Submitted by:
Kay Cunningham
Hygenic Rules for Your Health
Chapter 13
Just rollout of bed with a song in your heart,
A bright new day is ready to start;
Then brush up your soul to do your full part
And write in gold letters on each day's chart.
YOUR DAILY DOZEN
(Mine for forty years.)
When
you awake, lie on your back and make tense all muscles from head to toe for a
few seconds, and then relax a few seconds. Repeat twelve times. Get the habit;
it will only take a few minutes.
Massage your abdomen deeply all over, low down
and up to your liver and gall bladder under your ribs on the right side, with
your fists, gently, twelve times.
Massage your neck toward your shoulders, your
thyroid, your eyes toward your nose, and vibrate your ears with palms of hands
twelve times. Then, with hands and feet, make movements of riding the bicycle,
bending and twisting every joint of the body twelve times. Massage your scalp
and hair with fingertips or two brushes twenty-four times. Take deep breaths
all the time; if you stop breathing entirely for ten minutes you will die.
Go to bathroom, brush your teeth, gargle your
throat, wash out your nose with solution of one teaspoonful Epsom Salt to a
glass of boiled water, using a medicine dropper or atomizer - not your hand.
Blow and hawk and clean out gently but thoroughly the nose and post-nasal
passages, removing the germs, dirt and pollen. Repeat before bedtime. Eighty
per cent of your diseases are caused by germs and worries. Epsom Salts purges
your nasal mucous membranes, gently.
CIRCULATION
If we fear that our circulation has
become seriously impaired we should, of course, consult a doctor. A good
article on this subject is one written by Benjamin J. Hyman, "Disorders of
the Circulation," and published in "Hygeia." Among other things
he says, "Cramps, coldness, tingling and color-changes may all be early
symptoms."
Tobacco smoking has an adverse effect on all
forms of arterial disease. It is pointed out that smoking has the effect of
narrowing the small arteries of the limbs and may change a minor arterial
ailment into a serious one. In thromboangitis obliterans, where the circulation
to a limb is cut off by a clot, almost all the sufferers are heavy smokers. In
this and other circulatory diseases where the nerves are over-sensitive, smoking
must often be prohibited.
If you have money to burn, you may smoke!
Germs get into your body through your skin by
insect bites; through your nose and mouth by breathing and swallowing unclean
foods and drinks; and germs are absorbed from the post-nasal and sinus regions
and into your blood while you sleep; hence they should be purged out night and
morning. Those swallowed may be destroyed by the gastric juice or the liver.
Eighty per cent of all sick folks we see have had
a low grade cold or a respiratory infection with so little fever that in many
cases it may have been forgotten, but the effects show up later.
Rheumatism or neuritis develops in two or three
weeks. High fever cases burn up the germs and leave no after effects. One or
two tablets of sulfanilamide or sulfadiazine taken at bedtime during an
epidemic will prevent most respiratory infections and the rheumatism, neuritis,
etc., that follow. (See American Medical Association Journal of September 9,
1944 - articles by Colonel Holbrook and Lieutenant Commander Coburn, who report
thousands of cases thus treate with good results in the Army and Navy.)
Answer nature's calls regularly. Eat common
country foods: eggs, one or two for breakfast; fruit, cereal, whole grain
breads, milk, butter, honey, syrup, potatoes, green vegetables. Avoid any food
eaten alone that seems to disagree -- especially greasy and highly seasoned
foods. Be optimistic and cheerful.
Keep so busy doing good for others that you don't
have time to worry. Take a warm bath at bedtime for sleep. Rub the arms and
legs toward the body twelve times while in the tub. Before you go to sleep take
time to think and pray. Do not take sulfa drugs or penicillin very long without
consulting your doctor, as very serious blood changes and allergic skin
reactions may be induced.
