Things You Should Know In the Field Of Medicine

Published 2:36 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

Ice Water for Burns: Eight years ago, Dr. Alex

G. Shulman of Los Angeles burned his hand with

boiling grease. He plunged it into a tub of cold water and

discovered this relieved pain and speeded healing.

Now, after treating 150 patients, he recommends ice water

as the best first aid treatment for any burn covering up

to 20 per cent of the body. Pain is quickly banished,

and the cold water reduces the usual inflammation

following a burn, he reports.

What’s Good for Adults Isn’t for

Juveniles: The values that often govern the adult world may be the

same as those that govern juvenile delinquents—even

though the latter are pictured as rebels against society.

Three major values seem to underlie the behavior of

juvenile delinquents, says Dr. Gresham M. Sykes, a

criminologist and sociologist from Dartmouth College. They

are: adventure; the search for kicks, exploitation; a

contempt for work coupled with a taste for luxury; and

aggression.

Cool and Collected: The best problem solvers

are not necessarily the cool, calm, collected people,

reports Sidney J. Blatt, physiologist at Michael Reese

Research Institute, Chicago. Persons most efficient in

reaching solutions react with faster pulse and breathing and

may perspire more when confronted with challenges.

The less efficient decision makers show little or no

agitation from start to finish.

Older Patients in Mental Hospitals: The

proportion of older persons in mental hospitals is increasing

at a “disturbing rate,” the Senate Subcommittee on

Problems of the Aged and Aging reports. One out of

three patients in public mental hospitals is 65 or over. By

1970 it is estimated there will be a 34 percent increase

over 1959 in the number of aged patients in mental

hospitals.

Ballet Risks: A child’s feet can easily develop

strain or muscle and ligament weaknesses from ballet

lessons unless they are properly supervised. Children

should not be placed on point, rising on the tips of the

toes, until age 10 or 12, and then only if they plan to

continue with ballet as a profession, according to Dr.

Edward Meldman of Milwaukee.

(This column is prepared in the interest of

better health by the Anti-Tuberculosis League of King

County, the Christmas Seal organization.)