Before the two ends of the abdominal pack are folded over on the front of the abdomen, the narrower piece is drawn up between the legs from behind, so that the end of it can be fastened to the two sides of the abdominal part of the pack that are folded over in front.
As shown above, the abdominal pack must reach down as far as possible, and if a patient is unable to stand both packs, the moist part of the abdominal pack may be omitted, and only the regular pack over the sexual organs and the woollen part over the abdomen applied.
In case the cross piece is for the purpose of cooling and contracting, it must be frequently renewed.
Women should accompany the ablutions mornings and evenings with injections of lukewarm water at 71 degrees to 82 degrees, and men should make ablutions of the sexual parts 5 to 6 times a day with water at 64 degrees to 71 degrees.
The cross pack has the advantage of gradually putting back into normal position, the female organs, if they are in any way displaced.
These packs will help to cure cases of leukorrhoea and gonorrhoea, locally too, without operations or the application of poisons, especially if applied at an early stage.
LEG PACKS (26)
These are applied in a similar way to the abdominal pack.
A towel or linen is doubled, moistened, and placed upon the woollen cloth, so that the woollen material extends about two inches beyond the upper and lower edges of the towel. These are laid together under one of the patient's legs, covering it from the middle of the thigh to the ankle, turned up from both sides and fastened with three safety pins. The other leg is packed in the same way, each one separately.
In like manner partial packs of the calves or the feet are applied. In all of these cases it is more expedient and comfortable to use "knit" packs. Cotton stockings of suitable length from which the foot has been removed, should take the place of the linen or towel in the packs previously described. They are moistened and covered with woollen stockings of corresponding length. The foot parts are to be used only for foot packs in a similar way. The woollen stocking should be as loose and comfortable as possible. In case of bent legs (through gout or otherwise) the moistened linen is wrapped around the leg like a bandage, and then a woollen bandage is wound over it.
In cases of severe fever the wrists are also packed, no woollen cover, however, being necessary in this case.
The leg pack has, in the first place, a diverting and consequently a calming effect. It is, therefore, of the highest value, next to the abdominal, cross, neck and shoulder packs, in all feverish and especially all chronic cases of disease where congestion in the head and breast, with consequent dizziness, headache, insomnia, pains in the lungs and heart, must be removed; moreover, in chronic cases, they assist in the effects of the abdominal pack.
Foot packs, that is, wet stockings, have a very favorable action upon headache, toothache and earache, and are best applied during the night. If they excite the patient too much, they may easily be taken off during the night; otherwise they should be followed by a cold ablution of the feet in the morning. Nervous patients are usually unable to stand the wet stockings, which only work well if the feet become warm quickly, which, as a rule, is not the case in feverish illnesses.
Patients who suffer from cold feet should take a steam foot bath before applying cold foot packs.
Since the legs and the feet develop less heat than the abdomen, leg and foot packs do not require as thick material as abdominal packs, and are changed less frequently. They are best applied when the fever is at its height, in the late afternoon and at night. In case leg packs are continued for a long while, the legs show decreasing inclination to grow sufficiently warm. Whenever this occurs, leg packs must be discontinued, or the packed legs must be warmed in an artificial manner.
The diverting wrist packs are of special value, especially in all acute diseases of the lungs (inflammations, bleedings, hemorrhages) and the heart.
NECK PACK (26)
This is made by folding a piece of linen fourfold, long enough to reach twice around the neck. It is dipped in the vinegar-water at from 59 degrees to 64 degrees, placed around the neck and some woollen material wound over it, covering well the moist linen.
The neck pack has its effect on the inside of the neck in case of tonsilitis, croup, etc.
If stiffness of the neck, headache or similar pains are felt after its use, the moist linen should not be extended to the back part of the neck but only the front and sides.
Where the effect is to be extended to the trachea and its branches, the bronchia and the tips of the lungs, especially in the case of cough, it is still better to apply the following:
SHOULDER PACK (26)
For this purpose a short towel is folded into a strip of about a hand's width, extending from one of the nipples across the opposite shoulder, around the neck, to the other nipple.
A woollen shawl or fabric, fastened together with a safety pin, must cover the moist towel completely. The shoulder pack is always applied together with the abdominal pack. It is put on first, and the two ends are pulled under the abdominal pack, and then fastened.
