310 DIET FOR BALDNESS. 



obviously depends very largely on the nature of the food. Fatty, 

 starchy and saccharine matters throw no work upon the kidneys; 

 their products, carbonic acid and water, pass off through the lungs 

 and skin. On the other hand nitrogenous food undergoes such a 

 change in the system as to lead to the production of urea, and thus 

 throws much work upon the kidneys. An animal diet which 

 is the richest in nitrogenous matter yields double the amount of urea 

 voided from a vegetable diet. The inference from this is that when 

 the kidneys are diseased, the less they have to do the better, and 

 consequently the less should be the amount of nitrogenous food. 

 Hence in Bright's disease only very digestible animal food should 

 be taken and that only in small quantities, while vegetable food 

 should preponderate. Now, although there is considerable difficulty 

 in persuading those who are thus suffering to persist in a system- 

 atic milk-diet, yet it offers the best chance for arresting the disorder. 

 Schmidt says he has obtained the most brilliant results from an 

 exclusively milk-diet when all other treatment failed. It may be 

 given cold or tepid, and from half a pint to a pint at a time. An 

 adult will sometimes take as much as a gallon in the twenty-four 

 hours. But in addition to a limitation of the nitrogenous supply 

 which will be converted into urea, it is important to facilitate 

 the removal of what exists in the blood as the result of disintegration 

 of tissues. This effete matter fouls the blood. Hence the necessity 

 for a copious use of water and watery drinks, which flow out 

 readily by the kidneys, carrying with them such of the waste as 

 may be soluble in water. This dilution will relieve the kidneys. 

 The drinking of water is also the best means of preventing and re- 

 lieving the dropsy which usually attends this disease. Alcoholic 

 drinks are decidedly harmful. Alcohol is removed from the sys- 

 tem by the kidneys ; if then the ordinary means of excretion be 

 ineffective the alcohol remains and produces insensibility, and if it 

 be partially eliminated excessive labor is needlessly and injuriously 

 thrown upon the diseased glands. For Bright's disease, then, the 

 most suitable diet is a preponderance of vegetables, abundance of 

 water, abstinence from alcohol. 



DIET FOR BALDNESS. 



As the cause of this malady is undoubtedly exhausted nutri- 

 tion, we must turn our attention to the restoration of the nutritive 

 functions as the first step towards its cure. Abstinence from all 

 stimulants is an important feature in the diet, for it is a fact that 

 reparative power, especially in baldness, is encouraged by total sus- 

 pension of wine, beer, etc., good wholesome food taking their place. 

 Fat is essential, it being the great nerve restorer, besides supplying 

 the scalp with the lacking material; it may be taken in the form or 

 butter, cream, cheese (if it can be digested), cod-liver oil and milkj 



