Part 18 (1/2)
But the tendency nowadays is to build better houses, to cover the walls with paper, to put on double windows, and even to paste up the cracks to make the room as air-tight as possible. To sleep in such a room without a window open may not be committing suicide, but it is a deliberate method of reducing the vitality, of insuring a headache or a numbed and stupid mental condition, and of loading up the system with poisons which ought to be eliminated by the oxygen which fresh air supplies. It would add many years to the lives of the people of this country if, from childhood up, the habit was formed of sleeping with the window open. Nor need one fear that a cold would result from such exposure. A cheesecloth screen in the window prevents any draft and yet allows perfect ventilation. The face is trained to all kinds of exposure without any danger of catching cold, and there is no reason why, if the bed clothing be sufficient, the night air should not be thoroughly enjoyed without danger. Of course, the bed clothing must be sufficient; two lightly woven blankets are always better than one heavy one. Wool is better than cotton; if a cotton quilt is used, it should be loose and not tied tightly.
_Bathing._
An important function of the skin is to expel objectionable elements coming from the breaking down of the cells and from digestive processes; the skin is quite as important a factor in getting rid of this waste matter as those other processes more commonly considered in this connection. This action goes on most energetically when the secretion of perspiration is abundant and when the temperature of the surrounding air is so high that perspiration does not evaporate as rapidly as discharged. All these secretions contain more or less solid material which, unless removed, acc.u.mulates on the surface of the skin to clog up the glands and, in some cases, to putrefy and decay. It is this decay of organic matter on the surface of the skin which causes the odors plainly noticeable in a crowd, particularly in the winter time. This acc.u.mulation can be prevented only by frequent bathing and by wearing clean clothes, and there is no surer indication of a proper self-respect than the habit of cleanliness, both as to one's person and one's clothes. There is also the very practical feature that cleanliness is an effective method of discouraging infection and disease, partly by the removal of scurf and partly by the greater healthfulness of the skin thereby induced.
Baths have always served as therapeutic agents, and evidences of their use may be found in Roman paintings and in Egyptian sculpture to-day.
But from our standpoint it is their hygienic importance that is insisted upon. Ordinarily, the temperature of the bath should be between 90 and 100 degrees, and enough soap should be used to counteract the oily nature of the deposits on the skin.
Unfortunately, facilities for bathing, except in summer, have not been generally supplied to detached houses in the country. Plumbing in most houses has been lacking, but in these days bath-rooms are being installed with surprising rapidity, and the conveniences resulting are enjoyed as soon as they are understood. Only a few days ago, the writer was told of a small village of perhaps two or three hundred persons where this last summer one house, the first in the village, was provided with a bath-room, to the great interest of all the villagers. The convenience and comfort involved were immediately appreciated, and the plumber, who came in from a neighboring city twenty miles away, secured contracts for and installed twelve bath-rooms in twelve houses before he was allowed to leave the village. This same interest is everywhere noticeable, and the lack of bathing throughout the winter, formerly, alas, so common, is now giving way to a greater cleanliness, thereby improving the health and character of the inhabitants.
A great deal has been written about the value of a cold bath, particularly in the morning, and many people, from a sense of duty, suffer what is almost torture taking a shower bath or a cold plunge bath on rising. When a cold bath (which should not last more than a few seconds) is followed by a good reaction, that is, when after drying, a distinct glow is felt, there is no objection to its use, and undoubtedly it has a tonic effect for those whose vitality is able to endure the shock. But cold baths for their tonic effect are desirable only when the individual is a.s.sured of their lasting benefits. Nor must one judge of the effects by the immediate results, inasmuch as the splendid feeling which follows may be succeeded by a period of depression lasting the rest of the day; in which case, the total effect of the cold bath is bad rather than good. Baths for cleanliness are everywhere desirable, and their frequency should depend upon the individual, his const.i.tution, habits, and work; upon the season and temperature; and on the conveniences for bathing in the house. Baths for tonic effect are not necessary, and if not a pleasure, may very properly be omitted.
One other point to be noted is that no practice is of more value in reducing the ravages of contagious diseases than a frequent and conscientious was.h.i.+ng of one's hands. For germs are most certainly transmitted from one person to another, and it is accomplished more frequently by the hands than by any other part of the body.
The invitation, therefore, to a guest to wash his hands before dinner is really an invitation for him to disinfect himself or to get rid of the germs which he is carrying, in order that the host and his family may not be infected during the meal. The guest owes it to his host always to accept the invitation, whether he thinks he needs it or not. Doctors recognize the necessity, and it is surprising to observe how many times during the day a doctor washes his hands, even though he may not come in contact with any particularly infectious disease. An ordinary man, on the other hand, washes his hands only when he thinks they are dirty, although his daily occupation may expose the skin of his hands to infection many times worse than that which the doctor experiences.
_Mouth breathing._
Children have sometimes wondered why they were made with both mouths and noses, since they could breathe equally with either, and many years have gone by before they realized that breathing through the mouth was not intended, but that the exclusive province of the nose was to furnish air to the lungs. The reason for nose breathing rather than mouth breathing is twofold. In the first place, no provision for removing or filtering out germs from the air is made in the mouth, whereas in the nose the crooked pa.s.sages, the moist surfaces, and the hairlike growths all tend to strain out any germs normally in the inspired air.
