MEDICAL.
Distressed.—Your letter is so well worded, and the description you give us is so concise, that we have little difficulty in telling you what is the cause of your flushings. It is indigestion caused by working too soon after meals. Here is some advice. You say, “I have breakfast from milk and porridge at a quarter to 8 A.M. Then I go by train to school which I reach at 8.30 A.M.” Three-quarters of an hour between sitting down to breakfast and being in the schoolroom! It is not enough. Could not you manage to have your breakfast a little earlier, and to sit down quietly for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before leaving to catch your train? As regards your breakfast, though a very nutritious one, it is not over easily digested, and we suggest that while you are troubled with flushings, you should take bread and milk instead of porridge. And with your other meals observe the same precaution of resting a little after each, and also, if you can manage it, take your walk before instead of after lunch. Last, but not least important, look to the state of your teeth.
Josephine.—We have published many answers on chronic catarrh of the nose. It is an exceedingly common affection and one which often causes great discomfort. The reason why people with this complaint can breathe through their noses during the day, but cannot do so at night, is that the upright position prevents the blood from stagnating, whereas in the recumbent posture the mucous membrane of the nose becomes congested and obstructs the passage. Cold in the head is acute catarrh of the nose, and bronchitis is acute catarrh of the air tubes, so it is easy to see why a cough so commonly follows a cold. Acute catarrh very commonly develops during the course of a chronic catarrh, so all your troubles are easily accounted for. Now as to treatment. Get the following powder made up for you:—chlorate of potassium, borax and bicarbonate of sodium, of each one part, and powdered white sugar two parts. Make a lotion by dissolving one teaspoonful of this powder in half a tumblerful of tepid water, and use it three times a day for syringing out your nose. Afterwards apply a solution of menthol, one part, in paroleine, eight parts, to the inside of the nose with an atomiser or spray.
Galva.—That electricity has proved of great use in the treatment of disease is unquestionable, though it is quite as certain that it has opened a way to quacks and other swindlers of fleecing invalids and others, and in this way it has proved a great enemy to medicine. As regards its uses in medicine, it has given us the electro-cautery, electrolysis, the portable electric light—a most valuable addition to our consulting-rooms—and it has given us the electric currents so much used in the treatment of nervous diseases. No person should start practising on herself with the electric current. Useful as this agent is in some cases, it requires very careful judgment in its use. Each case requires a different strength of current and a different length of time of application from any other. The indiscriminate use of electricity can do great harm. As regards the abuses of electricity—the quack apparatus by which the unsuspecting public is “gulled”—we might occupy the whole volume in discussing it. It requires a large current to pierce the human skin and so have any effect upon the muscles or nerves. An electric current which will light a small incandescent lamp will have not the slightest effect upon a man holding the wires in his hands. The “electropathic belts,” rings, stockings, boots, hats, ties, stays, etc., etc., either produce no electric current at all, or else they give so little electricity that it avails nothing. To take a concrete example:—if it requires a strength of current corresponding to the size of our earth in magnitude to pierce the human skin and be felt by the patient, the strength of current given out by an electric belt would be compared with a grain of sand in magnitude. That is, the current is many thousands of times too weak to be of any good.
Minerva.—There is no safe method by which you can make your eyes glisten. Some foolish actresses put atropine (belladonna) into their eyes to brighten them. Belladonna dilates the pupil widely, thus giving the eyes a very brilliant appearance, but it is an exceedingly injurious thing for several reasons. The drug paralyses the muscles of the eyes which enable us to see near objects. The widely-dilated pupils will not contract in the presence of a bright light. This is exceedingly painful, causing headache and delirium, and the effects upon the eyes of putting belladonna into them last for over a week. Lastly, and most important, atropine is a deadly poison—it is one of the most poisonous drugs known. It is therefore exceedingly unsafe to use. So poisonous is it that some deaths have occurred from dropping one drop of the solution of atropine, i.e., one-hundredth of a grain of the drug, into the eyes for cosmetic purposes. Fortunately you would find great difficulty in obtaining the drug, but it is inconceivable to us how you could be sufficiently foolish to wish to use it.
W. K. L. asks us how she may reduce her weight? But as she does not tell us how much she weighs, we cannot give her the information that she requires. The majority of correspondents who ask this question state their ages and weights, and usually we find that the latter is rather below than above the average for their ages.
Endymion.—There is not the slightest objection to your marrying because you have had pneumonia. It is true that that disease is somewhat apt to attack a person more than once; but it is in no way hereditary, though it is undoubtedly infectious. We advise people not to marry only when they have a disease which is sure to kill them shortly; or a disease in which married life is dangerous, or where the disease is strongly hereditary and the children would probably suffer from it.
Anxious One.—Your question is an exceedingly delicate one, and one on which you would do well not to take our opinion alone, but to supplement it with that of other medical men. Epilepsy is a very serious disease, it is rarely possible to cure it, and, moreover, it is strongly hereditary. The question, “should an epileptic marry?” must, in the majority of cases, be answered in the negative. Most certainly an epileptic should not marry if he still has fits. It is only in those cases where the patients have not had fits for some years that the question of their marrying can be considered. In the case you mention to us, we advise you to make perfectly certain that the disease is epilepsy. There are some diseases which produce symptoms not unlike those of some forms of epilepsy, and the diagnosis between them is often impossible without watching the case for some weeks or months. Our advice is first to make certain what is the matter with the man, and if this proves to be epilepsy, it is better for both to break off your engagement. But do not do so without obtaining the opinion of another physician.
Boreas.—This year give your chief thoughts to the prevention of chilblains, and save yourself from the trouble and pain of last year’s experiences. Persons subject to chilblains should wear warm woollen stockings. Let the boots be amply large. If you cramp your feet in small boots it is almost impossible to keep them warm. Let the boots have thick soles and be thoroughly watertight. In snowy weather it is a good plan to give your boots a thick coating of dubbing. This spoils their appearance; but it saves the boots, and what is more important, it keeps them dry. Take a warm foot-bath every evening. If these measures fail, and you get chilblains after all, wash them over with spirit and water, or with spirit one part, tincture of benzoin one part, glycerine one part and water ten parts. This will often prevent the chilblains from bursting. If, however, they do burst, wash them in carbolic acid (1 in 60), and then thickly sprinkle powdered boracic acid over them and swathe them in cotton wool. If you have bad broken chilblains, it is a very good plan to remain in bed in a warm room for a day or two, or if you cannot do this, remain with the legs elevated upon a stool. Elevation of the legs prevents the blood from stagnating, thus quickening the circulation and removing the prime cause of chilblains. But, of course, it is not all of us who can afford to give a day or two to this treatment.