Show TALKS ON HEALTH 0 rest is most important factor in treatment of rheumatic ir heart disease I 1 by dr james W barton EVEN VEN in the early days the treatment of tuberculosis was res rest t fresh air good food at first fresh air and good food were believed to be th the e highest factors in the cure it is now known that rest giving the lung a chance to heal by rest rest in bed is the most important part of the treatment when the patient is cured and leaves the institution he has learned how to rest in addition most institutions give home advice in printed form for the patient to follow the one point emphasized is rest at certain definite hours when possible thus the patient is enabled to live almost as a 2 full a life as if he had never had an active tuberculosis bercu losis another disease or dr barton old as history is now being fought everywhere this is rheumatism with the many cases of heart disease which it bausis causes drs H L bacal and R R struthers in the canadian medical association journal tell of the organization of a rheumatism service at the childrens memorial hospital montreal it is interesting that nearly all the systems of the body may be involved in rheumatism the respiratory breathing system is represented by tonsillitis litis pneumonia and pleurisy the joint system by arthritis the nervous tern tem by st vitus dance chorea the skin by fibrous lumps and redness the heart and blood vessels by heart disease nose bleed and purple spots on skin there are also eye stomach and intestinal symptoms due to rheumatism often affects heart rheumatic heart disease is the most frequent and severe complication of rheumatism it is estimated that from 50 ta 60 per cent of the rheumatic pit patients lents finally develop some form of heart disease As with tuberculosis rest is the big factor in the treatment of these heart cases after the all round treatment given during the stay in hospital the following instructions regarding rest at home are given the patients parents on leaving the rheumatic pavilion 1 your child has been up one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon increase half an hour daily until up all day 2 insist on a rest in bed for two hours every afternoon 3 bed at night never later than eight e 1 4 guard against fatigue 5 1 keep in bed during periods of colds fever or other illnesses even if slight gall bladder disturbances one of the popular remedies now used for constipation is paraffin oil liquid petrolatum mineral oil its principal value is that it softens the wastes from the food which after having passed through the small intestine has had most ol of the liquid removed from it the paraffin by mixing with these dry wastes softens or lubricates them so that tha the large bowel can squeeze them downward and out of the body As the paraffin puts nothing into the body and removes nothing of value from the tissues it is considered a barm harmless less method of aiding the removal of wastes from the large bowel the usual dose is one to two tablespoonfuls another use tor for paraffin or min aln eral oil has now been discovered which may prove very helpful to sufferers with liver and gall bladder disturbances the paraffin thrust an abstract in the yearbook of therapeutics tells of the paraffin thrust used by dr I 1 boas who prescribes two to three tablespoonfuls of petrolatum three times a day to give the oil a nice taste he adds 20 to 30 drops of oil of pep mint to a pint of the oil the e of the par paraffin afrin is to give fro from m w f v to six abundant finally liquid bowel movements per day without any irritation of spasms As this is heavy dosage of oil dr boas calls it a thrust which means a hard push or drive at the liver and gall bladder the jhb patient is advised to remain in bed for the day dr M as stated in the yearbook also obtained good results with the paraffin oil in actual inflammation of the gall bladder where there were gall stones with colic and other symptoms the point is that paraffin or mineral oil seems to stimulate the liver and empty the gall bladder in cases of slowness or sluggishness and has been used successfully in the treatment of inflamed gall bladder however the fact that large doses necessary in these cases means mean a it should be used under a p capris supervision 0 beil bed syndicate service |