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.