THE SCOTCH PACK (26)
The Scotch pack is of the greatest advantage in all diseases of the trachea and the lungs, also in case of whooping cough.
Two towels are sewn together lengthwise and, as a moist pack, are placed over the breast of the patient so that the seam will be in the center. The ends are crossed over the back, one end is brought forward over the left and one over the right shoulder; then the ends are crossed once more and tucked under. A woollen shawl or covering is placed over the moist towels as usual, so that it completely covers the moist pack. The ends are tucked under the pack in front. The pack is fastened with safety pins where the ends cross.
THE DIVIDED SCOTCH PACK (26)
This pack is, in some respects better than the last, since it is less liable to form creases, and the upper portion may be changed more frequently for the purposes of cooling, than the undivided pack. It is used together with the abdominal pack.
Instead of using one strip 4 to 6 inches wide, folded 4 to 6 times, as for the shoulder pack, two strips are taken. One strip is passed across each shoulder, and crossed on the breast as well as on the back. The woollen strips used for covering are of course wider and of double thickness. The ends of the two strips are drawn underneath the abdominal pack, and held by it, and the two shoulder packs may be changed as often as necessary for cooling purposes without necessitating a simultaneous change of the abdominal pack.
THE SHAWL (26)
(This is an application similar to "Kneipp's Shawl")
A large square piece of linen crash from 35 to 40 inches in width is folded into a triangle, dipped in the vinegar-water at 59 to 64 degrees, and after being wrung out, is applied diagonally round the neck. The upper part of the back, the cervix, the neck, the shoulders and the upper parts of the breast are thus covered. A woollen wrap, the ends of which are pinned together on the back, will cover the whole pack tightly.
This pack must be changed if the patient becomes too hot (after ½ to 2 hours), otherwise it may stay on all night. In case of feverish catarrh it is used together with the three-quarter pack.
Among other things the "shawl pack" causes the cooling of the blood which streams to the head. Thus its effect in case of congestion and brain trouble is explained.
Neck and shoulder packs, Scotch packs and shawl packs must always be used in connection with a diverting leg, calf or foot pack.
THE THREE-QUARTER PACK (27)
Next to the abdominal pack the three-quarter pack is one of the best applications, especially for children.
A piece of woollen cloth, or a single blanket, as long as the patient and sufficiently wide to reach all around him, is placed on the bed in such a way as to be level with the arm-pits of the patient. A bedspread of about the same size as the blanket is then dipped into cool vinegar-water, wrung out well, and placed on the blanket so that the upper edge of the latter protrudes. The patient is now laid on the bedspread so that it reaches to the arm-pits. The moist spread is then turned up on both sides, part of it is tucked between the legs, and the protruding lower end is laid on or between the feet. Thus the body, from the arms down, is completely wrapped in the wet spread, and the woollen blanket is covered over it as usual and fastened with safety pins. The patient's shirt is then adjusted. The head, the neck, the uppermost part of the breast and back are not packed. Another blanket is placed over the patient and well fastened on all sides. A pillow must be placed between the feet and the lower edge of the bed. To avoid cold feet the wet spread should reach only to the ankles, and the feet be covered with the woollen blanket, or a hot bottle placed near them.
The three-quarter pack is very valuable in feverish diseases, since it takes effect on so large an area of the skin. It is also very helpful in case of meningitis and other inflammations. It should, however, not be applied by a layman, except with the greatest caution.
The inflamed parts must be covered with compresses, as in case of pneumonia and inflammation of the heart.
If three-quarter packs excite children too much, they must be replaced by abdominal and leg packs.
The patient should remain in the pack as long as he does not become too hot or restless. This may occur after 20 to 30 minutes, in case of severe fever; otherwise, the pack may last an hour or longer. The pack is very useful with children when indications of disease appear. In many cases it will develop and cure disease, such as measles, if it is properly applied for 2 to 2½ hours, and followed by a bath at 77 degrees or an ablution at 64 degrees.
When fever and inflamation begin to slacken, and also during convalescence, three-quarter or whole packs applied daily or every second day, followed by an ablution, are very useful for the purpose of solution and excretion.
In such cases the moist heat should be conserved by applying additional blankets or comforters to the limit of endurance.
