Papers on Health Part 15

Food and Mental Power.--Unsuitable or ill-cooked food has a most serious effect on the mental powers; and when we take the case of a mental worker, we see that, in order to carry this power right on through a long life, proper diet is of great importance. Also many good mental workers are more sensitive than ordinary men: they are more easily destroyed by strong drink or opium. The nip of brandy, the soothing draught, are terrible dangers to such. Instances of brain power continued far into old age are always lessons in plainness of diet and temperance. One such temperate man will do as much work as ten who are luxurious eaters, tipplers, and smokers. Diet for mental workers should be light and easily digested, with a preponderance of proteid food (_see_ Diet). Rich, tough and fatty foods, and hot stimulating drinks should be avoided. As mental work is generally sedentary work, and consequently having a constipating tendency, some of the vegetable foods giving a stimulus to the muscles of the intestines should form a part of the diet, such as green vegetables, fruits, and oatmeal.

Food in Health.--As will be seen from many of these articles, the question of diet is one of the greatest importance, in health as well as in disease. The onset of disease is, in fact, often due to long-continued abuse of the whole digestive system through the use of unsuitable food. By unsuitable food, we mean not so much food that is bad in itself, but rather that which is not suited to the temperament or work of the eater, or to the climate and circ.u.mstances in which he finds himself. A ploughman or fisherman, for example, may thrive on diet which will inevitably produce disease in the system of one whose work confines him to the house for the most of his time. One condition of a healthy life is, therefore, careful consideration of our work and circ.u.mstances before deciding on our diet. Also, a man of excitable and irritable temperament will need different diet from one of a slow and quiet nature. The food which will only stimulate the latter will over-excite the former, and may even make him quite ill. What is commonly called bad temper is often only the result of wrong diet, and will disappear under a milder course of food. It will, of course, be seen at once from this, that the case of every man must be considered by itself. A decision as to proper diet can therefore only be made when all the facts about a case are known, and in this matter the man himself must decide a good deal for himself; nevertheless some general directions can be given which will help our readers to a decision in their own case.

In the first place, we would guard against a very common error--viz., that a smaller quant.i.ty of food, _chemically_ of a less nutritive kind, means less nourishment to the body. On this head we refer to the articles on Digestion and a.s.similation. It may only be remarked here that what the _body actually uses_, and what is _taken into the stomach_, are two very different things. It is often the case that food containing less actual nourishment will give greater nourishment to the body than chemically richer food, because the former fits the state of the digestive system better. What each one must consider is, not what food has most of the chemical elements needed by the body, but what food will give up to his own body the most of these elements.

Another error is that the use of medicine can for long a.s.sist the body to use heavier food. In a case of disease, medicine often is of the greatest value as a temporary aid to digestion, but its continual use is the parent of great evils, and at last defeats the very end for which it was given. If a person needs continually to use medicine, there is probably either some organic disease present, _or, more commonly, great errors in the diet taken_. Avoiding medicine, then, except as a very temporary resource, and remembering that food is to be judged more by the way it agrees with us than by its chemical const.i.tution, what rules can we give for diet in certain common cases?

First, diet should vary in summer and winter as the season varies.

Foods rich in fat, such as ham and bacon, should be for winter use only, and should even then be more or less used as the weather is cold or mild. For summer diet, milk foods, such as milk puddings, etc., ripe fruits, and green vegetables should predominate, being varied also with the heat or coolness of the weather. In very hot summer weather, animal food should be very sparingly partaken of. It must also be borne in mind that warm clothing or heated rooms may convert a winter climate into a summer one.

Second, diet should vary according to the occupation of the eater. The writer and brain-worker will do best, as a rule, on little butcher meat, taking chiefly fish, eggs, and light milk foods, with vegetables and fruits. Alcohol in any form is especially fatal to brain-workers, and must be avoided, if there is to be really good health.

Third, food must vary according to temperament, age, etc. To give rules under this head is almost impossible. The growing boy will need proportionately more food than the adult, the man more than the woman.

It is indeed true here that what is one man's food is another man's poison, and that every man must find out for himself what he needs. It may be generally said that the food which digests without the eater being aware in any way of the process is the best for him.

