A TROUBLESOME CONDITION.

Shannon News, 27 May 1924, Page 4

A TROUBLESOME CONDITION.

DUE TO MODERN CIVILISATION. (By “Peritus” in Auckland StaiL ■ft is by special request that this artlcli te written, and for adults only. The great Doctor Johnson once said that constipation is the father of all S anS this saying has been le» Jreciuently quoted than his advice to a sick friend, to live upon a shilling a clay and earn it. Like most human ills constipation is an vnnatuia a ?rit f years and cultivated repres^ sion produce predispo.sit on. ecen i very few children are bom witu sluggish inactive lower bowel. . It is unfortunately neccS&al > t normal social and business llfc l ° aside natural desires by force ot will but the human body is not a machine, resents mechanical routine, and is, m LatuS action, "as the lieasu. o« «c held ” To train the body to do cci tain 'things at certain Umes ias bcen the main effort of men loi ma y generations, and wlimra man « found who can sleep when he is not tued, eat when he is not hung. >, woik when he is exhausted, _a.Hl . dapt h physical frame and its needs logins circumstances, he is, to that - - > civilised. The attempted rca “« tlo “ 0 the human body to the levul of a machine- has ever .been an invitation to disease and discomforts; to _ bQ healthy the body must, within be free. The savage regai ds witn amazement the civilised man'si power to suppress natural desires. When a mother first attempts to tumlm child to bo cleanly she gene ally plants the iirst seeds of constipation. The scolded (maybe slapyod) child does his best to avoid the usk of reproof (and maybe punishment) and discourage the natural warnings which his body gives. „

Beginning the Trouble. Mothers have brought children to mo asking a remedy for Jmrrlioea 1-Low many motions m twenty-IOUI hours, I have questioned? Oh quite five or six,” is the reply. Bight and natural for an iufant,” 1 have said. "Nothing wrong about that. As bad as a puppy or a kitten,” says "mother,” “No, as good as a puppy or a kitten, but more trouble. i reply. A bad habit is more quickly established than a good one, mm the habit of suppressing what is euphemistcally naiffcd “a call or nature,” is a very, bad habit. Then comes school. Nothing is noticed until Willie or Mary “looks pale,” or "seeing bilious,” and then drugging (if left until this age) begins. It is very convenient, Wait a week and then-‘take two of mothers pills? Well, why not? 1 Then comes- "business.” 1 rains oi trams to catch; time only for a hurried breakfast. “Where is my bag, Maria?” and off! All day there are a thousand things to do. At night there are friends, amusements, accounts, or one of a hundred things waiting to be done; then bed. Saturday night, “Pas 3 the pills, Maria.” Let us consider wliat the body needs and suffers. The normal healthj body 'retains waste material for twenty -t’oui hours or less. There is usually a limited tolerance of bulk in the lower ’bowel, but fermentation, or dccom : position follows delay in ejecting waste, and u healtl.y mucous mombrance immediately resents the consequent local disturbance. Tolerance of bulk beyond normal, and any form of local irritation, is acquired only by neglect or cultivated habit. After a time, toxins, set free by retained food waste, are absorbed by the mucous lining of the bowel and tind their way into the circulation. In addition to the re Ilex nervous symptoms due to 1 'cal irritation of nerve endings, there is a form of blood poisoning producing headache, fatigue, and all the train of symptoms ignorant persons call “bilious,” In constipated patients l.lio liver seems to "reduce (lie staff, cut flown production, and await better times,’ and seldom makes any personal disturbance or becomes clamorous on its own account.

Tlie kidneys are loyal little chaps, and do an enormous amount of work (which is theirs only in cases of sudden emergency) to make up for the idleness of the bowel. They come as near as they can to discharging solids —apart from actual diseases and then they do pass solids, quite possibly as a result of doing dirty work for the bowel. Coinuionsensc Treatment. Constipation is curable (when there is no bowel deformity congenital or induced), and the less one depends upon drugs the more marked the success. It is essential to make a good start, particularly in a baH case of long standing. By a good stavi is meant a very thorough but not too sudden clearance, eating little, and that of the most easily digested, whilst at -the same time surely and steadily emptying the entire length of the lower bowel. Liquorice powder, liquor senna, dulc, taniar indie (Grillon), or the ohl blue pill and black draught—any one of these will serve better than castor oil or cascara. There should be two or three movements daily for several days, ample - and without effort.

Now, drop drugs and commence routine. First, you must understand (hat a full allowance of fluid is required daily. Half a pint of water (hot or cold) upon going l to bed; a pint of weak tea, or cold or hot water, when rising in the morning. This is. additional to the usual daily allowance. Five minutes of abdominal self-massage before rising from bed is a help. It is usual to advise exercise, but the mistake is made of taking long walks, which cause the absorption and secretion of so much body fluid that the bowel is deprived of a sufficiency and the trouble made

worse. I have heard many taxidrivers in constant ivofik say, "No pills for me since 1 have driven a taxi,” There is, in their work a constant movement of the abdominal muscles, and the muscular Avails of the bowel take a share in the exercise and so benefit. In the matter of diet: Brown bread, brown sugar, “brown” porridge (that, is, the whole grain crushed) and the old-fashioned treacle. One meat meal daily, no pork, ham, bacon, nor any meat twice cooked. No cheese, eggs, or pastry in form;, no rice, biscuits or cake. Take plenty of fresh and slewed fruit (one or the other) at every meal. Pears, apples, apricots, peaches (in that order I think is the aperient effect) and substitute tinned fruit when you must. Dried figs slewed (with an ounce of olive oil in the ■syrup) and prunes so treated. A ripe raw apple at some time after the last meal of the day, and the water, night and morning, proves all that is necessary for many people. But you must form a habit and never permit neglect.