TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 280, 26 November 1932, Page 19 (Supplement)

TALKS ON HEALTH

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR.

STUFFY DANCE HALLS. Dancing is a perfectly healthy exercise. 1 have no objection to dancing as such. But I must say a word of complaint about the stuffy ball-rooms. If you arc a steward at the dance, please sec that there is a generous supply of fresh air for the lungs of the revellers. And 1 suppose I must make complaint against the late hours. Three and four in the morning is the usual, and that is bad for those who nave to go to work the next day. However, 1 should have some black looks il I came into the ball-room and sent you home when the dance was only hail over, so I suppose I must give way. All the same, 1 wish all dancers were Cin dercllas —especially for the young folk. Shingles. Shingles is tho name given to a pain ful affection of the nerves of the skinAt first there is nothing to be seen even by a close examination; the only symptom is the pain, which is sharp and of a neuralgic nature. After a few days small red spots appear; they grow and then turn to blisters. The fluid in the blisters is watery at first and then turns thick. In a few days the blisters burst, dry up, and become scaly, and then the skin resumes its normal appearance. A fresh crop ot blisters may appear in another place. These spots appear along the course of a nerve. They may run in a straight lino up the forehead, or they may appear in a half-circle round the body following the nerve that runs parollo. to the ribs. In other cases tho spots form a patch on the back. Sometimes Caused by Worry. Y’ou need not believe the old women’s talc that if two half-circles of spots appear and meet in front the patient will die. Nor need you believe that if you hold a guinea-pig up by its tail its eyes will drop out. It has often been noticed that shingles will appear if the patient is worried or run down. I knew a clergyman who always, got an attack of shingles when the subscrip tions to his charities fell off and ho thought they would have to be closed down. When a fresh lot of money came in he was so much cheered up that tho shingles disappeared. The pain is often very bad, and it is also very puzzling before the spots come out and reveal the true nature of the complaint. When the pain is in the side it may simulate pleurisy. If it is over the region of the appendix, it may at first seem rather like appendicitis. The spots look rather alarming to tho inexperienced observer, and fears of smallpox and all sorts of dreadful com plaints haunt the mind of the poor mother until she has taken the child to the doctor and had her fears set at rest. Tho best application is zinc ointment applied on a clean piece of lint. What the Doctor Learns. When the doctor puts his hand on your wrist, while at the same time he offers a few kind words on toast, or makes sonic remarks about the weather, he is really finding out a lot about your habits, past life, and prospects uf living to a good old age. First of all he notices the rate of the pulse, which—clever man—he cau compute without the aid of a watch. Then he is noticing tho regularity of the pulse; it may beat like a clock exactly to time, or it may drop one beat in five or jump about irregularity. He is also carefully noting in his mind the powor of the pulse, whether it is a soft, feeble beat or a full, bounding pulse. And finally, he is noting the nardness or the softness of the ■walls of the artery. Thickened Arteries. Hard manual labour, heavy drinking, and a reckless manner of life lead to thickened arteries. Kidney diseases is associated with thick arteries; gout is another cause; also lead poisoning. Tho physician, having left a “pipestem” artery, knows that not only the artery but tho blood-vessels in every part uf the body arc in the same condi tion, including those of the brain. Ho therefore cautions the patient, suggests that ho should drink less alcohol, or give it up altogether, that ho should avoid stresses and strains, and not run upstairs. The substance of tho bruin is so soft that tho arteries running through it get no support, and that is why the brain is always the spot where arteries burst first. A Stroke. I know that hospital museums would not interest you, but In our work we are shown the brains taken from patients who have, died from a stroke, and tho clot; of blood is clearly shown in the middle of the brain, pressing on the nerve fibres that run down from the bruin to the limbs and preventing them from working properly. You may now understand that, there can be every variety of stroke. Suppose tin burst in the artery is a very tiny one, just allowing a drop or two of blood to escape. 'l'he effect may be scarcely noticeable; perhaps a little weakness lasting one day in a part of one arm. If the burst is a large one the whole body may be paralysed down one side. Right and Wrong Treatment. With care and rest the blood may De absorbed, just as the swelling of a black eye will go down in a day or two. And then recovery takes place. The best thing to do when a man falls down in an apoplectic fit is to carry him very gently and .without any hurry to a safe place and let him lie quietly there. No rubbing; no giving of brandy, no shaking or shouting, no ex eitenient, no roughly carrying him a long way home. We are simply wait ing for the bleeding in the brain to stop; if we give it time the blood will coagulate and the hole, in the artery will be closed. If you start, the heart pumping as hard as it can go bv giving brandy the soft dot will 1" pumped out of the way, and all tin bleeding w ill begin all over again.