Air
Sources: Papers On HealthThe Black Hole of Calcutta is an object lesson of how necessary
to life is the renewal of the air supply. Few people, however, reflect
that a deficient supply of fresh air may affect the health, though far
short of what will cause death. Many hospitable people will invite so
many friends to their houses that the amount of air each can get is
less than 1-20th of what the law insists shall be provided for the
prisoners i
of the stomachs of these guests, but none at all for the more important
organ--the lungs. The headaches and lack of appetite next morning are
attributed to the supper instead of the repeatedly breathed air, for
each guest gives off almost 20 cubic feet of used-up air per hour. No
one would ask their guests to wash with water others had used; how many
offer them air which has been made foul by previous use? Everyone knows
that in our lungs oxygen is removed from the air inhaled, and its place
taken by carbonic acid gas. Besides this deoxydizing, the air becomes
loaded with organic matter which is easily detected by the olfactory
organs of those who have just come in, and so are in a position to
promptly compare the air inside with what they have been breathing. The
exhilaration produced by deep breathing of pure air is well known.
What, therefore, prevents everyone enjoying it at all times? Simply the
fear of "cold"--an unfortunate name for that low form of fever properly
called catarrh, and a name which is largely responsible for this
mistaken idea. "Colds" are now known to be infectious, being often
caught in close ill-ventilated places of public assembly. Most people
suppose that it is the change from the heat to the cold outside that
gives them "cold," whereas the "cold" has been contracted inside. There
is no lack of evidence that wide open windows day and night, summer and
winter, so strengthen and invigorate that colds are rarely taken, and
when taken, generally in a mild form. This also applies to influenza.
If delicate consumptives can stand, without any gradual breaking-in to
it, unlimited fresh air, and can lie by day and night in open sheds, no
one need dread at once to adopt the open-window system. Although few
will believe it, until they try it, a wide open window does not produce
a draught as does one slightly opened, and it is safer and pleasanter
to go in for abundant fresh air than to try what might be called a
moderate course. Many think that with an open window the heat of the
fire is practically wasted. They do not know that the radiant heat of
the fire will warm the person it falls on even though the temperature
of the room is very low. The Canadian hunter before his fire is
comfortably warm, though the air around him may be a long way below
zero. Extra clothing may be worn if any chilliness is felt. While the
body is warm cold air has an invigorating effect on the lungs. Indeed,
the body soon gets accustomed to the colder air, and those who practise
keeping open windows winter and summer find that they do not require
heavier clothing than those who sit with windows shut. A slight or even
considerable feeling of coldness, when due to cold air and not to
ill-health, will not harm.
This is no new idea. Dr. Henry McCormac, of Belfast, father of the
eminent surgeon, Sir William McCormac, wrote forty years ago:--"The
mainly unreasoning dread of night air, so termed, is a great impediment
to free ventilation by night. And yet day and night air is the same
virtually, does not differ appreciably. The air by night, whether damp
or dry, is equally pure, equally salubrious with the air by day, and
calls not less solicitously for ceaseless admission into our dwellings.
