MEDICAL NOTES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1269, 9 July 1914, Page 4

MEDICAL NOTES.

TENDENCY TO PNEUMONIA,

Men have a greater tendency to pneumonia than women, because of the greater hardships the family bread-winner has to endure. In tbe changeable and unsettled months there is much pneumonia ; such months are windy, and dusty, too, and that has a great deal to do with the spread of the pneumonia germs. Cold and wet, especially as to the feet, predispose by lowering the bodily resistence. Then on a cold day a man will go into a stuffy bar to get himself a hot drink, and will go right out into the cold again. This will make him sweat and have the effect of opening the pores of bis skin to the cold ; so comes the deadly chill that starts an attack of pneumonia.

THE TIME FOR THE BATH

It does not follow that a perspiring person should not bathe until cooled off. As a matter of fact, if the person is not exhausted, ‘■he fact that the pores are open is rather advantageous than otherwise,'as the reaction is enhanced and will probably follow more energetically. A bath should never be taken within two hours of a hearty meal. The first effect of immersion in warm or in cold water is to derange seriously the digestive process, if tl' .t progressing at the time, and, by a physiological effect that naturally follows, to unbalance or derange the whole nervous system. The result of this is extremely dangerous to the bather. There are numerous instances of severe illness, and even of death, caused by bathing while the stomach was full.

NERVOUS EXHAUSTION. While neurasthenia results generally from general causes, local effects will often induce it. The advocates of orificial surgery believe they have cured many cases by removing irritation at the anal sphincter. Others have found a cause in a contracted or adherent prepuce, A cause that is quite commonly overlooked is disease of the post-rasa! cavities, or decayed teeth. The constant irritation resulting from any local cause may bring on neurasthenia. The removal of an ulcerated fang, that has long been a source of pain and distress to the patient, will sometimes permit a more rapid restoration of the nervous system. Thickening of the mucous lining of the nose, the formation ot polypi or deep ulceration, persisting for a long period, will result in neurasthenia.

COSTAE OR RIB BREATHING. Costal or rib-breathing is found to be the most efficient. It enables the singer and the speaker to take in the greatest amount of breath, and the effect is not great because it is shared by all those muscles whose functions it is to pull the ribs upwards and outward. If the thorax is unconstricted, the greatest expansion will be about its lower and middle portions where the ribs are more movable and where the angle of their inclination with the spine is most acute. Another reason why this type of breathing is the most effective in that this uplifting of the ribs puts the thorax into the best possible position for the expiratory control that follows during the act of vocalisation. The diaphragm for artistic purposes is not an inspiratory muscle; it should be used only iu the expiratory effort of singing and speaking.

PREVENTION OF CANCER. The predisposing causes of cancer are in the habits of the patients themselves. Just as civilisation is the cause of the strain that wrecks so many intellects, so it is also the cause of depressing the aoimay vitality of the individual and brings in its train this dread disease. The main cause of this disease is “established wealth and a state of luxury. The appetite for eating meat and highly seasoned food is indulged, and can be regularly and habitually indulged only in a state of established civilisation, with com muni-

ties engaged in accumulating fortunes, and vying with each other in sumptuous living.” These conditions, together with fat its of indolence and insufficient exercise, cause an accumulation of the waste products in the system predisposes to cancer. Then an accidental bruise, or reversal of fortune, with mental depression or any other exciting cause, may develop this terrible disease. The lesson is obvious. People should live more frugally, and take plenty of exercise in the open air, and, in short, follow hygienic modes of living, and the danger of cancer will be much more remote. The cure may be impossible, but the prevention seems to be in tbe power of the individual.

REST TREATMENT OF

PHTHISIS. A well-known doctor emphasises the importance of a knowledge of the causes of phthisis. He reiers to the tendency of the disease to come on when the system is worn out with overwork, psychical or mental, or after blood loss or after exhausting maladies ; to the preference which tuberculous processes show to begin in the most anaemic and least nourished parts of organs; to the weak state of the heart in phthisis ; and to the feebleness or fatigue of the nervous and circulatory systems which exists in the earliest period ot the malady, a defect of harmony, congenital or acquired, in the trophic and vasomotor systems, perhaps of neuropathic origin. Hence, in the treatment of phthisis there is great importance in economising the nervous force of the organism, and especially of the heart. This is done by getting the patient to live night and day in a pure atmosphere, to avoid all physical and psychical effort, and to take plenty of healthy food. Special stress is laid by Andvord upon the rest treatment, which is indicated always except in the rather chronic and apyretic forms, where pulmonary gymnastics will have a beneficial effect. He insists upon the necessity for judging each case upon its merits, before deciding whether the sedative or stimulating line of therapeutics is to be adopted. Rest, even perhaps rest in bed, is indicated in most of the acute and febrile states, in cases of haemorrhage, and of pectoral pains and irritating cough.

DIET IN DIABETES. In all cases of diabetes it is important that the digestive organs should be working smoothly, and much therefore depends upon the diet. Meat as a general rule must be taken sparingly—once a day is often enough. In some cases the patien ( r will do well to avoid it altogether, as it has a tendency to produce uric acid in excess. Fat meat and bacon may be taken provided it agrees with the patient, and may be either boiled or grilled. Chicken and game are more readily digested than butchers’ meat, and fish may be used freely with advantage. Of vegetables, potatoes should not be taken at all, and beans and tomatoes are best left alone. Rhubarb should never be eaten, any more then by those who have a gouty or rheumatic tendency, and all acid fruits are injurious. Baked apples may be eaten with a very small quantity of sugar. Pastry, eggs, and sweet dishes must be avoided. Strong tea and coffee are both liable to injure the digestion and to produce constipation and insomnia, besides aiding in the formation ot uric acid. Ale, beer, and sweet wines are generally worse than tea or coffee, and no stimulant should be taken unless on the advice of the medical attendant. In some cases a little whisky will be prescribed. Milk is sometimes a useful article of diet, at others it may be undesirable as tending to diuresis, but its place may be taken by buttermilk. In diabetes it is impossible to make iron rules as to food, since it must vary with each patient, and also with different conditions of the same patient. All that can be done is to observe strictly any rules which may be laid down by the doctor and to notice carefully the effect of foods on the patient, so that the necessary alterations in diet may be made.