HOW TO KEEP WELL by Mary Alice Hare Loper, M.S.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Feb 24, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 7.

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EASIER TO KEEP FROM BEING SICK THAN TO GET WELL WHEN ILL—SCIENTIFIC CLEANLINESS AND ITS UNTOLD BENEFITS

HOW TO KEEP WELL

By Mary Alice Hare Loper, M.S.

EASIER TO KEEP FROM BEING SICK THAN TO GET WELL WHEN ILL—SCIENTIFIC CLEANLINESS AND ITS UNTOLD BENEFITS

By MARY ALICE HARE LOPER, M.S.

THERE are simple but effectual precautions against disease which should not be ignored or neglected in the home life. Parents who properly safeguard their own health and the health of those under their care, will be amply repaid by the absence of disease sources in the home. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is a truism which every home keeper would do well to remember. It is so much easier to keep well than it is to get well after one becomes ill.

"One may have wealth or ease or luxury, Or greatest fame that time can ever tell; But wisest sages fittingly agree That 'life is not to live, but to be well.'"

A SECRET OF KEEPING WELL

Many mothers have come to recognize that the secret of keeping a baby well lies in scientific cleanliness; and the rule is a proper one for the entire household. Many a case of serious blood-poisoning has resulted from a slight injury, which, if it had been cleansed immediately with a few drops of some good disinfectant, would have healed without trouble. Many a case of sore eyes is contracted from using a towel which has become infected by some one similarly afflicted. Infected tableware, also, is recognized as a common source of disease, so that the public dining-room is a great menace to health.

It is surely commendable that our government has seen fit to enact pure food laws for the safeguarding of the public. And now if we could only have some pure dish laws, so that food would not become contaminated during the serving process, that would surely be "a consummation devoutly to be wished." May the day hasten when proper thought will be given to this matter.

Family tooth-brushes are quite unknown, but family hair-brushes and combs are very common, in face of all the varied forms of scalp disorders. There are family conveniences that are eminently proper; but in the domain of health, individual conveniences only are safeguards against contagion.

DANGERS FROM KISSING

The common custom of kissing has come to be recognized as a fruitful source of illness. It is well known that life itself may be risked by kissing patients suffering of diseases which may be communicated in this manner. It is repulsive to think of using a table napkin that has been used by some one else; and yet how difficult it seems to refrain from kissing loved ones known to be suffering of deadly diseases!

"Well," says one, "I think this crusade against kissing is all old-fogyism. I am not at all afraid to kiss even those afflicted with tuberculosis." But the fact is, not being afraid of contracting a disease, is no sure protection against it. I once knew a trained nurse who did not seem to be at all afraid of the typhoid case under his care, but the bell tolled for his funeral while the patient was convalescing.

One should use judgment in associating with the sick, and should refrain from kissing when there is danger of becoming infected with disease germs. This is a good rule to follow even in case of a common cold.

INFECTED CLOTHING

Infected clothing is a source of disease of which many do not seem to realize the danger. Handkerchiefs, especially, are disease carriers; and those used by patients suffering of any form of contagion, should be boiled in soap and water for twenty minutes, with as little previous handling as possible. All infected clothing that can be boiled, may be easily disinfected in this manner. It can then be washed without danger of contagion. After handling infected clothing, cleanse the hands with pure peroxid of hydrogen or some other good disinfectant.

Clothing that will not stand boiling should be fumigated with formaldehyde or sulphur, or be soaked for two hours in a cold solution consisting of two tablespoonfuls of bichlorid of mercury to one gallon of water. Formaldehyde and bichlorid of mercury are deadly poisons, requiring care in their use, and should be kept in bottles differing in appearance from any other bottle about the home; and they should be plainly labeled "Poison." Large colored-glass bottles answer the purpose well, and they should be kept out of the reach of children.

It has been wisely suggested that no one ever should take a dose from any bottle without first reading the label twice. If this rule were followed carefully, many a case of accidental poisoning might be avoided.

Children should be taught never to place in the mouth food or anything else that has fallen to the floor. Playthings that lie about the floor should not be placed in the mouth. The creeping baby may become infected easily with disease germs from the floor, and therefore will bear watching.

WATER, AIR, AND SUNSHINE

Our olfactories were given us not only for pleasure in enjoying the delicate perfume of flowers and the sweet odors of ripening fruits, but that we may discern when we come in contact with foul air, which may give rise to disease.

Typhoid fever, tonsillitis, diphtheria, etc., may easily develop from imperfect sewerage or surface drains. The surface well, also, is a dangerous thing. Many a case of serious illness and many a death have occurred as the result of infection from these sources.

Too much shade, also, is a menace to health. Far better have a dwelling-house occupy a rise of ground wholly apart from shade, than have the purifying rays of the sun so nearly excluded as they are when numerous trees are planted in too close proximity to it. Disease germs flourish where dampness reigns, and many a little grave in the cemetery attests the deadly effects of impure water, bad drainage, and too much shade. Far better cut down the shade-trees than live in a damp atmosphere. Disease germs die where the sun has full sway.

THE BURLAP-COVERED COOLER

The family refrigerator becomes a menace to health if permitted to remain in an insanitary condition. The burlap-covered "cooler" is much more difficult to keep free from germs than is the ice refrigerator. Mold should never be allowed to accumulate where contaminable table supplies are kept. Laws may be enacted for the safeguarding of the nation physically; but there are so many ways in which

health may be undermined, that it remains largely with the individual, after all, to determine to what extent his own health shall be fostered or abused.

However, the all-wise Creator has endowed man with sufficient wisdom to ascertain what is for his best good, and man is under obligations to use that wisdom as God intends. "Little foxes spoil the vines." So little transgressions of nature's laws, often repeated, result in illness and death. "Eternal vigilance" is the price of health as well as of liberty; but it pays to practise it.