The Physician by the Fireside by Frederick M. Rossiter, M.D.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 18, 1902

The Physician by the Fireside.

By Frederick M. Rossiter, M.D.

Conducted by Frederick M. Rossiter, M.D.

All questions intended for this department should be addressed to Dr. F. M. Rossiter, 294 Van Buren St., Battle Creek, Mich. Those desiring a reply by mail should send self-addressed envelope, and postage.

19.—Treatment for Marasmus.

What is the proper treatment for marasmus? E. W.

Answer.—Marasmus means to make lean. It is due to a lack of nutrition. Not that the system is not furnished with sufficient food, but that the food is not absorbed and assimilated.

In an adult every effort should be made to improve the appetite, by acting upon the nervous and circulating systems. Apply fomentations to the spine, or hot and cold sponging over the spine, for ten minutes; fomentations over the stomach and liver for ten minutes, followed by the application of a towel, or compress, rung out of water at 60°, and allowed to remain for fifteen minutes; cool sponging of the body with friction each day, or sponging with salt water; hot foot bath two or three times a week; breathing exercises two or three times a day; kneading the abdomen with the hands once or twice each day after meals—beginning one hour after the meal.

The diet should consist of such foods as are quickly and easily digested. Thoroughly toasted cereals, zwieback, granose, toasted whole-wheat flakes, malted nuts or milk, may be used. The patient should go to bed, and eat lightly four or five times a day.

20.—Cold Sponge Bath.

Please answer the following questions through the Review and Herald: Is it safe for me to take a cold sponge bath at this time of the year? I have been used to the Southern climate, having been in the North only a few months. I have catarrh of the head. F. C. H., Mo.

Ans.—Yes. Begin with the water at 85°, and lower it one degree each day until down to 60°. While bathing, rub vigorously with a coarse cloth, and dry with a coarse towel. This will help your catarrh.

21.—Salt-Water Sponge Bath.

1. In taking a salt-water sponge bath in the morning, how much salt should be added? 2. What is the value of the salt-water bath?

Ans.—1. Sea water contains from three to four per cent of salt, and Great Salt Lake contains about twenty-three per cent. Bathing in these bodies of water is most enjoyable and invigorating. One-half pound of salt added to two quarts of water would make twelve and one-half per cent of salt in the water.

2. Salt water, when brought in contact with the skin, and reinforced by friction, irritates the nerve endings in the skin. Each irritated nerve ending sends a message to the brain, and practically says, “I am in danger; start up the machinery and send me more blood.” When millions of nerve endings all over the seventeen square feet of skin are sending in like messages, one can imagine the tremendous commotion produced within the entire body. So a salt bath or a salt-water bath, is a powerful energizer to the entire body, increasing its resistance to disease.

22.—Lameness in Back.

I am forty-five years old. Have a lameness in the small of the back, and have a desire to urinate often during the day, and two or three times during the night. What is the cause? H. B. M.

Ans.—There is probably some bladder irritation, which may be due to a stone in the bladder, an enlarged prostatic gland at the neck of the bladder, or to a mild catarrh of the bladder. You ought to see a physician, and have a thorough examination.

23.—Night Sweats.

1. What is the cause of profuse night sweats in a man otherwise in good health? 2. How may it be stopped? W. H.

Ans.—1. The most common cause of night sweats is some form of tuberculosis. It may also be due to exhaustion of the nervous system, and a lack of tone in the blood vessels. It occurs at times in diseases of the blood. The poisons from smoking cigarettes will cause it. Too much clothing, and living in overheated rooms, may produce it.

2. Take a cold-sponge friction bath each morning. This will restore tone to the skin. At bedtime have some one else give you a vinegar sponge. Use one part of vinegar to three parts of water, and have it as hot as can be endured. An ice bag to the base of the brain at the same time, and continued for twenty minutes, is good.

The writer knows of two cases where the patient, as soon as he began to sweat, got up and took a cold sponge bath with the most gratifying results within a week's time.

Sleep in a cold, well-ventilated room, and avoid too much bedding; but if the skin is moist, avoid chilling, by keeping well covered.

24.—Heart Throbbing—Gas in Stomach.

I suffer from throbbing of the heart and from gas in the stomach. Have been in poor health for a year. Please tell me what to do. F. H.

Ans.—The distress in the region of the heart is very probably due to pressure upon that organ by the distended stomach.

Avoid starchy and sweetened foods. Be careful about food combinations. Milk and fruit should not be eaten at the same meal. Eat slowly, and masticate the food thoroughly. Drink a glass of hot water one-half hour before meals. Do not drink at meals, but take sips of hot water after meals if there is much gas. Eat gluten biscuit, thoroughly toasted bread, eggs slightly cooked, a little cream, browned rice, a little baked potato once or twice a week. Peas and lentils should be put through a colander to remove the hulls.

For pain in the stomach after eating, apply fomentations for fifteen minutes, with cold compresses over the heart at the same time.

Be out in the open air as much as possible, and obtain sufficient rest and sleep.

25.—Falling of Rectum—Cold Feet.

1. I am troubled with a falling of the lower bowel, and need to replace it after each movement. 2. Please give treatment for the feet that are cold, numb, and heavy during cold weather. H. B. M.

Ans.—1. Wear an abdominal supporter. After each movement inject a teacupful of cold water. If the parts are painful, bathe them with ice water, or apply compresses wrung out of ice water. Avoid straining, and rest frequently by lying down. An operation may be necessary.

2. Bathe the feet once or twice a day in hot and cold water, alternating from one to the other, for fifteen or twenty minutes, and then rub them vigorously.