TALK ON HEALTH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5159, 1 August 1927, Page 4

TALK ON HEALTH.

THE CARE OF THE TEETH.

(By- a. Family Doctor.)

Very often I write a passionate appeal to all and sundry to take care of their teeth and the teeth of their children. It does no good. Of course, I am wrong to bother about the- teeth. After all, a bottle of medicine will do just {is well as a tooth brush. First of all, I have tried —in vain—to teach you to respect your bodies as the temples of your souls and as the product of the infinite wisdom of the Creator. You think otherwise. If you had had the making of human bodies you would have made them without teeth. But my humble aim is to impress on you that if the teeth are there they must be of some value. They are not put there for fun ; and if the body is deprived of its teeth it is at a great disadvantage in waging war against the illnesses that come to attack it. A man’s health depends primarily on hiS: food and his digestion, and the teeth form the first, and therefore the most important, part of the digestive apparatus. It is the firse step that counts. If the teeth fail, the whole digestive apparatus is put out of gear. TEETH AND DYSPEPSIA. The cure of indigestion, in nine cases out of ten, is brought about by attention to the teeth. But what am I to say when the teeth are present but in a foul condition ? Alas I that a man should spend five minutes every morning brushing his boots and never dream of brushing his teeth I In future, if you come before me, acting as a medical referee, and ask foi sick money because you suffer from dyspepsia, you will not be allowed to have your money. Get your teeth seen to and cure yourself. You would be ashamed to have a dirty face. Why are you not equally ashamed to have dirty’ teeth ? Of all unpleasant things, to sit in a room with someone who has offensive breath is the most distressing. The wretched doctors may shriek until they are hoarse. The people always give back the same cry : “If we want to have foul teeth and offensive breath we will; and nothing shall stop us. It is a free country.” - THE BRAIN AND THE BOD\. I must remind you that the brain governs the body. The brain , ist the source and origin of all movement and all sensation. You must get that firmly planted in your heads if you are to understand. When someone treads on your pet corn the pain is really felt in the brain. The sensation is carried along a fine nerve up the foot, leg, thigh, and spinal cord through the neck, up to the brain. It is then recorded in that portion of the brain that is connected with, the little toe. Suppose you had an accident, fell on a sharp piece of glass, and cut the nerve that connected the toe with the brain ; then you could let people stamp 011 the corn as much as they liked—you would feel nothing. It would be like trying to ring an electric bell with the wire between the push and the battery cut in twain. The cut' need not be in the leg: it could be much higher up—even in the spinal cord. A MATTER OF NERVES. I am sorry to*say you are very impatient when a doctor, wishing to study’ your case, pricks you with a pin all over and asksi when you can feel and when you are numb- You fad to appreciate that when you feel the prick of the pin it carries a most ifilportant message to the doctor’s brain. He knows that the path of nervous tissue all the way up to the' brain is healthy. In some diseases of the nervous system the nerves refuse to act, the path is broken, and when the poor old doctor tells you to hide your eyes so that you cannot see, and then gives you a prick, you make no sign ; you do not know you have been pricked. There are different sets of nervecords. One. is set for feeling pain ahd another for the sensation of heat and cold. Place a hot poker against the leg of a man with a diseased nervous system and he will not know whether it is hot or cold. A NATURAL PROTEST.

There are two coats to the' intestine, the outer one being made of muscle ; the inner one is an example of what is called a mucous 'membrane. It is covered with mucous to lubricate the interior and it secrets-; an important juice which helps to digest the food ; but its chief function is to absorb 'the digested food and pass it into the blood-stream. The blood, enriched with the food (at least it is your own fault if. it is not good), goes straight to your liver and deposits the food as though in a warehouse. It is this mucous lining of the bowel which is attacked in typhoid ftver, and also in consumption of the bowels. It is unhealthy and worn away in those who habitually eat too much or eat indigestible food. It worries the. poor old intestines into their grave to have to tackle a steak, tanned into leather with strong tea and helped down with some acid pickles. Colic is. the bad language the bowels use when they are treated badly. Elevate yonr thoughts, and remember that the human body is tho masterpiece of Creation. It is too wonderful and. beautiful to be illtreated. It is sacrilege to throw any, kind of food, good or bad, into the intestine without any discrimination. It is a 'sin to have colic. VARICOSE VEINS.

11l the treatment of varicose veins only two* methods need be considered —stocking- or bandage and operation. A bandage will give relief, but will not* cure ; an operation will, by i’ e " moving the enlarged veins, cure once and for all. Not all eases are suitable for operation : the surgeon must decide the point for you. But you will be foolish if you do not avail yourself of the opportunity of having an operation when it has been recommended. I have seen scores of people who have been cured by a simple operation. Tight garters should not be worn ; suspenders which do not compress the leg, are far more sensible. If it is possible io arrange it, girls with varicose veins should try and find some occupation which does not keep them on their Je-gs all day.