Foods and dietaries : a manual of clinical dietetics / by R.W. Burnet.

  • Burnet, R. W.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Foods and dietaries : a manual of clinical dietetics / by R.W. Burnet. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/256 (page 14)
    In the class of cases now under consideration the regula- tion of diet, as a means of cure, plays a not less important part than in those where, owing to the very sensitive condi- tion of the mucous membrane, its effects are at once more strikingly apparent. Moreover, since this atonic state of the stomach is associated with flabbiness and want of tone of the system, the general condition has to be improved by exercise and by every means that will help to brace up the patient. Not so much depends upon the kind of food that is taken, provided it is simple, as upon the way in which meals are arranged and the circumstances under which the patient takes his food. If he eats hurriedly, and especially if he sits down to meals hot and exhausted, the inevitable discom- fort follows. An alteration, and adaptation to circumstances of the food and hours of eating, will in many cases effect a cure without much change in the diet itself. Morbid Ideas and Introspection.—A considerable number of these patients are very much inclined to dwell upon their own feelings aud symptoms, and to think too much about what food seems to agree with them and what does not. It is better that they should not take their meals alone, and it is of great consequence that their minds should be occu- pied with some healthy interest which will prevent them from turning in upon themselves. Bathing and Exercise.—The first direction to them will be to have a morning bath, tepid or cold, according to the age of the patient, the state of his circulation, and the season of the year. The rubbing which follows, and if necessary to produce a good reaction also precedes, the bath is not the least important part. These patients should not attempt to do much before breakfast, though there is no harm in their being in the open air for a short time before the morning meal. Any hard exercise, however, such as tennis or a long walk at that time, will only exhaust and depress. If exercise is to be taken in the morning, it