THE HALF PACK (25)
The half pack is applied like the three-quarter pack, with the exception that it reaches only from the arm-pits to the knees.
It is especially necessary to close it carefully around the legs. The half pack allowing the body more freedom, it may be kept on all night.
It is most effective on the thighs in cases of sciatica. It is, however, also applied in case of febrile disease.
THE WHOLE PACK
This is applied in nearly the same way as the three-quarter pack, but includes also the arms, breast and neck.
In this case the blanket must reach to above the ears. On top of the moist spread a towel is laid, which is first drawn around the abdomen. The patient's arms must be somewhat bent, so that they will not oppress the breast when packed with it. Otherwise the arms may be treated just like the legs, so that the moist spread touches them everywhere. When it is impossible to fasten the blanket at the neck with safety pins, it can be tucked firmly under both shoulders. The blanket must be drawn tightly over the shoulders and the ends tucked under the opposite shoulder. It must exceed the length of the patient by 18 inches. In case one blanket is not large enough, two must be used, one of which may be drawn down 6 inches below the other.
Additional blankets, pillows and comforters may be used in case of high fever.
The advice already given in regard to the differences in packs, depending on their various purposes of cooling, diverting, calming or dissolving, must also determine in this case as to the extra amount of covering. The access of cold air at the neck and legs, however, must always be carefully guarded against.
An ablution or bath must follow each whole pack.
If properly applied, the "whole pack" will be of the greatest benefit in all febrile and chronic cases.
Inflammations require partial packs, while at the same time dissolving or diverting packs of longer duration are applied to the parts of the body which are not affected.
SMALL COMPRESSES
Small compresses may be applied to any part of the body.
They reduce ulcers and slight inflammations; they dissolve coagulation in cases of rheumatism or gout, even of long standing.
A medium sized piece of linen folded six to eight times, is useful in case of toothache or earache. The compress must be covered with a woollen cloth and fastened as securely as possible. Dissolving compresses must be covered more thickly than cooling ones.
Special compresses are sometimes needed on the head, on the heart and around the neck to prevent congestions. They are covered only slightly, and like all cooling compresses, are changed as soon as they become hot.
GYMNASTICS, MASSAGE AND BREATHING EXERCISES (28, 29, 30)
The three items under "Physical Treatment": 28. Gymnastics, 29. Massage and 30. Breathing, require only a few explanatory remarks.
Their common object is, by means of external mechanical aid, to stimulate the circulation of the blood which is undergoing the process of regeneration. They remove obstacles to circulation and produce movements and reactions. While, in the case of massage, this external aid must, as a rule, be given by a third person in order to be effective, gymnastics and breathing exercises depend upon the patient himself. All of them, however, have the common attribute that, in order to be useful, they must be strictly individual. The old proverb: "No one thing is good for everybody," is fittingly applied in this case.
There are few things that are so much abused as this rule in regard to gymnastics. I cannot urge too strongly the importance of caution in advising such exercises. While much of what is claimed for them may be good and true, the governing question as to what is suitable in an individual case, can obviously not be determined by any such impersonal advice. It is the exclusive right and the duty of the attending physician to prescribe whether, and to what extent, these exercises should be applied in each case.
This is true of gymnastics even when practised by reputedly healthy people. By executing certain movements, they may develop disease and weaken certain organs, through ignorance of their abnormal condition.
In case gymnastics or breathing exercises are prescribed as part of a treatment they should be executed in strict accordance with the order of the attending hygienic-dietetic physician.
One of the great principles never to be overlooked in gymnastics is, that in order to have the desired effect they must be carried out with the greatest regularity.
As to massage, this requires knowledge of anatomy in general, and of the anatomy of the individual to be treated, in particular. Only in this way can the desired effect be produced on certain muscles and nerves, with the further consequence that their movements promote the correct and health-giving circulation of the blood. Here again the governing factor must be the prescription of the hygienic-dietetic physician who has studied the individual case and knows the effect he wishes to produce by means of massage, and how to procure the same.
Books on massage and its general practice without knowledge of the particular case, will really accomplish nothing.
ELECTRIC VIBRATORS
In certain cases, and where it is not a question of general massage, the patient will be able to apply massage for himself according to the physician's prescription.
