The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 4 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better BabiesHague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Science
The Eugenic Marriage, Volume 4 (of 4): A Personal Guide to the New Science of Better Living and Better Babies
Hague, W. Grant (William Grant)
Eugenics; Hygiene; Marriage
Catching cold while bathing is possible, but scarcely probable, if
ordinary precautions are taken. It is very bad practice to permit
children to use one another's handkerchiefs or the handkerchief of an
adult. Certain children are predisposed to attacks of "cold in the head"
or acute coryza or nasal catarrh (these being the medical names for this
condition). Sometimes this is an inherited characteristic. There is no
doubt, however, that most of these children acquire the habit by bad
sanitary and hygienic surroundings. These children do not as a rule get
enough fresh air. They are kept indoors most of the time in stuffy,
overheated, badly ventilated rooms, unless the weather is absolutely
perfect. The windows in their bedrooms are always kept closed, because
they are "liable to catch cold." They are overdressed and perspire
easily and as a result "catch cold." These conditions all tend to create
an unhealthy condition of the nasal mucous membrane and of the throat,
and this is rendered worse if the child lives in a damp,
changeable climate, such as that of New York City. In these susceptible
children the exciting cause of an attack may be trivial; exposure, cold
or wet feet, inadequate head covering (as already pointed out), a
draught of cold air even may excite sneezing and a nasal discharge;
hence we have:
Acute Nasal Catarrh (Acute Coryza, Acute Rhinitis, "Cold in the Head",
"Snuffles").--Acute nasal catarrh may accompany measles, diphtheria,
influenza, and whooping cough.
Symptoms.--The onset is sudden with sneezing, and difficulty in
breathing through the nose. In a few hours, or it may be not for a day
or two, a mucous, watery, nasal discharge appears. There are redness and
slight swelling of the nose and upper lip, caused by the discharge.
There is no fever as a general rule except in very young infants, in
whom the fever may be very high. The discharge interferes with the
nursing and the child suffers from lack of nourishment. The inflammation
may extend to the eyes and ears, causing painful complications, or to
the throat and bronchi, causing hoarseness and cough. Less frequently we
have disturbances of the digestive tract with vomiting, or diarrhea.
The mild form of the disease lasts for two or three days, the severe
form from one to two weeks.
Repeated attacks are said to contribute to the production of adenoid
growths.
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