The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-26
WAY TO CURE RHEUMATISM.
DIR. Leyden, the German Specialist,
Gives This Advice on the Matter.


suredly so control it that your existence
will be almost free from its torturing
pains" That is what DIR. Leyden of the
University Of Berlin said TO an American
recently. To DR.. Leyden he had~gone as
the leading authority on rheumatism in
Europe, and after having been told by
many physicians that ne must grin and
bear his afiiction with all the philosophy
he might, when hope and the efficacy of
drugs ebbed low, the Germans opinion
seemed almost too good TO be true.
we don't give any medicine in such
cases as yours said the doctor. What
you need is diet and exercise and plenty
Of both. The rheumatic who lives a Sc
dGntary life and feasts daintily is bound to
come TO very bad end. Hearty, frequent,
well-chosen meals and much busting
about in the open air are absolute essen
tails to a cure. The prime cause of rheu-
matism is indigestion, and, though you
may eat prodigious meals, if your stomach
does not assmilate what Is given 1t you
are quite as poorly nourshed as the man
who gets but a crust a day. AS to what
you can and cannot eat here is the rule:
OF meats you must deny yourself heavy
dark flesh. Under this head is itemized
mutton, Venison, goose and anything that
Is cut off a pig. Devote yourself to
chicken, lamb, game sweatbreads, brains
cooked and served without rich sauces.
Avoid lobster and crabs and every fried
nsh, but enjoy oysters and clans
or vegetables never touch tomatoes
cucumbers and all salads that have vine
gar dressing, for an inadequate stomach
is busy manufacturing more powerful acid
than the system can endure. Eat lightly
of potatoes. dried beans or peas, and raw
onions, but let yourself indulge freely in
green beans and peas. carrots, turnips and
well-cooked greens. For all the starch
your body needs rice is the proper source
of supply. An abundance of well-cooked
rice is worth all the bread and beans and
potatoes put together.
Strawberries, raw pears and raw apples
are cut off from the rheumatic, however
wholesome they may be for others and.
strangely enough, where grape and orange
juice VIII set mans joints to throbbing,
ne can help himself safely and freely to
lemon and lime juice. A divine healing
quality is found in the acid of both these
fruits. There as but one sentence to cover
the use of sugar: Don't eat 1t in any form
whatsoever. Americans make the best
sweetmeats In The world and suffer most
cruelty from their use of them.
almost as sweeping a denuncia ton
may be made of all liquids save water
and milk. Beer claret, port, and cham
payne act as a sort of poison on the rheu-
matte system, and though whisky and
DIduuys gin ana rum are not so ln1url GUS,
if taken sparingly at long intervals, they
are best abjured and water and milk sub
stituted. In the past ten years mineral
waters have been consumed in enormous
quantities by rheumatics in the belief that
they afford especial aid, and they are Cffi-
cacious, chiefly though, from the fact that
they are very pure and that the use of
them induces a patient to imbibe an unus-
ual quantity of sweet cleansing liquid.
II am willing to say that where mineral
waters are not easily obtained any pure
water taken at the rate of two or three
quarts a day, has an equally salutary eff
feet on the system. il must be pure,
however, and filtered, if there are any
doubts about it's cleanliness. This liquid,
taken slowly in small tumblerfuls and for
the most part between meals, will largely
serve the purpose of mineral water. Not
more than tumberful is wholesome a
each meal, and il best not to take the wa
ter just before or after eating or on set
ting into bed.
"A rheumatic must be nourished, and
most especially one who has languid
appetite. Three meals day are not enough
for such a patient. Between breakfast
and lunch and between lunch and dinner
a fresh egg, beaten up in sweet, fresh milk,
is an excellent stimulant, more valuable
than all the milk punches ever devised.
All these reasonable courses do not lead to
cure, though, unless exercise that is reg
y.
First of all, don't pretend 10 Try for ath-
leucs or violent motion of any kind, since
it is just as injurious to strain the aching
limbs as TO let them lie inert.
For example, when rheumatism attacks
the knees, to swim, to bicycle or to play
golf simply oVertaXes the tortured nerves
and muscles, but If you will take cane
and walk quietly for a mile or two, or II
the weather is dry take your gun and go
proving through fields and woods in
search of game, or. lacking interest In
that try to cultivate a TASTE for hunting
botanical OF chronological specimens, the
exercise then serves as tonic. The main
point is to use the muscles regularly In
wet weather bed room gymnastics serve
as an excellent substitute for the more in
telligent outdoor pleasures but only in
wet weather. Care must be taken never
to exercise so violently that any danger
is incurred from cooling off too suddenly.
'sThe average American puts consider
able faith in baths, and naturally prefers
the stimulating cold water. This Is well
enough when the twinges are not severe
and the joints not swollen. In violent at
tacks of rheumatism IL IS most essential
to avoid cold water and substitute a hot
daily bath, dissolving in the water piece
of sulphur as big as a hens egg. Such a
bath may not seem so invigorating as the
cold water but II taken rapidly. followed
by brisk towclng, with no sudden after
exposure for an hour to any cold air or
draughts, The hot dip is as bracng as the
cold.
Last on the list of aids to the rheu-
matte is massage IL is one of the few
real aids TO relief in severe attacks.
Amateur rubbing 10 often as great in
jury as genuine help, but a good Swedish
masseuse can help an invalid over the
hardest places. and really help to tone up
The system. A rheumatic must. moreover.
submit TO the unpleasant bondage OF fan
neis-not the thick ewathings that the pa
tient American, i'm his steam-heated house |
dutlfully puts on IN october and wears un-
ul the lst OF June, but close. light-weight |
hanncls, and ln 20 changing "A climate as |
thai of the Northern states every rhou- |
matte should own several sets OF fanneis |
of various degrees OF weight These must |
be shifted or and on az tho thermometer |