Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    356/430 (page 326)
    Climate Coal-Gas THE STANDARD PHYSICIAN 326 with all the aids and accompaniments that a munificent purse can afford. In general, however, it may be said that patients with incipient tubercu- losis should avoid the cities, where fierce winds are common, where draughts are rendered more acute by the tlue-like character of many of the buildings, and where dust is extremely prevalent, particularly dust that contains many septic micro-organisms. Tuberculous patients should avoid those climates where extreme changes are rapidly brought about, where the temperature falls 30 or 40 degrees in two or three hours and does it very often. They should seek a climate in which the sun shines much of the time, and where the humidity is not very marked ; in certain cases, complicated by bronchial conditions, the presence or absence of humidity may, however, be of service in allaying irritation of the bronchial mucous membranes. Having found such a climate, where increase of weight and decrease of temperature and cough are secured, every attention should be given to further the cure of the malady by the observance of hygienic and dietetic measures. Whether a patient should choose high altitudes or low, whether plains, forests, or lake regions, is a matter that should be determined for each and every individual by a ]diysician who has paid particular attention to such climatic details. The following of general rules is often disastrous. Neurasthenics often derive much benefit from climatic influences. Here the great desideratum is to obtain a climate in wdiich the maximum amount of sunlight can be secured, where daily interests are such as to lead to healthful activity of the mind of the patient, and where freedom and absence from the haunts of men can be obtained. In the treatment of many neurasthenic conditions the assistance of a well-managed sanatorium is not to be disre- garded, for helpful and sympathetic suggestion on the part of a well-trained physician who has devoted his best energies to this tvpe of work is of para- mount importance in the treatment of many neurasthenic states. These patients often do very well at the seashore. There the bathing, the interest in the ocean, and the general mildness of the atmosphere all contribute to bring about conditions of quiet and rest. Many also do well in moder- ately high altitudes, ])articularly after the acute stages of the illness have passed ; but, as a rule, high altitudes are disadvantageous to pronounced neurasthenics. In the treatment of many kidney-diseases it is highly desirable that a warm, medium moist, and extremely equable climate be sought ; a climate in which moderate skin-activity is stimulated, thus relieving the kidneys of a certain portion of the burden of excretion. Climates in which sudden, abrupt changes of temperature are prevalent are to be especially avoided by sufferers of kidney-trouble ; but, as in the case of tuberculosis, and also of neurasthenia, the rules laid down are to be interpreted in the most general manner.