THE VETERINARIAN
Will Rogers once said that a veterinarian had to
be smarter than a regular doctor, because his patients can't talk to him. He
pictured a veterinarian as a man listening to the heart of a mule through a
ten-foot stethoscope, so he could keep out of the way of flying hoofs. The
regular doctor's work is not nearly so dangerous, but sometimes he would be a
lot better off if his patients couldn't talk quite so much.
Veterinarians have advanced the prevention and
treatment of disease in animals by means of vaccines and serums much further
than the M.D.s have done for humans. Vaccines and bacterins are made from
killed or weakened germs and build up an active immunity in the blood stream
which lasts for a long time, sometimes permanently. Serum is the liquid from
the blood of an animal that has been vaccinated. It gives a passive immunity
that lasts about three weeks and is usually given after exposure or in the
early stages of some diseases. A virus is sometimes used to build up an active
immunity in an animal that has been given serum.
According to Dr. J. M. Fitte, our local
veterinarian, vaccine as a preventive has been found to be effective for the
following diseases: anthrax (common to man and animals), blackleg, brucellosis
(common to cows, goats and hogs and transmissible to man), contagious sore
mouth in sheep, encephalomyelitis of both eastern and western types (common to
man and horses), virulent white scours of calves, hemorrhagic septicemia,
entiritis in hogs, rabies, canine distemper, feline distemper, leptospirosis in
dogs (common to rats and called "Weil's Disease" in man), canine
pneumonia, and the poultry diseases of roup, cholera, laryngotrachetitis,
sore-head and fowl typhoid.
Serum is used for anthrax, blackleg, enteritis,
leptospirosis and fowl cholera. Serum and virus are used together in the
treatment of encephalomyelitis, hog cholera and canine distemper.
THAT OLD SWEETHEART OF MINE
Every fellow has a pleasure in the
joys of long ago,
As his mind recalls
the memories of the days he used to know;
As he wanders back
the pathway flecked with flowers and honeydew,
And reviews the
youthful visions that he thought would all come true.
For in halls of
memory, treasured, that we all sometimes review,
Always there's a
smiling image-first sweetheart we ever knew.
Once again I roam
the meadow, dreamings dreams of love and fame,
Gaily
whistling" Annie Laurie," putting mockingbirds to shame.
Oh, the hopes and
loves that thrilled me-none, indeed, but God now knows.
Oh, the schemes and
plans that filled me as I went to meet with Rose.
Yes, I met her in
the woodland as the sun was bending low,
And we trudged along
together in the evening's afterglow.
Down the narrow,
flowery pathway, I let down for her the bars;
She gazed on in
eager silence; eyes shone radiant as the stars.
But she never smiled
nor thanked me-for, alas, she knew not how;
I was but a poor
farmer boy; she was but - our old milch cow!
-J. W. T.
IMMUNIZATION IN INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD
(Condensed from an article by M. A. Davison, M.D.
Staff)
Immunization is a process of increasing the
resistance of the individual against infection, thereby protecting him against
disease. Immunity may be non-specific or specific, or it may be active or
passive.
By non-specific immunity we refer to measures
that increase the general resistance to all infections but do not produce
immunity against any particular disease - as proper diet, rest, exercise,
ventilation, heating, and maintaining emotional stability. Specific
immunization refers to protection against a specific type of infection or
disease.
To actively immunize a patient, a specific
substance is injected which stimulates the formation in the human body of
anti-bodies which are capable of destroying those germs which caused their
production. It takes several weeks to produce this immunity, and therefore it
must be given before the patient is exposed to the disease. This immunity, once
acquired, usually lasts for years.
If exposure already has occurred, passive
immunization might be advisable. In such cases, the human body does not take
part in the immunizing process, but the anti-bodies or anti-toxin is injected
into the individual as a direct contribution and it goes to work immediately
destroying the specific germ or toxin for which it is given. It lasts only so
long as the anti-bodies or anti-toxin which was injected is circulating in the
blood stream - and this is only a few weeks.
