The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-11-28
HOME HEAL I'll CLUB
(By Dr. David H. Reeder, Chicago.)

Typhoid Fever and Its Home Treat ment:-At this season of the year there are nearly always more cases of typhoid fever than at any other time, and for that reason it is in order for the Home Health Club to discuss the subject again. With proper home treatment typhoid becomes one of the least dangerous of levers. In the first place, the regular hydrotherapeutic treatment for fevers, as I have often described it, should be thoroughly carried out, and then the question of diet and massage will constitute all of the necessary remaining treatment, with the exception that enemas of about one-ha1f gallon of warm water, containing one tablespoonful of salt, should be given every night until symptoms of diarrhoea appear; then either stop them or give every other night until the typhoid discharge ap- pears, after which the principal dan ger is past.
 Nearly every symptom of tynpan- ties, emorrhage, and fever can be adherence to the fasting principle. no food, liquid or solid, should be given until the bowel dis charge above referred to has appear ed Casually about the seventh or ninth day), and then it must be given in
 
 creased. Give all the pure water the patient wants at any and all times.
 It is we'll to remember that no ac- cumulations, either of a healthful or unhealthfu1 character, can take place in the system except by the consump- ton of food, water, or air. When the bright sunlight is admitted into our dwellings it reveals accumula- tions of dust, filth, or cobwebs, un- manifest but for the introduction of lght.- Just so when 'tthe creature we call a disease germ has found Judgment in our inner being, ans forthwith kindles a big fire, we may know, but for the presence of ma terial with which to build such fires, of those materials upon which fever may feed, which are, properly speaking, waste or refuse from over feeding or improper living in some way. Now, although this interior fire causes intense suffering, and needs to be exunguished with all reasonable speed, yet a real service is being done for the afflicted one, because in ac- cordanee with some of the higher laws, nature is striving to s+clean house" for us We need, then, not only to secure relief from pain, but to cleanse and put into such order as will require no further renovating for a time. at least, these dwelling places where the dirt-loving bug found her. self so much at home.
 Opinions differ as to feeding the patient, but here common reason must grasp the helm. The tongue is the correct indicator of bodily needs; and until it is no longer coat ed, the patient needs no food of any kind. Pure water, and that alone, will suffice every need; though, if the sufferer decidedly wishes a very little sweet milk or fresh butter milk may be given.
 Is there reason in this prescription of food? Suppose yourself carrying a heavy burden for a long and weary distance, your strength at last gives away, and you sink down exhausted. The burden you have been carrying has caused your collapse, remember. Next, suppose some assistant is sent for, and upon arriving where you lie, at once prescribed that your burden be increased, and you at once arise and go forward with it. A heavy lash, such as is laid upon a poor, tired beast sometimes, might cause you to stagger along under such conditions; but, like him also, you might suddenly die from lack of breath Would it not be wiser to tighten the burden you had borne, or if possible, remove it and allow you to rest? Well, thS burden of waste, largely unused food accurnufations doubtless was the cause of your fever. Now, lay the load down utterly and leave it until all trace of the typhoid poison is gone or the mucous lining of the intestines no longer show evidences of it's pres ence; there is no danger of starving. To the reader who does his own think Ing-and members of the Home Health Club are generally such these simple, sensible methods must appeal.
 CLUB NOTES.