Gout and goutiness and their treatment.

  • Ewart, William, 1848-1929.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gout and goutiness and their treatment. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

    569/612 (page 553)
    of a long interval between meals. Whether taken before or after meals, or as an intrusion upon the valuable periods when the stomach is at rest, fruit does not aid digestion; it is a complication, and we do not wonder at patients spontaneously or under advice giving up its use entirely. Exceptions are found to every rule, even with regard to fruit. Thus strawberries were considered by Linnaeus* to be antagonistic to gout, though generally found to be difficult of digestion. Apples and pears, disapproved, as well as all stone fruit, by most authorities, have enjoyed a reputation for the alleviation of gout, which is to some extent supported by practical experience. Grapes and oranges, which easily yield their juice without any of the indigestible substance being swallowed, are of all fruit the most suitable. Baked apple and various kinds of stewed fruit may be taken, but not the sweet juice which accompanies the latter. Of sweet dishes it need merely be said that they are unsuitable for the gouty in the measure of their elaborate- ness. To the simple puddings made with rice, sago, tapioca, and similar preparations, there can be no objec- tion. Pastry should be avoided ; its place might be taken by the harmless dry biscuits. THE EXCLUSIVE DIETS IN THE VISCERAL COMPLICATIONS OF CHRONIC GOUT AND GOUTINESS. When some visceral complication, hepatic, renal, or intestinal, interrupts the even tenour of health, great advantage may accrue for the gout as well as for the visceral complication from a period of relative physio- logical rest for the digestion. This may be secured by combining with rest in bed abstinence from animal food, * Cf. Garrod, loc. cit., p. 396.