It may safely be affirmed in relation to this question of food in health, that the middle and upper cla.s.ses eat quite too much. Hence the stomach trouble and goutiness (often in a disguised form) that they suffer from. Too much carbonaceous food will produce corpulency, and too much animal food URIC ACID (_see_). On the other hand, the poor, for want of knowledge of really economical nourishing foods, suffer from want of nutrition.

An opportunity is always present, in case of sickness among the poor, by philanthropic persons to inculcate the value of good food. Instead of bringing a basket of beef tea, tea, and jelly, take oatmeal, fruit, milk, and vegetables.

What we have said should be sufficient as a hint to those who wish to regulate their diet on common-sense principles. A little careful thought should enable any one to work out a satisfactory scheme of diet for his own particular case. Regularity in meals is of great importance. There should be fixed hours for meals, with which nothing should be allowed to interfere, no matter how pressing the business may be. Do not a.s.sume, however, that it is necessary to eat at meal times, no matter whether appet.i.te for food be present or not. To eat without appet.i.te is an infringement of natural law, and it is far better to go without the meal if nature does not demand it than to yield to custom, or to imagine it necessary to eat because the dinner bell has rung. If not hungry do not eat at all, wait till the next meal time; do not take a "snack" in an hour or two. Three meals are, as a rule, better than more, and many have found two suit them best. Probably one-half the human race (the inhabitants of China and Hindostan) live on two meals a day.

Food in Illness.--Light, easily digested food is of the first importance in many illnesses. To know easily procured and simple foods, which are really light, is a great matter. Saltcoats biscuits (_see_ Biscuits and Water) form one of the best and most nourishing foods. So does oatmeal jelly, prepared by steeping oatmeal in water for a night, or for some hours, straining out the coa.r.s.e part, and boiling the liquor until it will become jelly-like when cold. Oatmeal steeped in b.u.t.termilk for a time, and then moderately boiled, makes an excellent diet. Wheaten meal or barley meal may be used for these dishes instead of oatmeal, according to taste. Many other dishes, with rice, arrowroot, sago, etc., will suggest themselves to good cooks; but for sustaining the invalid and producing healthy blood, none surpa.s.s those described.

Fright.--Some most distressing troubles come as the result of frights.

In many cases much may be done to relieve such troubles, which arise from severe shock to the brain and nervous system. The results may be very various--from mere stomach troubles to paralysis--but the cure in all cases lies mainly in giving fresh energy to the nervous system.

If a blanket fomentation is placed all up and down the back, over a rubbing of warm olive oil, and the excited person is laid on that, one good step will have been taken in the way of restoration. Then this may be aided by cool cloths very cautiously laid over the stomach and bowels, so as to cool in front, while heat is given at the back. This will be specially desirable if the heat at the back is rather high.

When the blanket loses its heat it need not be taken off, but a poultice of bran, highly heated, may be placed under it, so that the heat from the bran may come gradually and comfortably through, and pa.s.s into the body in that gradual way. So soon as a sense of genial comfort spreads over the back, it will be found that a right state is stealing over the organs that were threatened by paralysis through the alarm.

The defect very soon disappears.

Gangrene.--_See_ Cancer in Foot.

Gatherings.--_See_ Abscess; Ankle; Armpit; Bone, Diseased.

Giddiness and Trembling.--This comes very often as the result of loss of nerve power in the spinal system, due to weakness, shock, or simply old age. A great deal may be done to relieve, and in many cases to completely cure, by the following simple means. Wrap the patient round the middle in a soapy blanket, rubbing well afterwards with hot olive oil. Give an hour's fomentation at a time each night for a few nights; rest for a day or two, and repeat. The fomentation must be a blanket one, but should only extend from the armpits to the hips, not over the limbs. For treatment of giddiness arising from the stomach see Indigestion. Half a teacupful of hot water every ten minutes for five hours is usually an effective cure. This should be done daily for three days. Let it be kept in mind that we must not have "hard" water--that is, water impregnated with mineral substances, such as lime or iron. We must have "soft" water, that is, such as rain water nicely filtered, or "distilled" water, which can be had from any good chemist for twopence a quart.

Glands of Bowels.--_See_ Bowels.

