SELF MEDICATION

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 54, 6 March 1945, Page 6

SELF MEDICATION

(Bj r the Department of Health.)

Petrol in the United States o£ America costs, about 4 cents a gallon to produce. So does a by-pro-duct called liquid petrolatum, or mineral oil. It is known commonly here as paraffin. It's very cheap in the States but somewhat dearer 1 when you buy it here and use it as a laxative. Its use in medicine is quite recent —1905 to 1910 saw the introduction of paraffin on an extensive scale —now its probably the most, used in all laxatives in selfmedication. In the United States the use of paraffin or mineral oil in foods lias increased enormouslv since the ani- ~ 9 mal and vegetable oils such as olive oil have become scarce. It is being used widely in imitation mavonnaise

or salad dressings in that country so much so that the Council on Foods and Nutrition has had to publish a warning against the growing practice. In our own country the use of mineral oil in foodstuffs is not allowed under our Food and Drug Regulations. Paraffin in foodstuffs. has harmful effects. Paraffin in our bodies softens the '* 9 waste products, makes a kind of hurries the contents along and generally acts as a lubricant. That's why you use it as a laxative. But that is onlj'- one side of the picture.; the other side. Paraffin also j acts as a solvent, and interferes seriously with the absorption of vitamin vitamin D, calcium, pliosphorus, and vitamin K. In short if you take paraffin as a laxative you'll get less value from your food. It'll be hurried along too so that there'll be less' time for absorption, apart from the interference with vitamins aixl minerals already mentioned, paraffin should be used only under medical direction.