Active immunization is effective against
smallpox, rabies, whooping cough, typhoid, paratyphoid, diphtheria, tetanus,
and to some extent, scarlet fever. Vaccine for the first - mentioned two is
made from living organisms that have been rendered less virulent; that for the
next three from killed bacteria; whereas that for the last three is made from
the toxins of the germs that produce those diseases.
Passive immunization is effective against
diphtheria, tetanus, measles, and to some extent, scarlet fever.
Vaccination against smallpox is advisable before
the end of the first year of life, usually at the age of four or five months.
This immunity usually last for years, and subsequent vaccinations would not
result in a take as long as the original holds good. If the first vaccination
does not take, it should be repeated in a few months.
Whooping cough is a very dangerous disease in
infancy. Immunization should be started at the fifth or six month of life, and
is given in three injections. A mild reaction usually follows for the first
twenty-four hours after each injection. Unless booster shots are given, the
immunity will pass off by the time the child is five or six years old.
Diphtheria immunization is among the greatest
contributions science has made to childhood. It is our policy to start this
immunization between ten and twelve months of age. It. may be started earlier,
but the incidence of diphtheria is very low in the first half-year of life, and
the immunity will be more successful and more lasting at this later age. After
the child has been given the immunizing injection for diphtheria, he is given a
Schick test a few months later to establish whether or not the immunizing
process has been successful. A positive test means that more injections are
needed.
Tetanus immunization is very desirable and should
be given before the child has reached the run-about age. It is wise to give a
booster shot of tetanus toxoid every two or three years throughout childhood,
or sooner than this if the child has an accident that ordinarily would have
called for the administration of tetanus antitoxin. This is an entirely safe
procedure, whereas repeated injections of antitoxin create some danger because
it is made from horse serum, and the human being easily develops a sensitivity
to horse serum.
Typhoid and paratyphoid immunization is always
given in combination. This vaccine produces an immunity that lasts only two or
three years. We do not give it routinely in infancy and childhood, but give it
more on special indication, as during an epidemic or if a child is going
camping or traveling in places where the water or milk supply is uncertain.
Rabies immunization is given only on indication.
Although this is an active form of immunization, it has time to produce the immunity
during the time that would be called the incubation period of the disease.
Administration, depends somewhat on the nature of the inoculation.
Scarlet fever immunization has been used much
less in private practice than the ones already discussed. Its effectiveness has
not been so clearly established, and the duration of its immunity is not so
certain, though the reactions from the injections are sometimes more
pronounced. The Dick test should be given first to prove whether or not the
child is susceptible to scarlet fever, and it may be used after immunization to
determine whether or not it has been successful.
Passive immunization has its chief value for
children who have been exposed to diphtheria, tetanus, scarlet fever and
measles, and who have not previously been actively immunized. The
administration of 1500 units of diphtheria antitoxin protects for a month or
two, as does the administration of a similar amount of tetanus antitoxin.
These, and scarlet fever antitoxin, are made of horse serum, to which the child
may be sensitive.
Tests made by dropping 1/10 cc. of antitoxin in
the child's eye, which produces redness and swelling, or by injecting 1/10cc.
of a one-to-ten dilution intradermally which results in a weal around the site,
indicate sensitiveness. If the child is sensitive, the antitoxin should not be
given, or he should be desensitized by injecting small but increasing
quantities until the full dose is given.
Passive immunization against measles is possible
by ad- ministering convalescent serum, if this is obtainable, or by giving
immune globulin, which is made from the blood of the human placenta at time of
birth. Immune globulin contains antibodies against measles, but the chief aim
is to produce an active and permanent immunity by allowing the child to have a
mild and modified type of measles.
THE BLACK WIDOW SPIDER-ITS BITE AND TREATMENT
By Dr. J. B. Barnett, on Staff Torbett Hospital
The Black Widow Spider is a very dark brown or
black spider with an oval or round body, its smooth contour and color being
interrupted only by a red hour-glass design on the under surface of its body.
The legs, large in proportion, completely surround the body, the front legs
being the larger and longer.