Air, ere it reaches the lungs, is always damp. Quite dry air is
irrespirable. It needs no peculiar or unusual habitude in order to
respire what is termed night air. Exposure to contact with the day air
equally prepares us for exposure to the contact with the night air. We
can multiply our coverings by night with even greater ease than we can
by day, and with the most perfect certainty of producing and obtaining
warmth. Good heavens! How is it that people are so wildly mistaken as
if the great wise Deity, as he does by every exquisite and perfect
adaption, did not intend that we should make use of the purest,
sweetest air day and night always? The prospective results of breathing
purest air by night are so infinitely desirable, the immediate
enjoyment is so great that it only needs a trial to be approved of and
adopted for ever.... Reasonable precautions--that is to say, adequate
night coverings--being resorted to, no colour of risk to the lungs,
even of the most delicate, can possibly ensue. For, it is stagnant air,
air pre-breathed only, and not pure unprerespired air that makes lungs
delicate. Although air, warmth, food, and cleanliness be cardinal
conditions and essential to life, still the most important of all
health factors is air--air pure and undefiled alike by day and by
night.... The constant uneasy dread of taking cold, which haunts the
minds of patients and their friends, is doubtless the one great reason
why fresh air is thrust aside. And yet cold will not be caught, were it
in Nova Zembla itself, by night, if only the sleeper's body be
adequately covered.... The pulses or puffs of air that comes in
ceaselessly, winter and summer, through open windows by night inspire
just as if one slept in the open air, a sort of ecstasy. Gush follows
gush, full of delightfulness, replacing the used-up air and purifying
the blood. It has oftimes been said to me, 'I open the windows the
moment I get out of bed;' to this I have uniformly replied, 'the moment
to open the window is before you get into bed, not when you get out of
it.' You cannot otherwise with entire certainty secure the benefit of
an ever ceaselessly renewed night air so all essential to the blood's
renewal and the maintenance of health.... With abundant night coverings
there is no shadow of risk. There is none of rheumatism, none of
bronchitis, in short no risk whatever. The only, the real risk, which
we incur, is that of closing our sleeping chamber windows, of debarring
ourselves of pure air during our repose."
More
-
Ventilation All-important
If the circulation of air is necessary in any other form of scarlet-fever, it is all-important in torpid reaction, especially when it inclines to a typhoid type. We should never forget that it is the oxygen of the air that nourishes the process of c... Version Of A Safety Pin
A safety pin of very small size may be turned over in a direction that will cause the point to trail. An advancing point will puncture. This is a dangerous procedure with a large safety pin. ... Violent Reaction Sthenic
If both, the contagious poison and the organism, are very strong, a _violent reaction_ will take place, and the safety of the patient will be endangered by the very violence of the struggle, by which internal organs may be more or less affected. ... Vital Forces Animal And Vegetable
Upon these points I must be permitted to offer a few words. Of the animal kingdom, I regard the "nervous fluid" or "nervous influence," popularly so called, as being the very principle of animal vitalization--the life force; and that, a modificati... Vitamin Program For The Sick
No matter which way you look at it or how well insured you may be against it, being sick is expensive (not to mention what it does to one's quality of life), and by far the best thing to do is to prevent it from happening in the first place. However... Vitamins For An Older Healthy Person
Someone who is beyond 35 to 40 years of age should still feel good almost all of the time. That is how life should be. But enjoying well-being does not mean that no dietary supplementation is called for. The onset of middle age is the appropriate ti... Vitamins For Young Persons And Children
Young healthy people from weaning through their thirties should also take nutritional supplements even though young people usually feel so good that they find it impossible to conceive that anything could harm them or that they ever could become ser... Vocal Results
A whispering voice can always be had as long as air can pass through the larynx, and this may be developed to a very loud penetrating stage whisper. If the arytenoid motility has been uninjured the repeated pulls on the scar tissue may draw out adv... Want Of Water
One of the obstacles is the _want of a sufficient quantity of water_ in some houses, and the difficulty of procuring it. This obstacle is easily removed. If you cannot procure water enough for a half-bath--for there cannot be a difficulty in pr... Water-drinking
As the patient should have a constant supply of pure air for his lungs, so he should also have _plenty of pure cold water_ for his stomach, to allay his thirst and assist in diminishing the heat of fever, and in eliminating the morbid poison from hi... Water-treatment As Used By Currie Reuss Hesse Schoenlein &c
Beside the above modes of treatment _cold_ and _tepid Water_ has been extensively used and recommended by reliable authorities. Currie, Pierce, Gregory, Bateman, von Wedekind, Kolbany, Torrence, Reuss, von Froehlichsthal, and others, have treated th... Weight Loss By Fasting
Loss of weight indicates, almost guarantees, that detoxification and healing is occurring. I can't stress this too much. Of all the things I find my patients seem to misunderstand or forget after being told, it is that they can't heal in a rapid man... Wet Compress
The wet compress on the throat in torpid cases should not be changed often, but left till it becomes almost dry. Should the feet of the patient be cold, a bottle filled with hot water and wrapped in a piece of blanket or a sheet should be placed nea... What Effect Could Be Expected From A Warm Wet-sheet?