In this connection he will find an electric vibrator of valuable assistance. It will allow him to extend the area of the self-applied massage, but again, it will be useful only to the extent that it is carried out in strict accordance with instructions.
OXYGENATOR, RADIUM AND SALT BATHS (31, 32)
Since the discovery of radio-activity and the many effects which the presence of radium in certain waters and minerals produces on the human body, it has been the special task of research to find means of giving humanity in general the benefit of this important discovery.
The radium preparation, called "Oxygenator," possesses the quality of oxidizing about five times as quickly as any other known substance, and thus removing the degenerated and diseased cells of the human body accordingly.
This material itself, as well as other combinations of radio products and salts I use and prescribe for half or whole baths, as the case may require.
They are of the greatest assistance in carrying out the course of treatment in each individual case. What in former times could be effected only through expensive trips to the few famous healing springs of the world, can now be accomplished in the comfort of the home or the sanatorium. But these measures, too, should be followed only in strict accordance with the physician's orders, bearing in mind that there is such a thing as "too much" even of so valuable an energizer as this.
THE DISEASES TO BE TREATED AND THE APPLICATION OF THE METHOD.
Having given, in the foregoing paragraphs, a brief description of the course of healing which I advocate, I am now about to give a short explanation of the different methods to be applied in treating various forms of disease, all of which have been already explained as degenerations of the twelve tissues of the body. This will enable patients to apply the prescriptions given to their individual cases.
...Once more, however, I warn every one not to commit the mistake of believing that a layman can cure his own disease by even the most careful study of a book such as this is.
To the patient, who has been led into the path of health, it will, as is its purpose, give such instructions as will enable him to see his condition plainly. He will then be able the more effectively to follow the instructions of the physician, and—what is of equal importance—to inform him correctly in regard to his own observations of his condition and the changes brought about by the treatment.
There is another point that I wish to mention here at the outset.
Disease, although reduced to its last analysis under this system, is never so simple that it can be determined as the degeneration of one tissue exclusively. The unity of the body, the close connection of the various tissues, and the gradual transition from one into another, make it impossible to draw the lines as sharply and distinctly as between chemical elements. For the sake of classification we make the degeneration of a certain tissue the distinguishing element between various forms of disease. Let us not forget, however, that this does not mean more than the degeneration of the main tissue which is affected by this particular complaint, while the same is also characterized by simultaneous degeneration of one or more of the other tissues, only to a lesser degree. It is, therefore, not inconsistent if, in giving the more detailed description thereof, several tissues are mentioned as being degenerated, and not only the one particular tissue from which the class derives its name.
I. DEGENERATION OF THE PLASMO TISSUE.
A. Scrofulosis. B. Tuberculosis. C. Syphilis. D. Cancer.
To many who are unfamiliar with the results of modern research, and even to many physicians of the old school of medicine, the family of disease forms, as enumerated above, will look somewhat formidable. It comprises the most disastrous plagues of mankind,—plagues for which cures have been so frantically sought with such an ominous lack of results. It thus constitutes one of the most practical revelations of the biological method of research to positively proclaim that the common cause of these manifestly so different constitutional diseases is one and the same.
That this fact was not recognized long ago is the reason they have been pronounced incurable by so many physicians who, by poisoning symptoms, established only a semblance of cure, until biological study led to the recognition of the truth. It discovered that all of these constitutional diseases are essentially blood defects and degenerations, resulting in the destruction of the body tissue in general,—the necessary and logical consequence of an imperfect condition of the blood.
So there is a ray of hope for humanity breaking through the night of despair; that is, that its worst foes can be made to disappear in due time by attack directed at their common root.
Not the knife of the surgeon, not the poison of the physician of the old school, but simply harmonizing the individual life with the laws of nature, will eradicate the cause.
The tremendous importance of the subject, the wide field to be covered, makes it wellnigh impossible to treat the matter within the present limits as extensively as it should be treated. A large part of my book, "Dare To Be Healthy," of which this is but an abstract, deals exhaustively with this topic. There the reader will find the most interesting details in regard to the connection between these widely divergent forms of disease. Their nature as blood-diseases carries with it the fact that they are preeminently persistent through many generations, so that today there is but a minority of human beings in whom all tendency towards them is missing. So predisposition advances with the continuity of environment, the one point at which, at least in the case of the so-called white plague, or tuberculosis, an effort against it has been made.
