St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1905-07-08

| Home Health
Club
by DAVID II. REEDER. Phi. D.. n. ..
La Porte, Ind.
SCARLATTNA
)

SO, for INSTRUCTIONS TOT treating scar
latina. I presume from the description
of the cases for which instructions were
desired that the authors of these let
ters of inquiry, as do most of the laity
have the Impression that scarlatins
bears much the same relation to scar
let fever that Variloid does to small
pox, that is, a slight attack. This il
erroneous, however, as scarlatina ane
scarlet fever are synonymous terms
scarlatina merely being the technica
term for scarlet fever.
It seems that most of those who are
now asking for Instructions desire t.
know particularly about the proper die1
for scarlatina. I will, therefore, give
further Instructions upon the subject
including directions for this part OF the
treatment in detail.
Let US see what the disease is, ant
its characteristics, and then the reason
for adopting the dietical rules. which
shall give, will be better understood.
Scarletina is an acute, contagious, in,
fictitious disease the duration of which
is self-limited: it is characterized BY
high fever, rapid pulse, scarlet exam
thema (eruption)-the complications
liable to result being nephritfs (infiam
nation of the kidneys), uraemia tiEsuf
ficiency of urinel, spinal convulsions
and epistaxis lnose bleed). During con
valescenee, desquamation (peeling off,
Of the skin. and lining Of the mouth ane
throat, occurs. Kidney troubles are
more likely to develop, and are more
serious, during desquamation. The fe
yer is liable to run up very high, ever
reaching as high as 104 and 106 degrees
Fahrenheit, and the pulse beats running
as high as ITO and 100 per minute.
When this condition exists it will be
necessary to restrict the diet, exclusive
" to milk, in some form matted, kou-
mis- or peptonized. If there is infiamma-
ton of the kidneys, the milk diet should
be continued for several weeks. and
some authorities claim that scarlatlnal
nephritis is averted by persisting in this
milk diet from the beginning, and con
tinuing for several weeks. When this
regime is maintained it is necessary to
give about four ounces of the fluid every
. hour
During the time the fever is present
which does not, as rule, exceed but
few days, liquid food should be the only
form of nutrition.
There is another thing which must
be carefully avoided, and that is the
renal passage of albumen or, technical
~, albuminuria. The milk diet is usu-
ally all that is required for this, if it is
begun early and persisted in. This
liquid food can be alternated as follows:
Milk, matted milk, koumis, soups, broth
farinacious gruels, etc. As there is LA
bility to renal irritation during desqua-
nation, very little heterogeneous ICON
tanning nitrogen) food should be given,
with the exception of milk and matted
milk, using large quantities of these
liquids, to stimulate uremesis.
AS the throat is generally affected, it
frequently occurs that there is dryness
Of the mouth. thirst and difficulty in
swallowing. Then the juices Of such
fruits as oranges (quite sour, lemons,
barley water, frappe, etc, should be
given in larger quantities.
Even though there has been a light
attack, there should be great precaution
exercised in the diet Of convalescing pa
tents. It often occurs that the appetite
is too vigorous. They should not be
permitted to overload the stomach, how
ever, shortening the duration Of the IN
tervals between meals, instead.
The following may be given as the pa
tienl gains in strength:
Milk toast, cream toast, soft-boilesl or
poached eggs, eggnog without the
liquor, small portions of mashed baked
potato, sweet oranges, steWed prunes,
baked apples with cream, small quanti-
ties of dates and figs, using care not to
cverburden the stomach with too much
at a time.
These instructions, If followed in con-
aection with those given in a previous
lecture, will be successful in tiding the
patient safely over tie severest case Of
scarlatina.