The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-06-08


 is enclose, = Letters should be brief and written in ink. No reply can be made to queries not conform ing to instructions. Address Dr. William Brady, National News paper Service 320 West Madison Street, Chicago. III.
 TRICK OF SWALLOWING AIR
 In the talk about the "gas attack" bugbear the other day I made il clear, I hope, that (a) bloating or distension of stomach or intestine by gas Cor air or both occurs as a conseuuence of collie, muscle Spasm in wall of stomach, intentine or gall bladder or gall-duct and not as the cause of the discomfort or distress: and (b) that in no circum- stance does or can gas Cor air or both) distend the stomach or in- testine enough to press on the heart" and seriously interfere with the function or action of the heart; and Co that cases to the contrary not correctly diagnosed-not that I can tell by divination what the trouble really is. It requires care full and repeated examinations and perhaps a period of observation by the physician to diagnose most of these cases. At best it is stupid to monkey with such distress without a diagnosis.
 Bellyache is a tricky complaint anyway, as we shall see later, and my advice is the same for man. woman or child: Have nothing whatever to 0o with it. Ii any, thing purporting to be bellyache should happen to yCu, don't do a thing, don't take a physic, don't dull your senses Gf any) with dope of any kind. Leave everything to your family physician. Perhaps we had better get on with the air swallowing trick now, and have bellyache later.
 One patient counted the number of eructations after meal of toast and tea-141! Another patient q quote from Diagnosis and Treat ment of Digestive Diseases, by Gorge M. Niles, M. D. whose case was recorded by Vanderhoof belched over 5000 times in 24 hours, eructating more than 200 liters or fifty gallons of air
 Air, not gas, is the motive power in most cases of extraordinarily noisy or impressive belching. The individual consciously or unco1- sciously swallows air until con- siderable volume accumulates in gullet or stomach. Then for his or her own amusement or for the sake of i,npressing anxious relatives or attendants, gets it of the stomach again. Not all belchings or eructa- tions are of this nature. but cel- tainly the air-swallowing trick ex- plains excessive belching in many instances.
 Sometimes . patient who is un- ouly worried or alarmed by his stomach, heart O. other real or imaginary internal trouble may be seen to swallow some air every few seconds. Sometimes bloating or dis tension so caused, as well as the prodigiouS quotations of gas" may be relieved in short while by keep ing a cork or rubber wedge be- tween the patients back teeth-it is difficult or impossible to swallow air while the mouth is thus held open. II the air-sWallowing is thus stopped, the air already swallowed will be belched or absorbed or passed on through the bowel
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Retinosoopc, OpthalGnoscope
 Speaking of examination Of the eye-grounds of patients with ar terial Apprehension I advised that one with high blood pressure should have retinoscopic examination by physician who uses the op- thalmoscope or retiroscope. A re- tinoscope is an apparatus for view ing the retina. and an opthalmo- scope is an apparatus for viewing the ret!na. Who cares about the technical differences between them? The point is, folks, that an exam ination of the interior of the eye by the physician may give more in formation about the condition of the arteries than any number of blood pressure measurements. .
 More Haste, Less Speed
 Am overweight and would like to lose about 20 pounds before the end of June. l read your offer. Please send me the pamphlet How to Lose Weight" by return mail. (Mrs. R. FD
 Answer-You did rot inclose a stamped envelope bearing your ad- dress. I furnish only the advice you must pay the freight.
 Don't Discard Limp Leaves
 Is it true that the limp cu;er leaves of lettuce, usually thro~n away when preparing for table, contain most of the calcium and other nutritive elements? (Mrs. G. L)
 Answer-Yes, and most of the vitamins too.
 Fresh Bread versus Stale
 Physician told the patient to re- frain from eating bread more than a day old, as moldS form in bread over day old and cause serious damage if the bread is eaten.
 (M. JO Answer - Bread is as wholesome 0 eat when 1t is one or several days old as it is when fresh from the oven.
 Constipation
 Have you any literature on con- Stipation and its treatment?
 (H. B. R) Answer - Yes. Send stamped en- velope bearing your address, for on Constipation" If you want a copy of the booklet Con stipation Habit and Colon Hygiene" inclose ten cents additional. Copyright l945, John F. Dille Co)