The first impression of the wet-sheet is, as I stated before, a _disagreeable_ one. If it were _agreeable_--as a warm sheet, for instance, would be, which has been occasionally tried, of course without doing any good--_it would not produce a reactio... What Is Constipation?
Most people think they are not constipated because they have a bowel movement almost every day, accomplished without straining. I have even had clients tell me that they have a bowel movement once a week, and they are quite certain that they are not... What Is It That Makes Me So Nervous?
THE two main reasons why women are nervous are, first, that they do not take intelligent care of their bodies, and secondly, that they do not govern their emotions. I know a woman who prefers to make herself genuinely miserable rather tha... What Keeps Us Alive
The Energy in Food and Fuel. The first question that arises in our mind on looking at an engine or machine of any sort is, What makes it go? If we can succeed in getting an answer to the question, What makes the human automobile go? we shall have th... What Kind Of Food Should We Eat?
Generally speaking, our Appetites will Guide us. Our whole body is an ingenious machine for catching food, digesting it, and turning the energy, or fuel value, which it contains, into life, movement, and growth. Naturally, two things follow: firs... Where Our Drinking Water Comes From
Water Contained in our Food is Pure. Seeing that five-sixths of our food is water, it is clearly of the greatest importance that that water should be pure. That part of our water supply which we get in and with our foods is fortunately, for the most... Where There Is A Will There Is A Way!
I have been frequently compelled to resort to these milder applications, when there were no bathing utensils in families or boarding-houses, or no servants to carry the water for a bath; and they have always answered very well. In cases where a sitz... Why Does Mrs Smith Get On My Nerves?
IF you want to know the true answer to this question it is "because you are unwilling that Mrs. Smith should be herself." You want her to be just like you, or, if not just like you, you want her to be just as you would best like her. I ha... Why Fuss So Much About What I Eat?
I KNOW a woman who insisted that it was impossible for her to eat strawberries because they did not agree with her. A friend told her that that was simply a habit of her mind. Once, at a time when her stomach was tired or not in good conditi... Why People Get Sick
This is the Theory of Toxemia. A healthy body struggles continually to purify itself of poisons that are inevitably produced while going about its business of digesting food, moving about, and repairing itself. The body is a marvelous creation, a ca... Wine And Water If No Reaction Can Be Obtained
Should the patient remain cold in his pack for longer than an hour,--a case, which will seldom occur,--a little wine and water may be given him to assist the organism in producing a reaction; and, in case of need, the dose may be repeated once or tw... Working Restfully
ONCE met a man who had to do an important piece of scientific work in a given time. He worked from Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock until Monday morning at 10 o'clock without interruption, except for one hour's sleep and the necessary time it... Worms
It is difficult to determine the presence of _worms_ in children, much more in adults, yet both are affected by them occasionally. In children, there is more or less fever and restlessness, screaming out in sleep, starting, pain in the bowels, vomit... Wounds And Bruises
On this subject, I must necessarily be very brief. When a wound is inflicted, the first and most important thing to be done is to _arrest the flow of blood_. Every one should know how to do this. The bleeding is to be stopped, and the wounded vessel... Yellow Fever
[As I have never practiced farther South than Cincinnati, and have seen but few cases of this disease, my experience with it has not been sufficient to be relied upon as authority. Therefore, I shall give a brief description of the disease, with the... You Have No Idea How I Am Rushed
A WOMAN can feel rushed when she is sitting perfectly still and has really nothing whatever to do. A woman can feel at leisure when she is working diligently at something, with a hundred other things waiting to be done when the time comes. I... 1 Is Water Applicable In All Typhoid Cases?
