A practical treatise on the domestic management and most important diseases of advanced life : with an appendix, containing a series of cases illustrative of a new and successful mode of treating lumbago and other forms of chronic rheumatism, sciatica and other neuralgic affections, and certain forms of paralysis / by George E. Day.

  • Day, George Edward, 1815-1872.
Date:
1849
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on the domestic management and most important diseases of advanced life : with an appendix, containing a series of cases illustrative of a new and successful mode of treating lumbago and other forms of chronic rheumatism, sciatica and other neuralgic affections, and certain forms of paralysis / by George E. Day. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    SLEEP. Its amount and nature must mainly depend on the strength and previous habits of the individual. Ex- treme bodily fatigue is highly injurious, and likely to induce the climacteric disease which forms the subject of a future chapter. Quiet walking, garden- ing, and riding on horseback, are amongst the most suitable forms of exercise. When only carriage exer- cise can be taken, the friction applied in the manner described in a preceding page, is advisable, as the best substitute we possess for bodily motion ; and of course it is even more valuable when the patient is too infirm to leave the house. Shortly after breakfast is the best time for exer- cise, but whenever it is practicable, and the weather is warm and genial, I advise several short periods to be selected. In very fine weather nothing is so effective in warding off after-dinner sleepiness as a gentle stroll in the open air. It is difficult to lay down any definite rule re- garding the period that should be allotted to sleep. Aged persons should retire early; and should devote from eight to ten hours to repose. If they do not sleep during the whole period (and some old people seem to require little actual sleep), the rest and warmth are highly serviceable to them. I am very frequently consulted on a point in which medical aid is of comparatively little service— namely, on sleeplessness. Most old people complain of it to a greater or less degree : but I have little doubt that they often deceive themselves on this