The development towards the eradication of these evils has been neutralised by the overwhelming importance science has given to the theory of the bacillus as the incentive element of disease, while it is only a product of the same.
The serum and anti-toxin therapy, which in its fight against the bacillus, lost sight of the first task of medicine, that of fighting the disease, was the logical consequence thereof.
The blood liquid which consists of the plasma and red and white blood corpuscles, and is the carrier of the lymph to such parts of the body as are not fed directly by the lymphatic vessels, such as the nerves, must have a well defined chemical composition in order to fulfil its task. What we call deficiency of blood is, with the exception of traumatically inflicted losses, normal in quantity, to a great extent, but deficient in quality. This consists in the chemical composition and the proportion of nutritive salts in the serum, or in the relation and quality of the oxygen carriers, that is, the red and white corpuscles, whose task it is to remove foreign and disturbing elements from the blood.
It is obvious that deficiency in these elements may be of infinite variety and of the most far reaching consequence for the various tissues of the body, which receive their nourishment therefrom.
According to the nature of the effects which this variety in blood deficiency (dysaemia) produces, we distinguish certain groups of degenerations in the body, for which names were established at a time when the unity of these forms of disease had not yet been recognized. Thus, where dysaemia produces only general debility, we call it anaemia, which may gradually become destructive and develop into "pernicious" anaemia. When it affects girls with all kinds of disturbances in menstruation, perverting their appetite and causing a greenish color of the skin, it is called "chlorosis." If the symptoms are the destruction of the lymphatic glands, so often noticed in children said to be hereditarily affected, we speak of "Scrofulosis." When erroneous composition of the blood, produced by poor living and unsanitary environment, causes destruction of the lungs or of certain bones or tissues, the name "tuberculosis" indicates that the decaying condition of the affected tissues results in producing numerous tubercle bacilli. In the many cases in which the destruction is even more widespread, attacking the skin, bones, brain and other tissues or organs, and where the decomposing poison, if not hereditary, has entered the blood by way of sexual intercourse, the ominous word "syphilis" indicates the resulting blood disease. When the weakened tissues, which are not sufficiently fed with the elements they need for their normal existence, cannot resist the developing power of the phosphates prevalent in the blood, the much dreaded malign "cancer growths" appear.
The destructions wrought by dysaemia in these various forms, cannot be fully described in this brief abstract. They can all be reduced, arrested and forced to give place to healthy regeneration by the hygienic-dietetic healing system. In each case, however, the possibility of cure will depend entirely on the degree of decomposition which has been reached. If the trouble is from hereditary tendency it is obviously harder to fight, and a long regenerative treatment may be anticipated. If attacked at an early stage, complete restoration to health is possible in a comparatively short period.
The most careful and thorough investigation by the physician must precede any treatment. It is his task to prescribe accordingly, with the development of the disease and its gradual disappearance.
The simultaneous direct and indirect affection of various tissues, especially of the lymphatics, will necessitate more complicated application of the various nutritive compositions.
THERAPY.
All that grows in the sunshine makes blood. Therefore, the food of an anaemic person should consist mainly of articles of diet which grow above the surface, such as green vegetables, fresh greens, fruit, berries. Since the blood has already grown very thin, as little fluid as possible should be taken, and for this reason the boasted milk cures are far from advisable. If all hot reasoning is avoided and little salt and sugar are used, no thirst will be felt. Coffee, tea, beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks are to be avoided because they consume oxygen, such as also do thin soups, lemonade, malt coffee, and other beverages of slight food value.
Breakfast: In summer, a glass of cold milk, sweet or sour, and with it strawberries, huckleberries, cherries, or other fruit in season; in winter milk or cocoa, oatmeal porridge with bread (whole wheat, whole rye), or something similar. When the bowels are sluggish, take a little fruit on rising in the morning and at bedtime.
Dinner: Cereals, rice, macaroni, dumplings and eggs, with fresh greens, spinach, fresh peas, fresh beans, cauliflower, all varieties of cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes. Root vegetables are not excluded. Celery and parsnips alone interfere with the renewal of blood. They ought not to be eaten frequently.
Afternoon Lunch: Fruit, milk or one cup only of weak cocoa. If the appetite is good, omit this meal.