Further, breathing through the mouth has a tendency to induce inflammation in the tonsils and in the air pa.s.sage connecting with the ear. This inflammation develops into those growths known as adenoids, which, when enlarged sufficiently, close the nostril entirely and prevent its normal use. A recent examination made by the New York Board of Health of 150 school children, all in some way abnormal, showed that 137 had either adenoids or enlarged tonsils. Example after example could be given of school boys and girls whose mental and moral development has been markedly r.e.t.a.r.ded because of mouth breathing. One need only look at a child or adult who constantly keeps his or her mouth open to be impressed by the listless, vacant, inert appearance of the face thus disfigured. Figure 74 shows a photograph of a schoolgirl just before an operation and the characteristic expression due to adenoids is plainly marked. Earache is largely due to adenoids or to inflammation that rapidly leads to adenoids, and Mr. William H. Allen, Secretary of the Bureau of the New York Munic.i.p.al Research, reports that in 415 villages of New York State, 12 per cent of the children living there were found to be mouth breathers. Whenever a child is unable to breathe through his nose, is slow in talking, and then speaks with a stuffy accent, calls ”nose” ”dose,” has a narrow upper jaw, and is either deaf or has inflamed eyes, it is practically certain that enlarged tonsils and a well-developed growth of adenoids are present and should be removed. Not merely do these growths interfere with the mental and physical development of the child, but they also make him more susceptible to contagious diseases, particularly those of the lungs and bronchial tubes.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 74.--Schoolgirl with adenoids.]
The removal of adenoids is a simple operation, lasting not over a minute, and the result of the operation is in some cases almost miraculous. The medical inspectors of the New York City schools consider the removal of adenoids as a most important part of their work, and groups of children are regularly taken from the schools by the princ.i.p.al to the clinic at the hospital, where one after another tonsils are cut off or adenoids are removed, all fright and commotion being avoided by the gift of five cents as a reward.
_Eyes._
Another evidence of advancing knowledge in matters pertaining to sanitary hygiene is shown in the greater attention given to the eyes, particularly of children. Such incidental troubles as headache, sleeplessness, or biliousness are frequently due to weak or strained eyes, and in the case of school children a great deal of the alleged insubordination, backwardness, and truancy of the children is caused by their being unable to see written instructions or explanations.
It is not likely that this increased difficulty with the eyes is a new thing, but rather that both physicians and laymen are more careful as well as more expert in diagnosing the trouble. The New York State Board of Health in the fall of 1907 sent out cards for testing the eyes of school children to 446 incorporated towns. The results of using these cards in 415 schools were returned and showed clearly that nearly half the children of school age in the state had optical defects. A similar test in Ma.s.sachusetts recently discovered 22 per cent of the school children with defective vision, and this knowledge in itself is an advance inasmuch as it suggests to each individual or to all parents that deficient vision is common and that good eyesight is not a thing to be a.s.sumed.
In the country it is more difficult, perhaps, to realize these deficiencies, because the constant outdoor life acts as an offset to the strain during the time when close work is required, and perhaps the distance from a competent oculist serves to postpone the time of consultation, but no greater folly can be indulged in than to suffer inflamed eyes, persistent headache, and imperfect vision, if it is possible in any way to secure the services of an oculist.
Never is it worth while to buy from a jeweler, a grocer, or a hardware store a pair of spectacles, much less to buy them from an itinerant peddler, since an oculist, with his particular apparatus, can measure the seeing ability of each eye and fit each eye with the necessary lens to restore normal vision. It is better to have no gla.s.ses than to have gla.s.ses that are wrong.
_Teeth._
A curious result of the recent studies among school children with defective eyes and ears has been the discovery that bad teeth were quite as important in their relation to general health as either bad eyes or ears. One eye specialist went so far as to say that the teeth of school children should be attended to first, because thus many of the eye troubles would disappear.
As has already been pointed out, the first, step in digestion is taken in the mouth, and careful chewing is not less important than the other parts of the digestive process. If one's teeth are not adapted to chewing, if they are bunched, crowded, loose, or isolated, the appearance of the teeth is the least objectionable feature. The real importance comes from the fact that with such teeth perfect mastication is impossible. The teeth themselves harbor germs which actually infect the food and favor its putrefaction. With decayed teeth, infectious diseases find a ready entrance to the lungs, nostrils, stomach, glands, ears, nose, and membranes. At every act of swallowing, germs are carried into the stomach. Mouth breathers cannot get one breath of uncontaminated air, and dental clinics, organized and conducted in the interests of the health of school children, have been altogether too little inaugurated. The use of a toothbrush should be encouraged in children as soon as they are four years old, and its habitual use twice a day is most desirable for every one.
Only regular examination by the dentist can keep the teeth in good condition, and periodic visits at least once a year to a dentist's office, not to the kind advertised by Indians where they are willing to extract teeth without pain, free, but where a regularly qualified dentist practices, should be the habit. Armenian children, who prize and covet beautiful teeth, are taught to clean their teeth always after eating, if only an apple or a piece of bread between meals, and while probably our American customs would hardly make this possible, there is no question but that a persistent and frequent use of the toothbrush will help much in reducing dentist bills.
_Sleep._
From many standpoints sleep is the most wonderful attribute of the human body. Our familiarity, from our earliest years, with sleep, closes our eyes to its strange, its awful power. We know that every human being, once in twenty-four hours, will normally close his eyes and for a certain length of time be as oblivious to things present as if already in the sleep of death. It is a common belief that sleep is nature's provision for restoring tired muscles and jaded nerves, and for building up new tissue in cell and corpuscle. Excessive exertion produces a numbness and exhaustion so that the body becomes ”dead tired,” and sleep brings back life and elasticity. And yet some parts of the body, some muscles and some organs, do not stop work during sleep, and apparently feel no bad results for their continuous lifelong exertion. Thus, the lungs, whose muscular action is estimated at the rate of one thirtieth of a horse power, have no rest day or night, seemingly without weariness. Similarly, the heart is continually forcing blood under a pressure of about three pounds through the arteries without cessation from birth to death.
Why do the muscles of the arm and leg tire and need sleep as a restorer, while those of the heart and lungs are independent of sleep? Dr. W. H.