324 DIET IN DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 



or sherry. A teaspoonful of pure glycerine every three or four 

 hours and as much wine as the patient can take short of intoxication 

 is recommended by some physicians who say it will do much to 

 sustain strength. 



If vomiting occur, constantly sucking small pieces of ice tends to 

 allay it. It also affords comfort to the patient by arresting the 

 constant hawking up of mucus, which is usually abundantly 

 secreted. As a diluent, the melted ice promotes the action of the 

 kidneys. 



Children will sometimes persistently refuse to swallow because 

 it gives them pain and they cannot understand the necessity for 

 bearing the pain in order to nourish the system. In such cases 

 nutritive injections must be employed. About an ounce of fluid 

 should be given at a time. The injections should be commenced (if 

 necessary) as soon as the true character of the disease is known, 

 and repeated every four hours. 



DIET IN DISEASES OF THE LIVER. 



As diseases of the liver are very frequently occasioned by errors in 

 diet, careful regimen fills a most important place in the treatment of 

 the functional disorders of that organ. Temporary disturbance and 

 chronic derangement alike call for limitation in the articles of food. 

 The morbid condition which is indicated by jaundice, its yellow 

 discolorations, lassitude and sense of weight and fullness, must be 

 met as much by prohibitions of diet as by prescriptions of medicine. 

 As the two leading causes of diseases of the liver are too abundant, 

 highly seasoned, stimulating diet, and the habitual use of alcoholic 

 drinks, these should be persistently avoided. Excesses at the table, 

 which cause the introduction into the system of a great variety of 

 noxious matters which clog the functional processes and overload 

 the digestive organs, must oe supplanted by moderation and absti- 

 nence. Heavy meals, sweet and oily articles of diet, and alcoholic 

 stimulants must not be allowed. A minimum quantity of albumin- 

 ous food should be taken, in order that the quantity of uric acid 

 may be lessened; and a minimum quantity of carbonaceous food, in 

 order that the uric acid may be oxydized as much as possible. 

 Great regularity should be observed in the hours of meals, and only 

 light and nutritious food taken. When acute symptoms are present, 

 chicken-broth, beef-tea, toasted bread scalded with hot water and 

 flavored with a little sugar, roasted apples, and cold water ad libi 

 turn constitute the most suitable diet. All food, when a more 

 varied regimen is admissible, should be properly cooked, and the 

 quantity taken should be proportioned to the amount of physical 

 work that has to be performed; for one of the most common auxil- 

 iaries of liver disorders is deficiency of out-door exercise and the 

 maintenance of sedentary habits. 