In the
late twenties and early thirties there was much written about the Black Widow
Spider and the dread effect of its bite, which resulted in an occasional death.
The Black Widow has been with us for years, but until a number of victims
reported the seriousness of its bite or sting, no more attention was paid to
the Black Widow than to any other spider.
There are several species of spiders that appear
more vicious than the Black Widow, but none possesses the aggressiveness or
inflict such serious effects, except for local reactions which may go on to
abscess formation. The bite of the Black Widow produces little or no local
reaction. The venom-like substance injected with the bite of the Black Widow
enters the blood stream through the lymphatics as rapidly as does snake venom:
About the only local sign of the bite is a small needle - like puncture
surrounded by slightly elevated blanched areas that turn red in a few minutes
to two hours. There is also itching, burning, and a slight stinging sensation
at the site of the bite.
My attention was first called to the seriousness
of the Black Widow Spider bite in the spring of 1930, when I was called to
treat three men, about the same age, in different localities, all being bitten
at about the same hour in the early morning, in outdoor toilets, and within a
three weeks' period of time. All complained of a slight itching sting at the
site of the bite for twenty to thirty minutes before the severe constitutional
symptoms appeared.
These symptoms included severe backache, nausea,
severe abdominal cramps, rigid abdominal muscles, perspiration, pallor,
generalized muscle cramps, rapid respiration and pulse, and finally almost
general prostration.
In all of these cases, morphine was given in
large and repeated doses, and in one case to the point when signs of the
poisonous effect of the drug became evident. Yet the patient still did not
experience complete relief. The symptoms of all these patients gradually
disappeared, but their recovery was slow. They were confined to the house for
several days with a general feeling of malaise, and with muscular aching and
backache for three to six weeks after the bite.
About this same time there appeared in
literature, in the way of suggested treatment, Calcium Chloride and Calcium
Gluconate intravenously, which counteracts the effects of the venom rather
quickly and relieves the cramps, abdominal rigidity and backache without the
use of narcotics, the period of depression and convalesence being much
shortened.
In the course of two or three years six other
cases of Black Widow bite developed, and no Calcium Chloride or Calcium
Gluconate being available for one of the patients particularly in shock, it was
decided to give glucose, 50 per cent, 20 to 50ccs. intravenously. It was noted
that the patient experienced almost as quick relief after the administation of
the glucose as was noted after the injections of Calcium Gluconate and Calcium
Chloride. In a few hours the symptoms subsided. After the initial dose of Glucose
and Salsodide, 10 ccs., which contained Sodium Salicylates and Iodine, 151/2 of
each administered intravenously, almost instant relief was experienced which
lasted longer than the Glucose itself.
Following any of these intravenous
administrations, it is only necessary to give a small dose of narcotics, or
even capsules containing Codein and Aspirin, a saline purge, forced fluids, and
two or three days' rest in bed.
In conclusion, the Black Widow Spider is a dangerous enemy, easily identified,
its favorite localities being corn and cotton fields, outdoor toilets, attics
and storerooms.
SUMMARY TREATMENT: Keep the patient warm and
apply hot compresses to the abdomen. Give warm drink, especially coffee or tea,
and if no intravenous medication is available, give morphine, atropine and
stimulants as soon as possible, followed by intravenous administration of
Glucose, Calcium Gluconate, or Chloride and Salsodides.
(Note: A Mr. Fenner
was treated by Dr. J. W. Torbett, Sr., twenty minutes after the bite, and was
out of the hospital in twenty-four hours. He was in profound shock, weak pulse,
clammy sweat.)
CAUSES OF SKIN DISEASES
The most important causes of skin diseases are the following:
1.
Substances on the skin, such as dust, pollen, dandruff, wool, dye, leather,
oils and grease.
2. Food
allergies which produce the itching wheals of urticara or hives.
3. Drug
eruptions, due more often to allergy than to actual toxicity of the drug.
