tea at a patient’s house has saved mv life.

Help on rhe Weary Motorists are not nearly so kind in offering weary folks lifts on the road as the old horse-drivers were. It is typical of the rush of our modern life that tho wayfarer is a speck in the distance, and has disappeared behind all in a flash, .to the motorist. He has no time to think that tho s-eat behind him is empty' and would be welcome to the pedestrian for a mile or two. Kindness is the best antidote to class hatred, which is one of tho great evils of to-day. Foolish Beliefs Frequently' the poor sufferer from chronic rheumatism drags his painful steps to the faith-healer; the unfortunate man with a tumour in the brain is carried to the faith-healer by' his well-meaning but brainless relatives; the child with infantile paralysis is pushed into a cab to swell the throng. How sad it all is! When shall we understand that faith-healing is not applicable’to organic diseases? Vou cannot remove a stone from the kidney or a speck of coal from the eye by faith. However, have it your own way- This week I pay- you no wages for your week’s work. Only believe that you have received them; have faith that your rent has been paid; ask your children to believe they

have had a good dinner and all will bo well. A Little Sarcasm I have been poor all my life, and now [ want to know’ what it feels like to be really rich. I have invented a magic garter- It cures all kindred disorders. You need not use your common sense, you need not worry about such rubbish as fresh air, good food, sleep, exercise, and sunshine. All you have to do is to send me fifty pounds, and, by r return of post, you receive the magic garter. If you are dying of consumption, all you have to do is to buy ten garters for five hundred pounds and put them round your chest; you will never cough again. If you suffer from gall-stones as well as consumption, just slip the garters down so that they encircle yovr stomach, : nd the gall-stones will melt like hailstones in the sunshine. Well, well, I hope you believe it all.