TALKS ON HEALTH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 153, 30 June 1934, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH

(By A FAMILY DOCTOR).

BLESSINGS OF CIVILISATION. A bunion is the enlarged end of the toebone. Wrenched out of its proper shape, the big toes can no longer sustain the weight of the body or retain its springiness in walking. The foot is a delicate instrument with a score of little joints and arches and pivots and the distortion produced by the savage races at present inhabiting these islands have the effect of completely destroying the effect of completely dedestroying designs of nature. “Forsome ladies and gentlemen from the South Pacific Islands to come over as missionaries to teach and educate the wild tribes of Now Zealand cities. "With the help of these coloured missionaries I hope to banish bunions, corns, hammer-toe, and ingrowing toenail, all of which are quite unknown to the King of the Cannibal Islands A Broken Leg. If a log has been broken or badly damaged in an accident, and the mail to whom the leg belongs has to be moved, the injured leg must be protected from still further injury during the passage home or to the hospital. If there is any doubt about putting a splint on, it is always best to apply the splint, whether the leg is broken or not. If the support is applied to a leg that is not broken, no harm is done, and it may give ease to the bruised muscles. If the man is to be carried all the way, he may have his two legs bound together, so that the sound limb may support the injured. The Danger of Blood-poisoning. If a limb with a fractured bone is not splinted, the sharp ends of the broken fragments of bone may be thrust through the skin. In that case, germs are admitted from the mud of the road or from the clothes, and dangerous blood-poisoning may result. It is because of the danger of pushing a sharp bone through the skin that wc are taught to leave on the ground a person who has fallen or been knocked down until the real state of the limb and bones has been ascer-1 tained. Some kind-hearted onlooker | may rush forward and lift up the injured man on to his feet, only to find that a bone is broken and down falls

the poor fellow again, doing further damage to the bone. Difficulty in Swallowing. Difficulty in swallowing may be a symptom complained of by a young person, man or woman, .of about twenty or so. If the tonsils are swollen and painful, the explanation is simple; but the throat may be perfectly clear and yet there seems to be some obstruction to the free passage of food. The obstruction in the case of a young person probably has n 0 real existence. There may be a temporary spasm of the swallowing muscles. Such a spasm is comparable to a stammer in the speech. In both cases the will-power is unable to insist on the obedience of the muscles. The Rubber Tube Treatment. Sword-swallowers can pass a sword down the gullet into the stomach, and they do not suffer from spasm. I do not recommend anyone to practise sword-swallowing, but the passage of a proper rubber tube down the gullet into the stomach, and may dispense with the difficulty in getting the food down. Hysteria ac-

counts for a fairly large number of cases, and it sometimes happens that the mere threat of passing the tube cures the patient. If at any time in the life, years ago it may be, some caustic acid or other corrosive substance has been accidentally swallowed, a scar may form than contracts the gullet, and then an indiarubber tube has to be passed to make the way clear. When we come to deal with this same symptom of obstruction in swallowing in middle-aged or elderly men, it is a more serious matter. There may be a growth present, and a doctor should be consulted without delay. Miners’ Nystagmus. There is an affection of the eyes known as miners’ nystagmus. Nystagmus is characterised by a rapid, jerky movement of the eyeballs from side to side, or sometimes up and down. There are many diseases with which this condition of the eye is associated. Sometimes the incessant jerking is the result of a defect in vision, and a pair of glasses may help to cure it. In ot-hcr cases a general disease of the nervous system is present. But the complaint is particularly common among coalminers. It comes on in apparently healthy men, and many hundreds have been permanently incapacitated from following their employment through this complaint.