The question has been raised, whether in typhoid cases, and in cases of torpid reaction in general, water is at all applicable? I can answer the question only in the affirmative; but I must add, that the treatment of such cases requires more than co... Abscess
Let us suppose a swelling appears on some part of the body or limbs, but that there is no discoloration or symptom of the gathering of the dead material beneath it. If it be cut open, a wound is made which is often very difficult to heal. Avoid then, ... Acetic Acid
For use in our treatment we recommend Coutts' Acetic Acid. It is of uniform strength and purity, and can be had from most druggists. Weak acid may be understood as one part of this to twelve parts of water. In many cases, however, much greater weaknes... Acidity Of The Stomach
Often caused by unwholesome food, bad or deficient teeth, or by too rapid eating. Where these causes exist, they should be first removed. Eat slowly, and not too much at a time, and see that only well-cooked, easily digested food be taken. Pastry, sw... Aconite
Often in cases where our treatment fails to cure, the failure is due to the patient taking aconite as an allopathic remedy. Used homoeopathically, it may be harmless, but if taken in considerable doses, even once a month, it prevents all cure. It give... Action Balance Of
An excellent guide to the proper treatment of any case is to be found in the distribution of heat in the patient's body. Hot parts are to be cooled, and cold parts warmed, often both at the same time, so as to restore the proper balance of vital actio... After Pains
See Child-bearing. ... Air
The Black Hole of Calcutta is an object lesson of how necessary to life is the renewal of the air supply. Few people, however, reflect that a deficient supply of fresh air may affect the health, though far short of what will cause death. Many hospitab... Air Bath
This may with advantage to the health of the skin and body in general, be indulged in every morning during some of the toilet operations, such as shaving, or preferably, dumbell exercise or Swedish gymnastics. If exercises are done in a nude condition... Air-tight Covering
The covering of oiled silk, or guttapercha, so frequently placed over wet bandages when these are applied to any part of the body, is not only useless, but often positively hurtful. It is true that the waterproof covering retains the moisture in the b... Alcohol
This, in various forms, as brandy, whiskey, rum, wine, cordials, beer and stout, is a frequent prescription in many troubles. In no cases have we known good effects from its use, which is most strongly to be condemned. Various reasons for this stateme... Alcohol
The patient is quite helpless, and there is usually a strong smell of alcohol. If the patient is intoxicated at the time give an emetic. If there is evident prostration from a long bout, keep him quiet and warm. Hot tea not too strong may be given. ... Alkalis (eg Ammonia Soda Or Potash)
Give dilute vinegar, followed by white of egg. ... Amputations
These are often performed in cases in which proper treatment on the lines of these papers, would save both life and limb. By all means, before consenting to such an irrevocable act as amputating a limb, let the treatment with fomentations, hot water, ... Angina Pectoris
In a variety of cases, more or less severe spasmodic pains are felt in the chest. Angina Pectoris (literally, agony of the chest) is one of the worst of these. All these pains, as a rule, may be removed completely by treatment such as the following:--... Ankle Swelling
When long continued in connection with disease or accident, this sometimes leads to a partial withering of the limb up to its very root. In such a case it is best to deal first with the roots of those nerves which supply the limb, which are, in the ca... Ankle Twisted Or Crushed
Place the foot as soon as possible in warm water, as hot as can comfortably be borne; keep it there until free from pain, or for an hour, or even more if necessary. If the flesh be torn, dress with cloths wrung out of vinegar or weak acetic acid befor... Appetite
Should be an indication that food in general or some certain kind of food is needed by the body. Thus the appetite is the natural test of the amount and kind of food required. Over-eating and indulgence in stimulating foods and drinks, insufficient ma... Armpit Swelling
Often this comes as the result of a chill, or of enfeeblement of the system from various causes. In the early stage, such a swelling should not be treated so as to develop a sore. Treatment with iodine is to be avoided. The first thing, in this ear... Arsenic
Emetic, followed by white of egg. Keep very warm. ... Assimilation
Is the process whereby the digested food is carried into the blood stream, and thus conveyed to the different parts of the body where the hungry cells are in need of it. Fine threads of blood vessels (capillaries) take it up from the stomach and ... Back Failures
