Searchlights on Health eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 507 pages of information about Searchlights on Health.

Searchlights on Health eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 507 pages of information about Searchlights on Health.

SYMPTOMS.—­Symptoms vary according to the severity of the attack.  Chills, fever, headache, languor, loss of appetite, stiffness of neck, with tenderness about the angles of the jaw, soreness of the throat, pain in the ear, aching of the limbs, loss of strength, coated tongue, swelling of the neck, and offensive breath; lymphatic glands on side of neck enlarged and tender.  The throat is first to be seen red and swollen, then covered with grayish white patches, which spread, and a false membrane is found on the mucous membrane.  If the nose is attacked, there will be an offensive discharge, and the child will breathe through the mouth.  If the larynx or throat are involved, the voice will become hoarse, and a croupy cough, with difficult breathing, shows that the air passage to the lungs is being obstructed by the false membrane.

HOME TREATMENT.—­Isolate the patient, to prevent the spread of the disease.  Diet should be of the most nutritious character, as milk, eggs, broths, and oysters.  Give at intervals of every two or three hours.  If patient refuses to swallow, from the pain caused by the effort, a nutrition injection must be resorted to.  Inhalations of steam and hot water, and allowing the patient to suck pellets of ice, will give relief.  Sponges dipped in hot water, and applied to the angles of the jaw, are beneficial.  Inhalations of lime, made by slaking freshly burnt lime in a vessel, and directing the vapor to the child’s mouth, by means of a newspaper, or similar contrivance.  Flour of sulphur, blown into the back of the mouth and throat by means of a goose quill, has been highly recommended.  Frequent gargling of the throat and mouth, with a solution of lactic acid, strong enough to taste sour, will help to keep the parts clean, and correct the foul breath.  If there is great prostration, with the nasal passage affected, or hoarseness and difficult breathing, a physician should be called at once.

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DISEASES OF WOMEN.

DISORDERS OF THE MENSES.

1.  SUPPRESSION OF, OR SCANTY MENSES.

HOME TREATMENT.—­Attention to the diet, and exercise in the open air to promote the general health.  Some bitter tonic, taken with fifteen grains of dialyzed iron, well diluted, after meals, if patient is pale and debilitated.  A hot foot bath is often all that is necessary.

2.  PROFUSE MENSTRUATION.

HOME TREATMENT.—­Avoid highly seasoned food, and the use of spirituous liquors; also excessive fatigue, either physical or mental.  To check the flow, patient should be kept quiet, and allowed to sip cinnamon tea during the period.

3.  PAINFUL MENSTRUATION.

HOME TREATMENT.—­Often brought on by colds.  Treat by warm hip baths, hot drinks (avoiding spirituous liquors), and heat applied to the back and extremities.  A teaspoonful of the fluid extract of viburnum will sometimes act like a charm.

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Searchlights on Health from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.