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Gout

Sources: Papers On Health

Some have a predisposition to this most painful disease, and

require to keep a strict watch on their diet. Meat, specially the

internal organs, meat extracts, alcohol, tea, and coffee must be

avoided, and milk, buttermilk and porridge, cheese, eggs, and

vegetables, especially green vegetables, made into light and digestible

dishes, should be relied on solely. Further, the diet should be a small

one, most thoroughly and
slowly masticated, and plenty of pure water is

advisable, in order to help the elimination of the waste which causes

the trouble. See Uric Acid.



If the feet be affected, apply gentle heat to the lower part of the

spine by Fomentation (see). Sometimes a cold cloth on the lower spine

will soothe, but more often heat is the true cure. Wrap the sore foot

in softest cotton, and foment very gently through this, using only

warm cloths, and taking care to avoid giving pain. The cloths should

be just a little below blood heat. Cold cloths are a serious mistake,

but at a temperature a little below blood heat a gentle soothing is

produced. Care must in every case be taken to do only what the patient

feels comforting.



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