The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-11-20

questions of general interest
only. and then only through
his column.
ment Of children. 1t is a valuable
and useful preparation, but it can
do harm. and mothers should know
of possible dangers.
1t is, of course, used mostly for
constipation and is described as a
Lubricant" of the bowel. It is
unquestionably one of the best
cathartics we have, principally be-
cause it is not habit forming and
it is not necessary TO increase the
dose from week to month as is the
case with most cathartics.
| doubt, however. whether its
action is that of lubricant" 1t
is my opinion that it acts as a
foreign body. In other words it
stimulates the muscles of the
bowel 10 movements just like
roughage in the food.
Aus as IofeIku Douy
This tendency to act as foreign
body is the cause Of all the trouble
1t makes. If small amount were
injected under the skin with
hypodermic syringe it would not
be absorbed as many other fats
are. 1t would stay where it was
put and remain as lump and ac-
cumulate around it white blood
cells and such body cells as fire.
quently surround a foreign body
until finally they would isolate it
and it would practically be an alb
scess.
This can occur in the bowel wall
when it is taken for constipation.
Globules Of the oil are forced into
the intestinal crypts and result in
chronic indigestion.
Many mothers used liquid pet
rolatum TO clean out child's nose,
instilling a few drops during the
daily toilet. 1t is possible for this
also TO act as foreign body and
cause chronic sinus infection with
the symptoms Of a continuous cold.
1t is really unnecessary to perform
this nasal toilet daily and if it
seems to be necessary warm salt
water is the best thing to use.
Again liquid petroleum. is used
as a daily bath-cleansing of the
skin of infants. In most cases it
does no harm, but there have been
several cases of skin irritation re-
ported from its use. Especially is
this likely to occur when the oil is
rubbed into the skin vigorously so
that 1t penetrstes the skin fol-
licle-.
Effort at Thoroughness
Many mothers do this under the
conscientious idea that they must
be thorough. As a matter of fact
we are all in North America likely
to be too thorough about the clean
illness of our skin. A baby whose
skin is washed twice a week with
soap and water will be perfectly
clean and much more likely TO have
a healthy and functioning skin
than baby who is oiled every day.
Not long ago a medical friend of
mine had a skin eruption and put
the time honored ointment of zinc
oxide on it. Instead of soothing it
proved very irritating. And no
wonder because in the old days
ointment of zinc oxide was made
with benzolated lard for a base,
but in the ninth revision of the
U. S. Pharmacopeia soft petrola-
tum was substituted. Lard is fat,
petroleum. is methane hydrocar-
bon.
DR.. Zahorsky, we'll known chill
dren's specialist, writes: "Petro-
latum is foreign body TO be used
only as an emollient on the sound
skin and like all foreign matter
should be removed with soap and
water.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
M. c. B.:-Does excessive gas
on the stomach necessarily denote
liberated stomach?
Answer: On the contrary pa
tients with ulcer Of the stomach
seldom complain of gas. Patients
with gall-bladder trouble, how
ever, frequently have this symp-
tom.
M. J.:-What are the bes. rem
edies for arthritis of the shoul-
der? Is Vitamin D indicated?
Answer: The best remedies for
arthritis of the shoulder are mas
sage and the use Of hot and cold
water in the form Of towel packs.
Vitamin D, in my experience, is
useless.