Supper: Every day, if possible, some fresh greens seasoned with lemon juice, particularly cresses, lettuce, endive, spinach and red cabbage, with puddings of meal or eggs. Sour milk with fruit and mild cheese, may be taken for a change. In winter, thick soup or porridge with fruit, preferably apples and huckleberries. Also an apple at bedtime.
Anaemic people commonly have no wish for meat. They force themselves to eat it in the belief that only on a meat diet is it possible for them to become strong. They would do better to follow their inclination and refrain from it altogether. They regain health faster on a purely vegetable diet, one special reason being that the digestion is less burdened.
Fattening, combined with rest and rational remedies, like Dech-Manna-Diet, are the best means of curing anaemia.
The deficient appetite must be stimulated through tastefully prepared dishes and much variety. The patient will thus unconsciously be induced to take more food. Delicacies and dainty dishes foster pleasure in eating, and a little food between the principal meals will help to make up the necessary amount. Spinach, also egg omelettes filled with spinach, puddings, groat, oatmeal, light dishes prepared with plenty of eggs, sugar, butter and milk, also roasted meat if desired are the best articles of food for anaemic patients. Drinks that are recommended are: strong malt extracts, buttermilk, sour milk, Dech-Manna chocolate, fruit coffees, fruits, berries, honey and Dech-Manna-Diet.
Two affections, rachitis and scrofula, frequently co-exist, and the same dietary is appropriate for both. Scrofulous patients often have a great longing for sulphur and for irritating compounds. Frequently they consume salt greedily, eat charcoal, onions, and other piquant substances. This indicates their need of vegetables and fresh greens full of nutritious salts and of pungent taste and smell because of the amount of sulphur they contain.
Various kinds of cabbage are appropriate for the principal dinner dish, cooked or raw in the form of a salad, with horseradish to give them relish. For seasoning of vegetables and salads, onions and leeks may be used unsparingly; onion soups will be found palatable and will improve the lymph.
At supper water-cress, lettuce, radishes, and sandwiches made of chives are preferable to sausage and rich cheese. Fresh, mild cheese makes a good side-dish.
Meat should be eaten sparingly, because it rapidly changes into products of decomposition in the lymph, and so the harmful rather than the useful fluids of the body are increased.
In connection with rachitis and scrofula a ravenous appetite is often manifested. This is a morbid symptom. It arises from exhaustion of the stomach and intestines, for no increase of bodily weight accompanies it. The greater part of the nourishment taken passes out of the system without being digested. Such persons, whether adults or children, should have their meals at regular, short intervals, for they are unable to restrain their morbid eagerness for food. After a few days of strict diet they lose their appetite, a condition that must be accepted until a natural hunger takes its place and results in a normal increase in bodily weight.
It is well known that many people suffer from hives and eczema after having eaten certain dishes, such as crawfish, strawberries, oysters, honey, tomatoes or cheese. For such people to refrain from partaking of this kind of food is no protection against eczema. Only regeneration of the blood will lead to a cure.
As a rule such patients should avoid sharp and spicy dishes; especially desirable is a diet of fresh, good meat, not in very large quantity, alternating with days on which no meat at all is taken. It is imperative to avoid sharp cheese, such as Roquefort, mustard, sardelles, mixed pickles and similar spicy dishes. Form VI is best for patients suffering from scrofulosis.
Patients who suffer from diseases of the lungs or other tubercular tissues do not require food of different composition than is generally recommended, provided their digestive organs are healthy. They must have albumen (medium fat beef, veal lean pork, haddie, pickled herring, eggs, brick cheese, peas) and fat in sufficient, even abundant quantity. Warmed milk is recommended especially. Variety in food should prevail. This will be the best means of overcoming the dangerous lack of appetite, which must be stimulated by delicacies and cleverly prepared dishes given between meals, sandwiches, cold fowl, jellies, piquant cold meats. The single portions should be small but frequent. Good beer rich in malt, sherry, malaga and other sweet wines, are all able to promote the appetite, unless the physician orders strict abstinence from alcohol.
In case of haemorrhage of the lungs, the physician will generally prescribe liquid food exclusively, and his orders must be observed strictly. In such cases it is very advisable to take gelatine, which can be prepared in a variety of ways, or meat jellies.
