HEALTH HINTS-WHAT TO DO IN EMERGENCY Health Hints.—It is much better to prevent disease than to cure it. Health depends upon strict adher ence to a few simple rules. Most of the sickness of to-day is preventable, and is due primarily to carelessness in living habits. It is not enough, however, sinaply not to be ill. Many people who are not sick, still are not well. To really enjoy life, one should be at his best and know the thrill of abounding health and the joy of well being. Many people never experience this, and the slightest change in their envirorunent makes them uncomfort able; yet they would not say they were ill.
Plenty of fresh air, a sane and simple diet and regular exercise, combined with a care-free state of mind, are the secrets of a normal, healthy life. They are so simple that people overlook them.
Fresh Air.—Sleep with the win dows open, but be protected from the direct wind. Night air is not only not harmful, but absolutely healthful. See to it also that you work under conditions of fresh air; it will prove a tonic. Bad air depresses all the or gans of the body. Houses, working places, offices, hotels, trains, are abominably ventilated. Keep on the lookout or you will be constantly poi soned. Tenting out in the summer thne or sleeping on a screened porch or roof will prove to the tired worker who is run down a wonderful restorer. Make friends with the fresh air.
Exercise.--Just this simple but important suggestion: Each person must have during each day a fair amount of rather vigorous exercise of the large muscles of the body. By this I mean the muscles of the trunk. These muscles are closely related to the most important organs of tbe body and the latter depend upon the muscles for their vitality. Bending the body forward and back-ward at the hips and sideways and twisting at the waist are very valuable exer cises. Walking and slow running are exceedingly important, especially if indulged in until they cause deep breathing and perspiration. Of course outdoor exercise is best. Hill climb ing is splendid, especially for a weak heart, if done with frequent intervals of rest. Everyone should have a fa vorite outdoor recreation aside from and different from his daily work. Baseball and tennis for the vigorous, golf and horseback riding and wheel ing for the more mature, are excel lent. A medicine ball used with a va riety of movements is fine for exer cising the large muscles referred to. The great increase in the so-called organic diseases, namely, diseases of the heart, lungs, digestion, and kid neys, reveals the need for systematic exercise. People who are inclined to obesity, in particular, should select some helpful forms of exercise. Exer cise should be taken in such a way as to be real fun, not work; it should be pleasure and not stern duty.
Bathing.—The day's work should be followed by a short, refreshing bath. Nothing will prove so cheering as this. When depressed or irritable, a bath will oftentimes drive dull care away. People with weak hearts must be cautioned in using very cold water, as it is quite a shock to the nervous system. The average person, how ever, will find a quick, cool sponge bath decidedly stimulating. Many
prefer it on arising in the morning. If one's work causes the skin to be moist during the day, it will be more refreshing to take it at the close of the day's work, possibly, and best before the evening meal, allowing some time between.
Returning for the moment to the subject of exercise, may I hold out one word of warning? Housewives and men on farms are particularly liable when alone without help near by to often lift an object or move it which in the act demands great ef fort. This is exceedingly dangerous, as in efforts of strain the blood pres sure increases and harm may result Don't attempt to lift or move any object requiring great effort.
Diet. —What one eats is closely re lated to how one feels. Most people undoubtedly eat too much. This is true particularly of people who work indoors and do not exercise much. Such people should eat meat but once a day, as meat is only required in quantities by persons who work vigorously with their muscles. I do not believe people should be faddists in reference to eating. To eat well cooked foods, plenty of vegetables, liberally of fruits and cereals and sparingly of rneat and pastries, all well masticated when eaten, is the wisest course. It is foolish to be too fanciful in the choice of foods and to punish oneself in eating raw foods and unpalatable mixtures.
Just a simple word of counsel as to what not to eat: Any food which is tasted an hour or more after eating is being digested with difficulty. This will differ as to effects in different people. Such foods should be elimi nated. Some people find radishes, onions, cucumbers, and sausage very difficult of digestion, while others thrive upon them. The latter can eat them with impunity, while the former must do without them, or uncom fortable and even serious results will follow. Salads and highly seasoned dressings should be eaten with cau tion.
Fatigne.—This is a day when men and women are constantly overwork ing. Some housewives and many busi ness men never know when to stop. Consequently, they constantly over work and never get fully rested. They are tired and often don't know it. They wonder why they are peevish and irritable. The truth is their blood is filled with fatigue products, their nerves are tired and insensible. Nothing but complete rest will help. Under such physical conditions a housewife cannot be a good mother nor a man a good father. Working habits must be adjusted so as to per mit of rest, or living becomes miser able. The housewife should learn to regulate her working hours just as workingmen do, or health will pay the penalty.
A further and final word in refer ence to health: Consult a doctor fre quently. Many people call the doc tor as a last resort. This is wrong, and many a serious illness results which otherwise might have been pre vented. The eyes, teeth, and throat should be examined occasionally, es pecially when they are sensitive, as diseases of these are peculiarly re lated to the depression of the whole body and affect temperament as well. This is particularly true of children.