Evening star., 1925-02-19
Sour Stomach.

Every healthy tDd1Vldual mas an ex-
| ceedingly sour stomach when his stom-
ach Is busy. the normal gastric juice
containing about o.5 per cent of hydro
chioric (muriatic) acid when secreted
and about 0.2 per cent when mixed with
the meal il is working on, and any
healthy person who has ever accidentally
regurgitated a little gastric juice or
chyme into his esophagus (gullet) and
up as far as the throat will testify that
| the gastric juice Is sour, sufficiently sour
| to produce "waterbrash" under such cir
cumstances, or maybe just heartburn"
| II It gets no higher than the esophagus.
Well, then, how come so many folks
complain of "sour stomach'--or be that
as II may. what's good for it?
Acid dyspepsia" "hyperacidity Of the
| stomach" and sour stomach are different
| names for the same thing. Such a COM
plaint is common in SO many different
| conditions that 1t would be OF question
| able health value to attempt to emu
merate the diseases in which "acid
dyspepsia" occurs but it may be worth
| while to discuss a few Of the conditions
which give rise to sour stomach.
Tobacco poisoning is a notorious
| cause Of hyperacidity Of the stomach.
| Tobacco poisoning occurs when anybody
| uses tobacco intemperately, immoderate-
| ly, excessively. Very few persons can
smoke more than twice daily without
| suffering some poisonous effects. The
| tobacco weakling who has to have his
| dope even before breakfast or at any
| other time when his stomach is empty is
| especially subject to hyperacidity of the
| stomach. Tobacco seems to have a selec-
| tive affinity for the pneumogastric
(tenth cranial or vagus) nerve which
controls stomach, lungs and bronchi and
| heart Through damage OF this nerve the
familiar toxic effects of tobacco manifest
| hemselves-hyperacidi cough, palpi
tation or more serious heart disturb
| anceS.
Certain individuals. generally some
what skinny young adults, with large
eyes, cold hands slow hearts nervous
temperament, are subject to excessive
| acidity of the stomach
The affable old docs used to ascribe
| a good deal Of "acid dyspepsia" to "over-
| work'-which certainly pleased the pa
tents vanity. but didn't correct the sins
| covered by that overworked alibi. The
| truth, which one can tell when no private
patient is listening. is that the evil ef-
fects attributed to "overwork' or "over-
| study" are really due to resort to yari-
| Gus stimulants. tobacco, alcohol, drugs,
| tea, conee, even excess OF food, to whip
the fatigued body along or, quite as
often, to efface the weariness Of ennui.
| "a dietary CRIME which Is Committe d
| in too many homes, and which is re-
sponsible for much stomach sour
| ness, is tho abuse OF such condiments
| as vinegar, mustard, pepper, CHINA
| mon, peppermint and the like. all
of which are irHtants to tho mucous
membrane of the stomach, mono O,
| which has any food value Children
| particularly, should be spared these
! insults as much as possible, whether
by the unrestricted use OF the con
| diments as such or Indulgence in no,
| sauces, salad dressings hot dog
and other inventions of a jaded ap.
| petite.
| 1t is generally stated that wate,
should be drunk freely between
meals, but sparingly at meals, and
| never to wash down food. Can thi,
| mean that bread and milk, or crack.
ers and milk, or soup containing
meat or vegetables, is unhygienic?-
! F. A
Answer-No. In the first place
that teaching is no longer in accort
l