HEALTH NOTES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 3 January 1931, Page 10

HEALTH NOTES

BY A FAMILY DOCTOR PAINS IN THE BACK 1 A pain in the back is not always due! to disease of the kidneys, as is so often believed. The aching that poor mother gets after standing at the wash-tub is a muscular ache. The only sensible treatment for overwork of a muscle is rest for the muscle. Tired backs should be rested in the lying-down position not in the sitting position. It is a heavy strain on the backbone and its supports, if you come to think of it. Everything in the chest and abdomen is attached to the spine and tends to pull it forwards. We cannot allow the spine to be bent forward's, or we should be walking along with our faces turned towards the ground. To counteract the forward pull the muscles of the back have to exert themselves to pull in the opposite direction. No wonder the poor things get tired! Moreover, the muscles get cross as well when, you take a kidney pill; the kidneys feel insulted, too, because they are not at fault. KEEP DOWN THAT PAUNCII The muscles grumble when they are asked to maintain the weight of an enormous paunch; it was all right when you weighed ten stone, but fifteen stone is too much of a good thing. Stout people suffer from backache more than the thin ones. When we do nothing more than walk along the street or stand still, the muscles of the spine are hard at work keeping the spine upright. They work Well, and they deserve respect. What keeps muscles strong? Why, the blood that is brought to them. Perhaps' the blood is too thin or too anaemic or too beery. The muscles cannot work on poor nourishment ; they must have rich .blood, or they will ache. We must remember that a backache may be the result of bad feeding, bad air, bad cooking, bad teeth, bad hygiene. improve the general health and the backache w'iil disappear. If you fear diseased kidneys, the proper course, is to lake a specimen of your water ini a clean bottle and let a doctor examine it; you must not experiment on your own account with drugs you know noth-; ing of. POINTS ABOUT HAEMORRHAGE We are sometimes taught that the; haemorrhage from an artery is more se-: vere than from a vein, but the bleeding! from a ruptured varicose vein can bo quite startling. The best plan for deal-j ing with such an emergency is to apply! pressure with a firm pad (a handker-j cliief rolled up) directly on the spot. If that is done, there is no necessity to apply tourniquets above or' below. The patient should lie down and his leg; should be raised. When recovery has; taken place a protective bandage should always be worn. The skin around a varicose vein is very susceptible toj injury ; many a week’s sickness would! be saved if everyone with large veins wore a bandage. Varicose veins arc often hereditary. If a young mail has a tendency to varicose veins and his father and mother have them too, lie should choose a profession that allows him to sit down at work. CHARMS OF THE COUNTRY

There is a great charm about fresh food: it is one of the pleasures of living in the country. We get cpiite excited when the old farmer brings in our morning milk. It is milk— 7 real milk; it comes warm from the cow; and there is the dear old cow in the field next to; us. She looks up at us and hopes we like her produce ; we smile .back, andj trust that the meadow-grass is to her liking. Can. you imagine it, you towndwellers—real milk without any disinfectant or preservative, lots of cream on it? We love the old cow, and we now know that a cow’s ears come out of her head further forward than her horns —or is it the other way round? When I try to think, lam so muddled. I must .go and have another look at old Brown Bess. We are so accustomed to preserved and potted and tinned and frozen things, we forget there are such things as fresh foods. Come to my humble ,little cottage; gather your own windfalls and pick your own .blackberries andj make a pie to be eaten with cream; spread real butter on your bread; collect your eggs from the nest in the field —and Ictus sit down'to a real country meal. ~-,5*,.

IRREGULARITIES THAT SHOULD

BE .WATCHED

An early sign of insanity is .the expression of exaggerated ideas about money, holidays, ambitions and general conduct. A man of very moderate means announces that he intends to hire a motor-car and tour round the country, staying in the best hotels. Or he may declare that lie has thousands of pounds in the bank and expects to receive much more. He may even invite Ins friends to stay with him at his country bouse. Every subject touched on is wildly exaggerated. If the onset is gradual and his ideas only slightly exaggerated, his true condition may not ,be discovered at once; his conduct in other respects may remain sane. He may carrv on his business with intelligence in the early signs; otherwise, before they are aware,"the patient for he must be regarded as a patient) will have done something foolish with all ms monev. A doctor would discover certain signs in the eyes or in the knee-jerks or in the blood-tests. And do not hesitate to ask advice through a mistaken sense of delicacy towards a patient. He mav not yet be responsible for Ins actions, and it is your duty to protect him. Share your responsibility.