MEDICAL.
Maddalena.—Yes; you had better see a medical man. Your symptoms may be due to anæmia, nervousness or heart disease. Of these the last is infinitely the least likely. Anæmia is the probable cause, and is, moreover, the simplest to cure.
Ailing.—There are two questions that we ask every dyspeptic—how long do you take over your meals? how much do you eat at each meal?
One of Five.—1. Dilute the sulphur ointment with an equal quantity of lanoline. Otherwise follow out exactly the advice we gave to “Fair Isabel,” April 9, 1898. You are at the age when acne is most common in girls.—2. The white marks on the nails which trouble your sister are very commonly found. The only way to prevent them is to trim the nails carefully; but do not scrape the nails, as this of itself will sometimes produce opaque patches. About once a week rub the nails over with vaseline or cold cream.
Much Frightened.—On [page 63] of the present volume you will find an “answer” dealing at some length with the question of the causation of typhoid fever by oysters.
Minerva.—1. There is no objection to using cocoanut oil for the hair if you like it.—2. No; five feet two inches is by no means short for a girl of fourteen and a half—rather the reverse, in fact. During childhood and adolescence people increase chiefly in weight during the winter, and chiefly in height during the summer.
A Reader.—“Headache” is one of those symptoms which are met with in a very large number of affections. It is not a specialised symptom pointing to one organ definitely as the seat of disease. It is chiefly met with in the following ailments:—1. Injury, or disease of the brain. In this headache is nearly always present—it is a persistent, intense pain. 2. Abnormal states of the blood. In the infectious fevers headache is extremely common. In typhoid fever it is always present at the beginning of the disease. Under this class of headaches from abnormal states of the blood must be considered the headaches of Bright’s disease, of anæmia, and of indigestion and biliousness. 3. Headache due to mental fatigue. According to which of these causes is at work, the seat of the headache will vary. If the head aches on top, anæmia is the probable cause. Aching of the back of the head is often associated with errors of refraction of the eyes—an extremely common cause of mental fatigue and headache. The various forms of biliousness give rise to headaches in different localities. Frontal headache, occipital headache, and a sense of fulness deep within the skull are all commonly met with in indigestion and biliousness. Fatigue of the brain is a common cause of headaches, and it is, we believe, the cause of your trouble. Overwork, too little sleep, innutritious food, badly-ventilated rooms and errors of refraction of the eyes, all produce fatigue of the brain and headaches. Then there is the “nervous headache,” about which nobody knows very much. To treat headaches it is first necessary to find out what produces them. If you suppress the cause, the headaches will go. In treating headaches it is very necessary to prevent the bowels from becoming confined. Eat well, sleep well, and ventilate your rooms well.
Constant Reader.—The treatment of debility is one of very great difficulty. For the condition, though alas! so very common, is not well understood, and we have no sound working hypothesis as to its cause. The most plausible theory is that debility is loss of nervous energy—that in this condition the nervous system is in the same state as the blood is in anæmia. The best way to treat the condition is by a strong tonic treatment to stimulate the flagging nervous system. The word “tonic” naturally brings up visions of quinine and iron to most persons. Quinine is a tonic, but it is not the tonic which is required in debility. The medicinal tonics are drugs which stimulate for a short time. But in debility we want something which will stimulate for weeks or months, and the Pharmacopœia does not provide us with drugs wherewith to do this. But we can get a strong tonic treatment without drugs in the following way:—Eat well of highly-nutritious food, plenty of meat and green vegetables, custards, milk, etc. Avoid food which fills you up without giving you sufficient nourishment, such as excessive quantities of starchy food, dried peas and beans, soups, etc. Eat as much as you wish. For drinks, the best are milk or milk and soda. Beef essences taken as stimulants are sometimes useful. Cod-liver oil, maltine, cream, etc., are also very helpful. These are definite foods and not drugs. Tea and coffee may be taken in moderation. You should also take plenty of sleep, and plenty of healthy, but not severe, exercise; and, if possible, a change of air and scene.
Optimist.—Some years ago an ingenious person made the remark that there existed on the earth vegetable productions which could cure all human diseases; that we had only to find the trees and we should have a specific for every ailment. Quite so. We have only to find the trees. But it is a significant fact that although we have explored at least nine-tenths of our planet, and have tried almost all vegetable productions for the treatment of disease, we have not yet discovered one single specific for any disease. We see there are something over ten thousand ways by which a man can lose his life. We suppose therefore that we are to discover ten thousand trees with ten thousand separate actions. True, the vegetable kingdom has given up many valuable drugs, but not one single specific has it supplied to us. The mineral kingdom has given us the nearest approach to a specific, i.e., iron for anæmia.