HYGIENE
The separation of wastes from the body has such a close relation to the health that all conditions affecting it should receive the most careful attention. Their retention beyond the time when they should be discharged undoubtedly does harm and is the cause of many bodily disorders.
Value of Water.—As a rule the work of excretion is aided by drinking freely of pure water. As water is the natural dissolver and transporter of materials in the body, it is generally conceded by hygienists and physicians that the taking of plenty of water is a healthful practice. People do not as a rule drink a sufficient amount of water, about three pints per day being required by the average adult, in addition to that contained in the food. Most of the water should, of course, be taken between meals, although the sipping of a small amount during meals does not interfere with digestion. As stated elsewhere, the taking of a cup of water on retiring at night and again on rising in the morning is very generally recommended.
Protection of Kidneys and Liver.—The kidneys and liver are closely related in their work and in many instances are injured or benefited by the same causes. Both, as already stated (page 124), are liable to injury from an excess of proteid food, especially meats, and also by a condition of inactivity of the bowels (page 166). The free use of alcohol also has an injurious effect on both of these organs.[75] On the other hand, increasing the activity of the skin has a beneficial effect upon them, especially[pg 211] the kidneys. Exercise and bathing, which tend to make the skin more active, are valuable aids both in ridding the body of impurities and in lessening the work of the other excretory organs. One having a disease of the kidneys, however, needs to exercise great care in bathing on account of the bad results which follow getting chilled.
Special Care after Certain Diseases.—Certain diseases, as measles, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and typhoid fever, sometimes have the effect of weakening the kidneys (and other vital organs) and of starting disease in them. When this occurs it is usually the result of exposure or of over-exertion while the body is in a weakened condition. Severe chilling at such a time, by driving blood from the surface to the parts within, often causes inflammation of the kidneys. On recovering from any wasting disease one should exercise great caution both in resuming his regular work and in exposing his body to wet or cold.
Misunderstood Symptoms.—Pains in the small of the back, an increase in the secretions of the kidneys, and a sediment in the urine very naturally suggest some disorder of the kidneys. It is a fact, however, that these symptoms have little or no relation to the state of the kidneys and may occur when the kidneys are in a perfectly healthy condition. The kidneys are not located in the small of the back, but above this place, so that pains in this region are evidently not from the kidneys, while the increase in the flow of the urine may arise from a number of causes, one of which is an increase of certain waste products passed into the blood. The symptoms referred to are frequently the results of nervous exhaustion, resulting from overstudy, worry, eye strain, or some other condition that overtaxes the nervous system. When this is the case, relief is obtained through resting the nerves. Actual[pg 212] disease of the kidneys can only be determined through a chemical and microscopic examination of the urine. To resort to some patent medicine for kidney trouble without knowing that such trouble exists, as is sometimes done, is both foolish and unhygienic.
Alcoholic Beverages and the Elimination of Waste.—Causing as it does such serious diseases as cirrhosis of the liver and Bright's disease of the kidneys (footnote, page 210), alcohol will greatly interfere in this way with the elimination of waste. There is also evidence to the effect that it interferes with waste elimination before the stage is reached of causing disease of these organs. Researches have shown that alcohol increases the amount of uric acid in the body and decreases the amount of urea found in the urine. The conclusion to be drawn is that alcohol interferes in some way with the change of the harmful uric acid into the comparatively harmless urea—an interference which in some instances results in great harm. It has also been shown that malted liquors, such as beer and ale, contain substances which, like the caffein of tea and coffee (page 167), are readily converted into uric acid.[76] Wines contain acids which may also act injuriously. The harm which such substances do is, of course, additional to that caused by the alcohol.
Summary.—As a result of the oxidations and other changes at the cells, substances are produced that can no longer serve a purpose in the body. They are of the nature of waste, and their continuous removal from the body is as necessary to the maintenance of life as the introduction of food and oxygen. The organs whose work it is to remove the waste, excepting the lungs, are glands; and the material which they remove are of the nature of secretions. From the cells, the waste passes through the lymph in the blood. From the blood it is separated by the excretory organs and passed to the exterior of the body.
Exercises.—1. What general purposes are served by the glands in the body?
[pg 213]2. What are the parts common to all glands? What purpose is served by each of these parts?