OMIT EAT Confections All legumes Desserts Cheese Fatty foods Eggs (yolk) Hot drinks Fish--very tender Fresh milk Fresh vegetables Pastries Green corn Rich gravies Nuts Red meat Potatoes Stimulants Tea and coffee White flour products MALNUTRITION CAUSE AND REMEDY Malnutrition is caused mainly by errors in eating, sedentary habits, and lack of fresh air. The remedy, therefore, suggests itself. Level or balance the diet according to the patient's requirements, and advise from two to three hours' vigorous exercise every day, and deep breathing in the open air. All the causes as well as the cure of malnutrition were discussed under the subject of emaciation. (See "Emaciation," p. 477.) LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA THE CAUSE The principal cause of locomotor ataxia is syphilis, the treatment of which has not been sufficiently thorough. So, after lying latent--sometimes for as long a period as twenty years--the disease breaks out again, the germs (which are called _spirochaeta pallida_) assume new virulence, and attack the nervous system--usually the posterior column of the spinal cord. Not infrequently, the optic nerve is also affected, developing what is known as gray atrophy of the nerves. This causes a gradual loss of vision, and finally, relative blindness. Locomotor ataxia may occasionally be brought on by long-continued exposures to wet and cold, injuries to the spinal column, and by excesses of various kinds. But its chief origin is in syphilis--indeed, most European authorities claim that this is its only origin. LOCOMOTOR ATAXIA--THE SYMPTOMS Among the earliest symptoms of ataxia are the so-called lightning or lancinating pains--which come on in paroxyms of varying duration--lasting for hours, or even days at a time. These pains may be burning, tearing, cutting or boring in their nature--and usually affect only the upper half of the body. There is generally, also, a sense of constriction in the throat--as of a choking by the clutch of a hand--and sometimes regurgitation of food, intense pains around the heart or in the epigastrium--with flatulence, eructations, and hiccough. A very common symptom is the so-called "girdle," a sensation as though a rope or band were tightly drawn around the body at the waist. One of the earliest noticeable symptoms is the want of co-ordination--ataxia. This is most pronounced in the lower extremities, and is responsible for the unsteadiness of ataxics in walking or standing.