Dolæus upon the cure of the gout by milk-diet: To which is prefixed, an essay upon dietDoläus, Johann
Science
Dolæus upon the cure of the gout by milk-diet: To which is prefixed, an essay upon diet
Doläus, Johann
Gout -- Treatment -- Early works to 1800; Milk -- Diet therapy -- Early works to 1800
Notwithstanding what I have endeavoured to prove, that gouty Persons,
after having been cured by this Method, may again return to their
common way of living, without fear of a Relapse; yet I do not deny but
it is an easy matter to bring on the Gout again, and that in a more
violent Manner than before, by great Errors in Diet, indulging in acid
Foods, smoaked Meats, and such as are flatulent and of bad Digestion;
too frequent drinking of acid and generous Wines; giving way to the
Passions of Anger and Sorrow, the use of Women, or being exposed to
the Inclemencies of the Air. No doubt these will return the Distemper
with great Violence, and bring the Patient into manifest danger. It is
absolutely necessary to chuse such Food as will give Chyle analogous to
Milk, and to avoid all Acid and Salt Food with the greatest Caution.
And although some People have indulged their Appetites after the Cure,
without any great Inconvenience, yet it is certainly more advisable
to live moderately, since too much Boldness is not always successful;
which the Patient will certainly be encouraged to do, upon recalling to
mind the terrible Pains he hath suffered, hardly relievable by any Art.
SECT. 5.
It may be enquired how it comes to pass, that a Person cured by this
Diet shall continue free from the Gout, though he return to his former
Method of living, provided he take every Morning a small Quantity of
warm Milk. The Reason of this I take to be, that the Milk, by long
Use, during the Time of the Cure, hath either changed or expelled all
the sharp Acrimony of the Blood and Humours, and rendred the Fibres and
Membranes more loose, so that there is an easier Circulation of the
Juices; new acid Salts are not so easily formed and thrown upon the
Membranes so as to occasion the Gout, especially if the Diet be of a
good Kind, and a certain Quantity of Milk taken every Morning, which
by its plentiful oily Parts, and soft serous ones, prevents the Salts
from uniting. I am sensible I may have omitted some Doubts that might
arise against the Use of this Diet, but whatever they be, they may
easily be answered from what was said before, and the Use thereof fully
cleared up; for lesser Difficulties, it is not worth while to spend
Time about them. I shall only add, that several People have expected
the Cure of the Gout in the Use of Gruels and Water. As to Water, it
is evident from Experience, as _Poterius_ and _Hoffman_ have observed,
that it is frequently serviceable in removing this Distemper. Since
gouty Persons are of a saline Constitution, there cannot be a better
drink used than pure light Water, that will make its way both by the
Skin and by Urine; for such drank freely drives forth the foreign
Salts, and makes the Juices fluid. I have seen Persons cured of the
Gout, whose Joints were contracting, by drinking only pure Spring Water
in large Quantities. The Case of a Man, who was a Cripple for nine
Years successively, from an ill cured Tertian, deserves Observation. He
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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