Care should be taken in all forms of tubercular patients, that the special tissue gets its special composition.
The diet for people affected with syphilis does not vary from the one given under I and II. A. for scrofulous patients. Just as in the case of scrofulosis, a rich diet is recommended for syphilis. (Form VI).
In former times starvation-cures were applied in case of syphilis, based on the hypothesis that diseased humours in the body should be reduced. In view of the noxious effect which the disease exercises on the entire body, this method has been given up. In case of the hereditary syphilis of infants, the best possible diet for the mother must always be insisted upon. (Never less than Form VI and Dech-Manna Eubiogen, with each meal). If nursing by the mother is impossible, and since a wet-nurse cannot be subjected to the danger of contamination through the child, easily digestible substitutes for mother's milk should be selected; that is, not cow's milk, but other approved nutritive foods for infants. It will be most beneficial to add Dech-Manna Eubiogen Liquid to the child's food.
Cachectic patients should not, as some authorities recommended in former times, be starved by poor diet in addition to the losses which they already suffer when afflicted with diseases, such as cancer. Except in case of cancer of the stomach and bowels, when I would recommend Form III and, with gradual improvement, an increase up to Form VI, the latter form of diet should always be prescribed in case of cancer. Special instructions, as given under the heading, I. and II. C. For Syphilitic Patients, should also be followed in these cases.
(Only main compositions, specialities to Doctor's order).
I. Anaemia: Plasmogen, Eubiogen.
I. and II. A. Scrofulosis: Plasmogen, Lymphogen, Dermogen, Eubiogen.
I. and II. B. Tuberculosis: Plasmogen, Lymphogen, Mucogen,
Gelatinogen, Eubiogen
I. and II. C. Syphilis: Plasmogen, Lymphogen, Dermogen,
Eubiogen
I. and II. D. Cancer: Plasmogen, Lymphogen, Eubiogen.
Physical:
I. Anaemia. Breathing Exercises.
I. and II. A. Scrofulosis: Partial Packs, Oxygenator baths, Radium and
Salt whole baths.
I. and II. B. Tuberculosis: Ablutions, Breathing Exercises.
I. and II. C. Syphilis Abdominal packs, Partial packs, Oxygenator, Radium
and Salt half baths.
I. and II. D. Cancer: Oxygenator, Radium and Salt whole baths.
II. DEGENERATION OF THE LYMPH TISSUE.
The lymph, the second life-giving fluid, is first drawn from the chyle, the milky juice, into which all food is converted after it leaves the stomach, and after having directly fed the nerves, enters the blood through the ductus thoracicus, and accompanies it in its circulation.
According to its nature some degenerations of the lymph tissue are coincident with degenerations of the blood, and especially the plasma, such as Scrofulosis, Tuberculosis, Syphilis and Cancer, while other degenerations of the lymph tissue coincide with degenerations of the lymph-fed nerve tissue and are consequently treated under that heading.
III. DEGENERATION OF THE NERVE TISSUE.
The nerves which form the very complicated system of gelatinous cords of various sizes which emanate from the brain and the spinal cord, send thousands of branches throughout the entire body. They communicate the impressions from the outside to the brain and convey its conscious or unconscious (instinctive) mandate to the muscles of all organs.
The nerves are fed by the lymphatic system and are everywhere accompanied by blood-vessles, and the oxygenous blood in the latter conveys the oxygen to the nerve substance, which it consumes and thus develops power sufficient to execute the various functions.
Naturally the supply that replaces the burned nerve substance, must be adequate, and if for any reason whatsoever more nerve substance is consumed than the body is able to renew by the time it is needed, the nerve system becomes degenerated and numerous disturbances are the consequence.
This is the great field of mental functions and disturbances, of moods and reactions on muscular tracts which in themselves are healthy, but are paralyzed in their work through the defective functioning of the power-conveying nerves.
Again it is impossible here to give more than a general description, showing on what conditions nervous diseases are based. The manifold manifestations of this degeneration were combined into groups under the old system in which the Greek name of a system was everything, its practical explanation but little.
The principal ways in which these degenerations manifest themselves are pains, mental agony and derangement, temporary cessation of functions, cramps, involuntary movements and similar disturbances.