4. Local
infections caused by staphylococci or streptococci, such as impetigo,
folliculitis, carbuncle and erysipelas.
5. Fungus
infections, such as athlete's foot and other types of ringworm, sporotrichosis
and actinomychosis.
6. Virus
diseases, such as fever blisters and shingles.
7. The
toxic erythemas of many known diseases.
8.
Parasitic infections, such as scabies, pediculosis, itch, chiggers, and others.
9. Acne,
due to the overactivity and plugging of the minute glands of the skin,
especially at puberty.
THE ICE BAG
Few persons realize the great benefits that can
be derived from the alternate use of the hot water bottle and the ice bag, and
the ice bag in the summertime alone.
Benjamin Franklin toughened himself against
colds, and resistance to colds by getting out of the bed in a cold room nude
for a few minutes, and then getting back in bed and out three or four times,
using his own temperature as a guide.
The Spartan youth subjected himself to all sorts
of punishment, to increase his fortitude.
Houdini became so used to temperature changes
that he could stand in ice water for an hour, or be buried alive. This was done
by constant practice, and then subjecting himself to gradually decreasing
temperatures, and then hot, and then cold until he became toughened.
I am having patients tell me every day about the
great results they have had from Epsom Salts nose wash, and the ice bag in
overcoming allergy, and tendencies to take colds, and hay fever.
The alternate use of cold and heat - the hot
water bottle and ice bag - is the most convenient form in which to use them.
You should use your own temperature guide, and reaction as the method of
regulating the dosage, and the benefits, as everyone has his own temperature
sense, and his resistance to heat or cold, and it can be gradually increased by
the use of the hot water bag and the ice bag, always ending with cold.
FIVE RULES FOR TREATING DIFFERENT CHRONIC
DISEASES
During my fifty years of treating many stubborn
chronic diseases I have formulated five rules for each disease. These embrace
the basic advice it is necessary for the patient to follow in order to recover
normal, or nearly normal, health and comfort. President Wilson with his
fourteen points, and Moses with his ten commandments, had too much trouble in
securing universal obedience; so I am giving only five rules, hoping I may have
better success.
Five Rules for Treating High Blood Pressure
1. High blood pressure, in most cases, is
hereditary, or it may be induced by some type of infection in the system, or by
various foods and weakened glands of the body. If your parents have or have had
it, treat it early.
2. Warm baths taken before bedtime are of
benefit, and a course of mineral baths is one of the best treatments for
reducing high blood pressure by keeping the blood vessels soft, like a rubber
tube. Much used, they stay soft; little used, they become hard.
3. All focal infection should be removed, of
course. Glandular disturbance like change of life, thyroid, ovarian and gonadal
deficiency should be supplemented with gland tablets. Other medicines are of
little help.
4. A life of regular habits, moderate exercise,
and a rather restricted diet, especially restricted in salt, vinegar, and
excessive meats, tobacco and eggs. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and milk.
5. Cultivate a fad - music, games, much rest,
fun, cheerful friends, and mild exercise like croquet. The Boston High Blood
Pressure Society has frequent meetings for diversion and fun. They do well!
Five Rules for Preventing and Curing Colds
1. Bathe the face, neck and arms every' morning
with very hot and then very cold water. If you cannot get the hot water, then
use very cold water or an ice bag as used by Galli Curci. This helps prevent
and helps cure colds. It toughens you as going barefooted toughens your feet.
2. Night and morning when you brush your teeth,
gargle and wash or spray out your nose with a room temperature solution of
Epsom Salts, one tablespoonful in one pint of boiled water, still hot to
sterilize the salts. Tilt back your head. Do it thoroughly to cleanse and purge
out the dirt, pollen and germs. This alone often relieves hay fever and
prevents and helps colds, catarrh and sinus troubles. Benzedrine inhaler and
Ephedrine nose drops shrink the membranes, but the salts solution purges out
the germs from the submucous membranes and opens the nose. Don't use any
solution strong enough to burn; it will destroy the cilia and membranes. Oil drops
bog down the cilia.
