Anaemia
Regular exercise and deep breathing are fully as important as the regulation of diet for the anaemic. In anaemia the red blood corpuscles are lacking, or there is not sufficient blood. The red corpuscles not being sufficient in number to carry the necessary quantity of oxygen to the tissues to oxidize the waste, the system becomes clogged with waste, which affects the nerves and brain cells. The patient is tired and disinclined to exercise, thus the decreased number of red corpuscles are not kept in forceful circulation and the carbonic acid gas is not freely thrown off by the lungs; this further aggravates the condition.
Pus formation, in abscesses, are frequent in anaemic cases.
There is little desire for food when the system is clogged, and there is little use in forcing food.
The red corpuscles are made in the red marrow of the bones and free action of the joints is desirable.
The initial work, therefore in the correction of anaemia, lies in brisk, every day exercise and deep breathing of fresh air. Such exercise should be intelligently directed to the joints and to the vital organs, particularly to the liver, that it may be kept in normal condition to break down the protein waste. The windows at night should admit of a good circulation of air through the sleeping room. These habits being established, the diet should consist of foods containing iron, such as red meat, eggs and the green leaves of vegetables. Milk sipped slowly and a free use of butter are desirable.
It will usually be found that the anaemic individual has no taste for vegetables containing iron, or for meats rich in albuminoids,—or, that these foods have been denied because of their scarcity; therefore, the elements necessary for red blood corpuscles have been deficient.
The following is a suggestive diet:
BREAKFAST