The names generally applied to them are neuralgia and neuritis,—causing pains in the nerves of certain parts of the body; neurasthenia,—consisting mainly of the complete relaxation of tension in the nervous system, causing sadness, inability for work, etc.; asthma, cramp-like cessation of certain functions of the small vessels of the lungs, alveoli, which impedes respiration; epilepsy, temporary cramp in the greater part of the body, causing loss of consciousness, involuntary movements of the limbs, etc.; St. Vitus's dance,—a similar affection, usually in children.
While the complicated nature of nerve diseases requires very careful treatment of great individual variety, the general rule is that the re-enforcement of the nerves with the material of which they are built, together with regeneration of the blood, which, when in normal condition prevents such disturbances, will bring about a cure. Of course this is sometimes a slow process, especially when, as in the case of epilepsy, the nervous disease is of an hereditary character, and the resistant power of the nerves is correspondingly weak.
In regard to one of the most disastrous diseases, caused by degeneration of the most important nerve i.e. the Vagus, see under "Catarrh"—section VI.
THERAPY.
Diet: If the entire nervous system is in a condition of pathological irritability, as in cases of neurasthenia and hysteria, it is the object of rational diet to keep all irritations from such a vibrating organism.
To prescribe: "No coffee, no tea, no alcohol, no strong spices and no tobacco," will do no harm, and in most cases will prove beneficial.
Nothing is more absurd than the attempt to strengthen nervous people by the use of alcohol. When forbidden alcohol entirely, it will very often transpire that some symptom, like headache, neuralgia, etc., was due to its use. Whenever the general conditions permit the continued use of alcohol to a certain extent, it must not be left to the patient's judgment to determine how far this may go, but definite quantities must be prescribed in each individual case, although the patient's experience may be of assistance in determining the quantity. (Moritz).
Good results have been obtained by limiting the meat diet of extremely nervous patients, and prescribing for them a diet consisting principally of milk, eggs, cereals, vegetables and fruits. In this way the irritating effect of many of the meat extracts is avoided. At the same time the digestive work of the stomach, reduced by the limited meat diet, and the stimulation of stool, always promoted by a prevalence of vegetable elements in the diet, exercises a beneficial influence on the condition of the patient.
Disturbances of the stomach and intestines are very closely connected with neurasthenia, loss of strength of the nerve-tissue, and hysteria, in some cases being the cause, and in other cases, which occur more frequently, the consequence of the same.
Excessive and, more rarely, defective secretion of hydrochloric acid by the stomach cells, cramps, general atony or debility, of the stomach, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, tympanites (excessive production of gases), may all arise from nervous causes. In such cases the diet must be the same as given for nervous disease.
Not only in these cases, but in most instances of nervous diseases, a diet which does not produce irritation and excludes alcohol, will have to be prescribed. The danger of alcohol in cases of peripheric neuritis, epilepsy and mental diseases, is obvious.
Epileptics, like other nervous patients, should receive a diet that is mainly, but not solely, a vegetable diet, exclusive of all highly spiced food.
The same principles govern in case of Basedow's disease, which is a special type of irritating disease.
Absolutely necessary foodstuffs to be recommended in this case are clams, sole and water cress, because they contain more organic iodine than any other known food-stuff.
As iodine is the basic mineral of the thyroid gland, and other preparations are poisonous or dangerous, the necessity of partaking of these dishes becomes obvious, in addition to the fact that if properly prepared, they are delicious. This organic iodine will regulate the secretions of the glands.
A diet void of irritation is also most important for children who suffer from nervous conditions, such as St. Vitus's dance, involuntary urination during sleep, etc. Alcohol and alkaline and carbonated drinks must also be avoided in all nervous conditions that are combined with hyperaemia of the brain, as meningitis, apoplexia, tumors of the brain, etc., since they produce congestions.
Special dietetic directions cannot be given for all of the innumerable varieties of the various other nervous complaints. The general principle must always govern, that sufficient food is the natural foundation, not only of the self-healing tendencies of the organism, but also of any effective therapy.
In special cases where neurasthenia and hysteria or nervous dyspepsia prevail, it will be necessary to apply a special diet to be prescribed by the physician, who must understand the underlying cause, which is, 9 times out of ten, the degeneration of the Vagus nerve. See article on Influenza.