TALKS ON HEALTH.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 115, 7 January 1926, Page 3

TALKS ON HEALTH.

The cause is not known. Sometimes it. is due to the drinking water, but that does not apply, except to a few cases. A small enlargement may be quite consistent with good health, and need give rise to no alarm. If there is any suspicion that the goitre is growing a careful measurement should be taken round the neck, and the number of inches noted as each period of throe months goes by. If there are any signs of the enlarged gland pressing on the -wind-pipe, an operation may be undertaken with a very good prospect of relief. Other Symptoms. In some people the swelling of the gland is associated with other symptoms —prominence of the eyes, a tremulous hand, and rapidly-beating heart. This complaint was carefully studied and described by a doctor named from this glnd. It is the enlargement of this gland that is called a goitre. Graves, and the condition generally goes by his name. The whole temperament seems to alter when this disease shows itself; thc t patient —frequently of the female sex—becomes irritable and nervy; she is rather a trial to Live with, but cannot help it. If the syrup toms are well marked the doctor may order the patient to rest in bed. The patient may be rather disgusted at being so confined, but it offers th«* ’nest prospect of recovery. The treatment requires patience, and no sudden cure must be expected.

(By a Family Doctor.) THE ANAEMIC GIRL. Anaemia can be cured with time, patience, and perseverance. The rules must never be broken —neglect of one important regulation may nullify all the trouble that has been taken. Early to bed is to come first. It is a peculiar thing about the anaemic girl that she hates getting up in the morning, as she feels sleepy and heavy, as though the night’s rest had done her no good, and when night comes she begins to wake up and feel lively. The anaemic always comes down last to breakfast and is generally the life and soul of the dance at night. But that excitement is not wholesome. If the anaemia is to be cured the body must have a good rest, and someone in authority (if anyone ever - can succeed in being in authority over a girl of eighteen) must state a time when the bedroom must be exchanged for the sitting room. Food and Drink. Good blood can only be made out of good food. Here is another difficulty. Anaemic girls suffer from constipation; constipation results in a furred tongue and loss of appetite; and loss of appetite promotes anaemia again. So there is a vicious circle, and it takes a bold effort to break it. There is no need to draw up a diet-chart, because al*l foods may be taken. Broth, soup, fish, meat, vegetables, puddings, fruit (fresh or stewed), and, in a word, any good food that is in season. The only points that need emphasising are common-sense ones. For instance, breakfast should be a proper meal, not a hastily-gobbled mouthful washed down with tea. Pickles, ketchup, sauces, and vinegar are forbidden. Tea only once a day, and then it must be fresh, and plenty of milk and sugar taken with it. Cocoa made with milk is the best thing for anaemic gills in the winter time. Milk and eggs are very nourishing; porridge with milk and sugar is recommended. Water is a drink that is not sufficiently valued. It is cheap; it is always in the house; it is pleasant to take—you need not hold your nose and shut your eyes when you drink a glass of water —and, lastly, it is an excellent antidote for constipation. You cannot drink too much water; you need not be afraid that it will go to your head. Bound up' with the question of good food is the subject of good teeth. Go to the dentist to cure anaemia. Bad teeth mean bad blood. Fresh. Air. When you take a breath of fresh air it goes straight down to the blood. The lungs are the organs used to introduce the oxygen from the air into the blood. The fresher the air, the better can the blood do its work. Take no end of thought and pains to obtain fresh air. It is largely a question of habit. If once you get used to sleeping with the window open, you will feci stifled if it is closed. And when I say open, I mean open—not just a millionth of an inch at. the top. If you are cold, knit yourself some bedsocks, wear a woolly vest under your nightdress, and put something extra on the bed. Borrow your mother’s sealskin coat if necessary, but sleep with your window wide open. I am going to teach you to love fresh air if I die in the attempt. Outdoor Clothing. When you go home from the office, ride on top of an omnibus. Do not go inside to breathe the influenza germs from many other stuffy people. When preparing to go home, you will please clothe yourself properly. First of all, you take off the slippers you have worn while tripping about the office and put on the stout boots with good soles that you came up in in the morning. Then you put on your warm gaiters that were given you as a birthday present by Percy. When two men arc paying you attentions, do not give your heart to the one who presents a brooch to you with “I love you” e.n it. No; marry the man who prefers to spend his money on sensible gaiters, and write ar.d tell him that the heart beating beneath the gaiters will always be trfie to him. Well, then, your feet being protected against cold and wet ,you gracefully put your arms through the warm waistcoat with sleeves that your mother made for you. The office is stuffy and hot, and the air outside nearly freezing, and the waistcoat is just the thing. Dear old mother! Then your mackintosh, y*ur scarf, and your gloves, and you are ready to go to the North Pole, or, at any rate, to ride on the outside of the tram and escape from the germ-trap inside.

The Cheaper Way. And now I invite you to look at the girl next to you. She has a thin blouse open at the neck, four brooches which do not help to keep the east wind out, and ridiculous shoes with brown-paper soles. 1 know you are going to tell me that warm clothes cost money. To that I reply that it is cheaper to have good boots, gaiters, and rain-proof coat and good health than to have brownpaper boots, four brooches, and pneumonia. Have I convinced you? What The Doctor Orders. You must not take any medicine or pills except what the doctor orders. Anti do remember that no drug can possibly help you unless you lead a sensible life. You are such foolish girls that I sometimes despair of you. You will not obey the ordinary rules of hygiene, and you expect to get well on pills alone. The great thing is to boar in mind that anaemia is curable. You are not allowed to sit down and say you suppose you will always have it—but you will not cure the complaint without care and judgment and perseverance, and the judicious expenditure of a little money. Goitre. The gland lying in front of the windpipe is known as the thyroid gland. 1 It has most important duties to perform. Indeed, a most serious condition of mental and physical debility, followed by death, sets in if the body is deprived of the juices derived