3. When the attack starts, go to bed, clean out
the bowels thoroughly with Castor Oil, Epsom Salts or an enema containing Epsom
Salts, same strength.
4. Use a light diet of fruit and vegetables and
buttermilk, if it agrees, and cereals, keeping warm with a gentle perspiration
if possible, avoiding drafts. Use lemonade and oranges.
5. Take the vaccine, 2 mms., of the regular
respiratory vaccine in the fall of the year, once a week until three or four
doses are taken and then once a month after that IN THE SKIN given by your
doctor. If you get sick with a fever and have a severe cough, send for your
doctor at once; do not doctor yourself. Have your doctor give you flu virus, A
and B, in September or October; it prevents 75 per cent of the cases.
Five Rules for Treating Constipation
1. Massage colon and gall bladder with fist under
ribs of right side, and contract and relax the abdomen on waking, ten to
fifteen times.
2. Drink
one glass of hot or cold water and fruit juice on rising.
3. Go to
toilet in twenty minutes and beat abdomen gently with fists, sitting erect.
Don't read, think of the job.
4. Eat
more fruits, prunes, whole grains, pears and vegetables.
5. Take a
warm bath at bedtime often and stretch rectum with finger if tight.
Five Rules for Drinkers
1. Remember, alcohol is
a narcotic, habit-forming drug, and not a natural food or stimulant. It costs
money, does you harm, and may ruin and wreck your body, mind and soul. Don't
touch it! Hate it!
2. Alcoholics should eat
more fruits, vegetables, bread, milk and butter, and reduce the meats and eggs
that overwork the kidneys and liver if eaten too much.
3. Be regular in your
habits. The Bible says: "Be ye temperate in all things." Take a warm
bath at bedtime for twenty minutes, to relax and induce sleep. (This direction
is repeated for emphasis.)
4.
Get a hobby - a game for exercise if not too old or weak - music,
cultivating flowers, making useful things for others.
5. Get RELIGION. Pray
often to God for help and wisdom to do right and resist alcohol and all evil. Help
someone else to quit! Join the Alcoholics Anonymous.
Five Rules for Treating Heart Diseases
1. Heart diseases are on the increase. If you
have shortness of breath on exercise, a sudden pain behind the breast- bone and
down one or both arms, a very slow, weak, or a very fast heart-stop at once!
REST! See your doctor!
2. Swollen
ankles at night may mean a weak heart or kidney trouble, or weak capillary
circulation. Go to bed, elevate feet, wrap ankles with wet towels, dipped in
Epsom Salts water and covered with tightly pinned dry towels.
3. Take
medicine prescribed and rest all the time in bed if short of breath or if legs
are swollen.
4. Don't
overeat, climb stairs, or run, lift or strain after you are up and better.
Observe afternoon rest period in bed, one or two hours.
5. Eat
more carbohydrates: potatoes, honey, syrup, fruits and jello. All are heart
tonic foods. Read the poem. "My Dancing Heart," in another section of
this book.
Five Rules for Treating Insomnia
1. Insomnia, if not caused by pain or some
diseased condition, is usually due to worry, or thinking in bed. Thinking in
bed and reading in bed must be avoided.
2. A warm
bath, sometimes a half hour before bedtime, for fifteen or twenty minutes
-not too hot - will induce sleep. (Repeated.)
3. Make
the mind a blank as soon as you go to bed, so that thoughts do not keep you
awake.
4. A glass
of hot milk with Ovaltine or Calctose, or just plain milk, frequently will take
the blood away from the brain and help produce sleep; also a wet towel tied
around the abdomen, with a dry towel pinned over it, will help do the same.
5. Avoid
drugs, especially if used every night, though an occasional dose of mild sleep
medicine will do no harm. Sometimes a long walk before going to bed, if it does
not weaken or hurt you otherwise, may induce sleep. Avoid any- thing exciting
just before retiring. Repeat my sleep prayer.
