Stomach distress

This can be alleviated by a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in water or by use of a buffered type of aspirin. If you are truly sensitive to aspirin, you may find Tylenol a useful substitute. If you are occasionally, not habitually, constipated, it is safe to take a mild laxative such as a teaspoonful or two of milk of magnesia. 

Avoid regular dosing with any laxative or cathartic. Be certain to see your physician if you find yourself beginning to suffer persistently or repeatedly from any of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, excessive belching, fullness or burning sensations in the abdomen, cramps, constipation, or diarrhea. Be certain to see him immediately if you pass stools that are blood-streaked, blackish, colorless, or foul- smelling. The liver in a healthy body requires no particular care.

 It certainly does not need to be "stimulated" by such medicines as those claiming to "increase the flow of bile." But there are several things you can do to prevent damage to the liver. You can protect it from the harm that can result from excessive intake of alcoholic beverages and from poisons such as carbon tetrachloride to which you may be exposed at work or in the course of hobbies requiring use of solvents. Remember that glue sniffing, engaged in by youngsters seeking a "thrill," can harm the liver. 

Both normal weight and balanced diet are necessary to keep the liver healthy. Liver damage, such as that from a virus infection, may produce jaundice-a yellowing of the skin and particularly of the whites of the eyes. Jaundice should be reported immediately to your physician. Some viruses that cause liver infection are transmitted by blood on syringes or needles. That is why drug addicts who share equipment have a high rate of liver disease. Alcohol and ordinary boiling do not kill the viruses; the very high temperature of an autoclave type of sterilizer is needed. 

Do not use someone else's injection equipment in administering insulin, for example. Other viruses affecting the liver are transmitted hand to mouth, and so it is vital to wash hands with soap and water after passing a stool, before each meal, and after trips and contacts on buses, trains, and other public conveyances and places. Infection may affect the gallbladder. Gallstones sometimes cause considerable pain and may block the flow of bile, leading to jaundice and infer lion of the liver and gallbladder.

Digestive system and tension-Ulcer

Those of us who are victims of chronic tension can, and should, take the tension problem to a physician who practices preventive medicine. It's a problem that usually can be solved, quite frequently with simple measures. You can protect your digestive system by precautions against infectious disease. Habits of cleanliness by all members of the family should be encouraged. 

The washing of hands after going to toilet-and especially before eating or handling food-should be a habit as automatic as breathing. Cleanliness is all the more vital because contamination can be spread by people who are not themselves ill. All milk that comes to the table should be pasteurized. In most cities, water coming from the faucet is safe to drink.

 But if you live in the country or go there on vacation, check on the safety of the drinking water. Pork, it must always be emphasized, should be thoroughly cooked since it may contain the parasite that produces trichinosis. Dangers may be lurking in bakery goods, especially those with custard fillings, such as eclairs, on which bacteria thrive. It is important to buy pastry from a clean, reliable bakery and to put it in the refrigerator as soon as you reach home. Make sure the pastry has not been standing, found in the bakery for a long time.

Perhaps no less important in guarding the health of your stomach and intestines is to leave them alone. Don't indulge in enemas to "clean out the colon and get rid of germs." The germs belong there and many people would have far better digestions if they had never heard of the term, "autointoxication." You will do best to remove it from your vocabulary; it is a meaningless, and potentially harmful, concept. 

So, too, are the terms "acid stomach," "alkaline stomach," and "heartburn." You can't cure these nonexistent diseases by taking stomach "sweeteners" or "aids" to digestion, which can do real harm. It is unfortunate that there are so many so-called simple remedies for indigestion on the market. Indigestion is by no means a simple disease. 

In fact, it is not a disease at all but a condition or group of symptoms which can be caused by any number of problems, ranging from migraine (page 582) and heart disease (page 585) to impending influenza or a dinner bolted when you're tense and tired. Even a skilled physician often finds it a long and difficult task to determine the cause and hence the proper treatment, of chronic indigestion. If you have the problem, don't object if your doctor asks you to have a complete set of x-rays so that he can determine whether the indigestion is caused by gallstones, ulcer, or tumor. He may need to examine the stomach with an instrument called the gastro scope.