The classification and treatment of diseases commonly known as rheumatism / by Frank E. Peckham.

  • Peckham, Frank E.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The classification and treatment of diseases commonly known as rheumatism / by Frank E. Peckham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    of water, coffee, tea, or whatever the favorite drink may be. Eating in this way, there is not much de- mand made on the salivary glands and in consequence they get out of practice as it were ; and as a chronic thing not much saliva is secreted. This is the first step in digestion and it is right here that faulty physi- ology begins and must be corrected. This is a highly important part of the treatment and patients must have it explained to them in detail, so that they may appreciate the situation. When the food is chewed and thoroughly mixed with saliva, swallowing practically becomes an automatic process and the food swallows itself. Towards the end of the meal, one becomes con- scious of forcing the muscles to swallow. Then appe- tite has been appeased and the meal must be consid- ered completed right there. If this method of eating is pursued, the salivary glands secrete the juice much faster and if drinking for the purpose of washing down the food is done away with, the desire for drink while eating disappears. Eating in this way after it has been practised so that one does it unconsciously does not require much, if any more, time than the old way. It will be seen that water is thus done away with quite naturally at meal time, and so must be taken care of between meals. In the morning before breakfast is a good time to drink as the water is absorbed very quickly in the stomach that has been empty several hours, then middle forenoon, middle afternoon and