Glands, Swollen.--This is a very common trouble, especially in the young. To restore the skin to healthy action is the first important matter. This may be done by bathing the feet (_see_ Bathing the Feet) until free perspiration ensues, wrapping the patient meanwhile in a warm blanket. Dry well, and sponge with hot vinegar and water; dry again, rub with hot olive oil, and put to bed. As a diet, Saltcoats biscuits and water for some time have of themselves formed a complete cure (_see_ Biscuits and Water). The _comfort_ of the patient will regulate the amount of bathing. Do this every night for a fortnight, except on the Sabbath (when rest from all treatment seems best). If the swelling be slight, two days' treatment may cure it; if the case be severe and of long standing, a longer time will be required.

For treatment of the neck, if there is no sore, put round it a cloth dipped in hot vinegar, and a good poultice of bran or moist hot bag round over this. Put this on for half-an-hour before rising in the morning. After taking them off, rub with warm olive oil, and wipe that off gently. Put a single band of fine new flannel round the neck for the day. If there be suppuration, or running sores, treat in the same way unless the vinegar prove painful, when it may be weakened with water until comfortable. This treatment will, we know, cure even a very bad case of tubercular glands. _See_ Wounds.

There are men so skilful in medicine that they can aid wonderfully in such cases, and surgeons so apt at operating that they too, can do much good. But we should not for a moment think of leaving patients to depend on what can be swallowed, or what lancet and probe can do, when the very sources of life itself are neglected, and cures waited on for months that may be secured in a week or even less. Above all, when you know how to do it, infuse new life in the body, and promote the throwing off of that used-up matter which is showing itself in the disease. How many parents bow down before the idea that swollen glands are const.i.tutional to their children, when the fact is that these children have very fine skins, and need to have these kept in extra good order, not merely in the way of washing, but so that they shall perform their part of throwing off this used-up material of the body efficiently. Some of the most beautiful of our race are thus lost to the world when they might easily be saved.

In some cases swollen glands are caused by bad teeth, running from the EAR (_see_), sores or insects on the head, or inflamed tonsils. If such causes are present, they should be removed. Extract bad teeth, cure running ears, and properly cleanse the head. Gargle the throat for swollen and inflamed tonsils with warm water, in which a little salt is dissolved.

Gout.--Some have a predisposition to this most painful disease, and require to keep a strict watch on their diet. Meat, specially the internal organs, meat extracts, alcohol, tea, and coffee must be avoided, and milk, b.u.t.termilk and porridge, cheese, eggs, and vegetables, especially green vegetables, made into light and digestible dishes, should be relied on solely. Further, the diet should be a small one, most thoroughly and slowly masticated, and plenty of pure water is advisable, in order to help the elimination of the waste which causes the trouble. _See_ Uric Acid.

If the feet be affected, apply gentle heat to the lower part of the spine by Fomentation (_see_). Sometimes a cold cloth on the lower spine will soothe, but more often heat is the true cure. Wrap the sore foot in softest cotton, and foment _very gently_ through this, using only _warm_ cloths, and taking care to avoid giving pain. The cloths should be just a little _below_ blood heat. Cold cloths are a serious mistake, but at a temperature a little below blood heat a gentle soothing is produced. Care must in every case be taken to do only what the patient feels comforting.

Gravel.--Sometimes mere internal inflammation is mistaken for this disease. In the case of inflammation of the bladder, apply a large hot BRAN POULTICE (_see_) to the lower back, and change cold towels over the front of the body where the pain is. Afterwards rub all parts over with hot olive oil, and wipe dry. Take only plain food, oat or wheat-meal porridge, Saltcoats biscuits, etc.

Where actual stones are formed, or a tendency to their formation exists, all water drunk should be distilled, or boiled rain water.

Where stones are present the heat may be applied to the back, but _no cold in front_. The soft water tends to dissolve the stones, the heat a.s.sists in their expulsion from the body. Diet same as in GOUT (_see_).

Growth of Body.--See Limb, Saving a.

Guaiac.u.m.--This drug is a West Indian gum, and is one of those remedies we are glad to say will do no harm, while in rheumatism and gout it is most beneficial. A teaspoonful of the tincture in a cup of hot water, or one or two of the tabloids now so easily had, may be taken three times a day.

Haemorrhage.--See Bleeding; Wounds.