Five Rules for Reducing
1. Reduce one-half the amount of foods and fluids
taken daily.
2. Eat
only one good meal of meat, bread, fruits, beans, cheese, vegetables, with
buttermilk or fruit juice, at noon, avoiding pie, cake and cream.
3. Eat
only fruits - any you like that agree with you - at breakfast and supper. You
may use a glass of skimmed milk or buttermilk for supper - or watermelon in
season.
4.
Exercise some in the open every day, or dance to the radio several minutes at
night. Don't over-exercise if you are past fifty, or if the heart is weak;
thyroid may do harm; see your doctor.
5. Weigh
on the same scales at the same hour twice a week, and do not lose more than two
or three pounds weekly. Daily hot and cold shower and rough toweling keep skin
from being loose and wrinkled. Make all muscles tense twelve times daily.
Five Rules for Treating Rheumatism
1. Most cases of rheumatism are due to some type
of infection or germ which gets into the system through the nose, throat, or
intestinal tract, settles in the sinuses or teeth, as well as in the joint and
nerves of the body, causing pain. It often follows a light attack of flu or a
cold.
2. Skin
tests show to what kind of germ the patient's system is sensitive. If the tests
fade away quickly, he has good fighting power; if they fade away slowly, he has
low fighting power and the vaccines will help build up the blood to consume the
germs. Watch skin tests daily to see how quickly they fade, and also to note
reactions to the vaccines.
3. Any
badly infected focus of infection should be removed, if possible, after the
system is built up; then all other treatments should be continued until the
patient is well. Use Epsom Salts nose wash!
4. Regular
elimination, and a diet containing many vitamins of all types, should be used
to promote normal health, as well as to cure the rheumatic condition. Study the
outline given you, and learn to know vitamin foods. (See Vitamin Table.)
5. Baths,
diet, sunshine, heat, massage, vaccines, medicines, and hope or optimism, are
the best means of treatment, and must be kept up for some time to cure and
prevent the return of rheumatic troubles.
Five Rules for Treating Skin Troubles
1. Most skin troubles are due to local irritation
by some food or chemical, or other irritant, or by germs which get into the
skin as infection. A thorough examination should be made to find the cause.
2. The inflamed
skin is usually best protected by some bland oil on going outdoors in the dust
and wind. Olive or castor oil is best.
3. The
diet should be changed from what you have been using, avoiding those foods you
have been eating most, and trying out, at each meal, a new one to see what
foods agree and which ones do not agree, using one food for three days and then
changing to another. Milk, eggs and wheat products are the most common foods
that disagree. Foods that cause skin trouble, nettle rash, or pains and
indigestion, usually will produce the effect rather soon after the food is
eaten. Make a record of all foods eaten at each, meal, and eliminate those that
disagree.
4. Search
out the cause and remove it. It may be poison oak or other irritant, as dust,
powder, dandruff, chemicals or soaps. Do not use plain, common water for
bathing your skin, but use water with Epsom Salts -one teaspoonful to the pint.
5. If skin
trouble persists, change your residence or climate. The ice bag locally will
toughen the skin and relieve allergic conditions.
Five Rules for Treating Hyperacidity and Peptic
or Duodenal Ulcer
1. Avoid cold, sweet, sour and salty foods;
alcohol, tobacco and worry; also other foods which, eaten alone, disagree.
2. Live a
quiet life, without excitement or emotional upset. Go fishing.
3. One
egg, milk, and other bland foods are very essential, and they should be used
every two or three hours to absorb the acidity, instead of using alkalines. Eat
well-ground meat or fish; no pepper or salt.
4. Take
regularly the medicines prescribed by your physician. When stomach is uneasy or
acid, eat five or six malt- ed milk tablets, if no milk is obtainable.
5. Stop
work and worry and get away from home for a while, or go to bed or listen to
the radio. Take one teaspoon of castor oil every night.
