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 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.