Hair Coming off.--There are many forms of this disfiguring trouble, both in the case of young and old persons. It is chiefly due to a wrong state of the skin of the head, which is best treated with careful rubbing with vinegar or weak acetic acid, and finishing with good olive oil. The acid must not be used too strong--not stronger than ordinary vinegar. This may be done every evening, and should be rubbed on for fifteen minutes, till a comfortable feeling is aroused. Dry the head, and then rub on olive oil for five minutes. The vinegar should rather be dabbed than rubbed on. Wash all over in the morning with M'Clinton's soap. Or this treatment may be applied every other night, and on alternate nights the head may be packed up with lather (_see_ Head, Soaping). This treatment is quite safe, and will usually effect a cure, which is more than can be said of the expensive hair washes so much advertised. Many of these are most dangerous. As far as possible go with the head uncovered, and brush the hair frequently. Brushing stimulates the grease glands, and causes the hair to become glossy.

Probably the reason men lose their hair so much more than women is that the brushing and combing the latter must give it stimulates the hair roots. Ma.s.saging the skin of the scalp with the fingers night and morning will greatly promote growth of the hair. _See_ Head, Ma.s.saging.

Hands, Clammy.--Rub the hands and arms well twice a day with CAYENNE LOTION (_see_).

Hands, Cold.--Much more than is readily believed depends on the state of the hands and feet. We are already familiar with the subject of coldness in the feet, but we meet with cases in which the coldness of the hands is as striking. It is not readily thought that cold hands have anything to do with such illness, for instance, as that of bad action in the stomach. There are cases in which a very great deal can be done to relieve a congested state of the vessels of the stomach, and even a similar state of the lungs, by only bathing the hands in hot water and then rubbing them with hot oil till they have been thoroughly heated and reddened, as they are when effectually warmed.

Half-an-hour's bathing of hands in water just a little above blood heat produces a wonderful effect on an invalid when there is too great weakness to stand longer treatment. This is well known to be true of half-an-hour's good feet bathing. In some cases bathing both of hands and feet is much needed. The overburdened heart finds it a vast benefit when by such a bathing the blood is allowed to flow easily through the vessels of the feet and hands.

Hands, Dry and Hard.--Pack the hands in SOAP LATHER (_see_) mixed with a little fine olive oil. The soap must be finely lathered with a brush, not _melted_. Pure soft water, never too hot nor too cold, should be used, and the hands thoroughly dried after washing. _See_ Chapped Hands.

Hay Fever.--A most effective preventive and cure for this is the inhaling through the nostrils the vapour of strong acetic acid. The acid may be on a sponge enclosed in a smelling bottle, and its vapour may be freely inhaled. Sponge all over each night with hot acid and water. The head also may be wet with pretty strong acid, and tied up so as to keep in the vapour. Do not, however, use a waterproof covering.

Headache.--There is a vast variety of ailments a.s.sociated with what is called headache. In itself, it is just more or less _pain_ in the head.

When there is such pain, it means that some of the nerves in the head are in a wrong state, probably in nearly all cases a state of more or less _pressure_. This pressure hinders the free flow of vital action along the nerve, and this hindrance we feel as pain. To remove the pressure is, then, to relieve the pain. Pressure from overwork often causes headache on week-days, which goes off on Sabbath. The _rest_ here removes the pressure, and so the pain. The pressure results from a failure of energy in some part of the head, slight swelling then taking place. To increase the energy is to effect a cure. This may be done by first, at bedtime, soaping the back with warm water and SOAP (_see_).

Then dry, and rub firmly yet gently with hot olive oil, until the whole back glows with warmth. This may take perhaps fifteen minutes. Then give three minutes of warm water pouring over the back. Dry again, and oil with hot oil, and put the patient to bed. Avoid much tea. Avoid altogether tobacco and alcoholic liquors, which of themselves will often cause the trouble. This treatment applies to all that numerous cla.s.s of headaches which arise from overwork and f.a.g. A cure may often be had by its means, without taking a holiday. But where this can be done, it is well to take it.

The headache, however, may be caused indirectly by the failure of some of the organs to do their duty, when other methods must be adopted. The use of tobacco so injuriously affects the whole system that headache often results, and refuses to be cured unless the tobacco be given up.