REST
It's good for you to rest in bed,
Remembering things your friends have said,
And making plans for brighter days
On down Life's future winding ways.
Don't worry; free your mind from fear;
Beyond the clouds the skies are clear.
-J.W.T.
CANCER
Cancer killed 170,000 persons in the United States in 1944, a mortality rate
exceeded only by heart disease. Both sexes are susceptible to cancer, but women
in general develop more cancers than men, due to the peculiar susceptibility of
the female reproductive organs. It has been estimated that one of every nine
women of forty or above will die of cancer.
Cancer occurs when certain cells in a person's body start an
unlawful growth that destroys normal tissues. Prolonged irritation, from heat,
from friction, or from chemicals, is usually considered the cause. Whatever the
cause, the alarming characteristic of cancer is the rapidity with which it
sometimes spreads through the body, growing directly from one organ to another,
or being transmitted through the blood and lymph streams.
Early
diagnosis of cancer is most important if its distribution through the body is
to be prevented and treatment is to be successful. Pain is usually a late
symptom, so the individual should never wait until pain develops before
suspecting cancer. The need for a thorough physical examination by a competent
physician should be indicated by anyone of the following signs of early cancer:
1. A persistent lump or thickening, especially in a woman's
breast.
2. A sore
that does not heal, particularly about the face, mouth or lips.
3. An
unnatural, bloody discharge from a natural body opening.
4.
Persistent indigestion or a sudden and persistent diarrhea.
5. A
sudden change in the size or color of a mole or wart. The only known methods of
treatment for cancer are three: surgery, X-ray and radium. The person who tries
any so-called "remedy" is only wasting his money and flirting with
death.
Thorough periodic examinations are the best means of preventing,
as well as of detecting, cancer in its early stages. Persons under forty should
have such an examination once a year; those over forty, especially women, should
have one twice a year. Special attention should be given to the breasts and
pelvic region of women, and to the stomach and intestinal tract of both men and
women. In this way many abnormal growths and pre-cancerous degenerations can be
discovered and treated.
Of value in the prevention of cancer is the avoidance of anything
that might cause prolonged irritation, such as jagged teeth and ill-fitting
dental plates; continuous overexposure to direct sunlight, excessive smoking,
or clothing that irritates a certain part of the body.
In general, cancer may be prevented by educating the public to the
importance of frequent check-ups and by instilling in the medical profession an
ever-increasing alertness for the early symptoms of this dangerous disease. For
this reason, active financial support of such educational organizations as the
Women's Field Army Against Cancer, or the American Society for the Control of
Cancer, Inc., 350 Madison Avenue, New York City, is of inestimable value.
VACCINES
Vaccines are dead germs which may
be best injected into the skin, and not under it (given in the skin like the
Schick Test). They will cause a reaction, red and sore if you are sensitive to
the germs, and if your white blood cells do not eat them up. The sore spot may
stay several days, if your resistance is low. Just the right dose of the
vaccine will cause the white cells to eat more germs and you will be better.
Another dose, larger or smaller according to re- action gotten, should be given
only when the spot has faded out or all soreness is gone. Germ killing
medicines may injure your red blood cells, and do not kill the germs as a rule,
in the blood, unless you have fever. Vaccines, given usually every three to
seven days will help the white cells eat more germs and cure you and do not
injure the red cells. When they fail to react, you do not need any more
vaccine. Different vaccines are used to find out what you need and then are
used to cure or help you. One may be too weak and sick to get any reaction
except a small indurated spot, not sore, that fades slowly.
Every patient takes five tests: (1.) Saline as control. (2.) Flu -
reaction is 80% in all patients. (3.) Colon - reaction is 30% in all patient.
(4.) Streptococcic - reaction is 30% in all patients. (5.) Brucellosis - reaction
is 20% in all patients.
Vaccines are given according to the reaction the patient gets, and
if they should have no reaction at all autogenous may be made from nose
washings.