RHEUMATISM CAMPAIGN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 255, 28 October 1936, Page 7

RHEUMATISM CAMPAIGN

AN EMPIRE MOVEMENT CHIEF OBJECTS STATED LONDON, Oct. 26. The Daily Mail says that an Empire rheumatism campaign will be launched on October 29, aiming at co-ordin-ation of the work throughout the Empire. The aid of the Dominions, especially Australia and Canada, is already assured. The chief objects will be the study of all causes io evolve the best methods of treatment, in which the medical profession and hospitals are co-operating. Lord Horder and Sir William Wilcox are among the prominent people participating in the preliminary organisation. HOT BRICK REMEDY SOME STRANGE BELIEFS. Red hot bricks can be used as a form of treatment, according to Dr. Matthew B. Ray, senior honorary physician to the British Red Cross Clinic, for rheumatism. He makes his recommendation in an article published in the British Medical Journal. The technique, one expert recalled to a representative of the Morning Post, is that used by prehistoric man 500,000 years ago for cooking his food. Dr. Ray's formula is simple: Make two bricks red hot in a tire and place them at the bottom of an old bucket. Over this support the limb to be treated, covering it with blankets. “A knee, elbow, wrist, ankle, foot or hand,” he says, "can thus be exposed to infra-red rays, which are just as effective as those derived from a more expensive electrical apparatus.” This is only one form of many apparently strange treatments - that have lately been recommended for rheumatism. Colloidal gold is favoured by some authorities; ozone baths by others. Bee stings have been tried with success in certain cases, and good results have been claimed with ultra-short radio waves. High frequency electric currents have been used to supply internal heat to the afflicted joint and whisky (less now than formerly) to supply heat to the whole body. Lemons have been favoured by some authorities because of their potassium content, and condemned by others on the score of their acidity. Many countrymen still believe to-day in the efficacy of the potato. An American doctor has claimed tc be able to cure practically any form of rheumatism by massaging the ankles, and there are West Country practitioners who prescribe cider. As for baths, the experts of the Red Cross Clinic tell us that the waters of London are as good as any—provided that the treatments are correctly given.