Often a severe pain in the toe, foot, ankle, or lower leg has its cause, not in anything wrong with the part which is painful, but in some failure of nerve in the patient's back. Blistering or other treatment of the painful part will often injure, an... Balance Loss Of
Cases where loss of balance in walking and standing are due to St. Vitus' Dance will be treated under that head. Other cases, where loss of power in the motor nerves causes this unsteadiness, are treated of here. As these cases differ totally from St... Band Flannel
A piece of fine new flannel made to cover the whole back, and sewed under the usual underclothing, has a truly wonderful effect when worn in certain cases of illness. The same effect is not produced by doubling the flannels that are worn. What we have... Bandage Four-ply Flannel
The four-ply flannel bandage is simply what its name implies--a bandage of the shape and size to cover the parts treated, and at least four-ply thick. It is wrung out of cold water, and covered with a thick dry bandage while applied. ... Bandaging
See Veins, Swollen, etc. ... Barley
If this grain is well grown and thoroughly well cooked, it will be found to be one of the best foods for restoring an exhausted digestive system. Take two or three handfuls of "pot" barley; boil this in water for two hours at least, thoroughly to b... Bathing
Cold baths, while greatly to be recommended to those who are strong, should not be taken by any one who does not feel invigorated by them. As every one should, if possible, bathe daily, the following method is worth knowing, as it combines all the adv... Bathing The Feet
This apparently simple treatment, if the best results are desired, must be gone about most carefully. A foot-bath for ten or twenty minutes, though a considerable help in many cases, is not at all sufficient. It must be given, in most cases, for forty... Baths For Head
In many cases of indigestion and brain exhaustion head-baths are of great value. School teachers, business men, and many others suffering from these, will find a daily head-bath half an hour before dinner of the greatest value. This treatment should b... Bedsores
There are cases in which the outer skin has been taken off by long lying, or wearing wet compresses for a long time. A large part of the body is reduced, as some would say, to "red flesh"--in reality it is reduced to inner skin deprived of its outer l... Beef Tea
It is well to bear in mind that there is scarcely any nourishment even in home-made beef juice (the best form of any extract of meat). Home-made beef juice is prepared by scraping the meat into shreds, placing in a jar, and leaving the water to soa... Bile Black
For this take two tablespoonfuls of hot water every five minutes for six hours per day. A good many cases, some even given up by the doctors, have been cured by this simple, yet efficient means. ... Bile On The Stomach
Take half a teacupful of hot water every ten minutes for ten hours. Next day take the same every twenty minutes for a like period. The third day the same every hour. For ten days after take the same before each meal. We have seen a case of liver compl... Biscuits And Water
The biscuits referred to are manufactured in Saltcoats.[A] They are made from the purest whole wheaten flour. The late Mr. Bryden, of the Saltcoats Home, used them along with hot water as sole diet in many serious digestive troubles, with marvellous ... Bleeding
In any case of this pack the feet and legs as directed in Lungs, Bleeding from, and press cold cloths to the place the blood comes from, stomach, womb (see Miscarriage), or lungs. If it comes from the nose, apply the cold cloths to the head and back o... Blisters
The destruction of the skin over any painful part, by means of blisters, is to be always avoided if possible (see Burns, Knee, Pleurisy, etc.) ... Blood
A most common trouble is anaemia, a lack of good red blood, showing itself in a waxy paleness and whiteness of lips, often accompanied by exhaustion and great fatigue. To remedy this, first secure a supply of pure water, of which 80 per cent. of the b... Blood Poisoning
(See Blood, Purifying; Sores). ... Blood Purifying
Fever arising from bad state of the blood may be treated by careful cooling of the spine and head, with towels well wrung out of cold water, frequently changed (see Fever). The pulse in one case so treated was reduced from 130 to 96 by a few applicat... Blood Supply Of
To supply good blood in cases where it is lacking, either from indigestion or low vitality, nothing is better than milk, diluted with an equal quantity of boiling water. It may be less or more diluted, as the patient's power of digestion is greater or... Boils
The following treatment will be found effective to heal less severe forms of boils, by soothing the whole fevered system of nerves, and stimulating the skin in its getting rid of waste material. Begin, then, by thoroughly soaping the head (see Head,... Bone Diseased
Diseased bone is not incurable. Bone is indeed constantly being replaced as it disappears in the ordinary waste of the body. Defective vitality in any part may cause an accumulation of bad material, which forms the basis of bone disease. To cut off...