HEALTH 



2740 



HEALTH HABITS 



fever, Bright's disease, malaria and many other 

 disorders. The most severe headaches are 

 those which accompany diseases of the brain, 

 such as meningitis, or tumor of the brain. 

 The location of the pain varies with the dif- 

 ferent causes of headache. For instance, those 

 suffering from eyestrain feel the pain in the 

 eyeballs and behind the temples; the victim 

 of nervous prostration is liable to suffer from 

 pain in the back of the neck; a deranged liver 

 causes a general headache. Pains of the face, 

 such as neuralgia, are not classed as headaches. 



The person of normal health who is careful 

 about his food, who sleeps in a well-ventilated 

 room and who observes the laws of hygiene, 

 may expect to be free from headache. In case 

 of an attack he should by no means resort to 

 any of the widely-advertised headache cures on 

 the market. Headache is a symptom and not 

 a disease, and the cause of the pain should be 

 treated, not the pain itself. There are numer- 

 ous cases on record of poisoning caused by 

 headache mixtures, most of which contain ace- 

 tanilid, antipyrine and phenacetin. The United 

 States Department of Agriculture, in Farmers' 

 Bulletin 377, utters a stern warning against the 

 use of any headache preparations containing 

 these substances. Chronic cases of headache 

 require the services of a competent physician. 

 An ordinary headache can be relieved by rest, 

 lying down in a darkened room, abstinence 

 from food for a time and purgation. W.A.E. 



HEALTH, helth. In one of the Fables of 

 the English poet John Gay may be read these 

 lines : 



Nor love, nor honor, wealth nor power, 

 Can give the heart a cheerful hour 

 When health is lost. Be timely wise ; 

 With health all taste of pleasure flies. 



Certainly the poet did not overestimate the 

 worth of one of the greatest blessings mortals 

 can enjoy health, which is the condition of 

 physical well-being. The healthy person is one 

 whose bodily functions are being performed 

 easily and without pain. The physician says 

 that anyone who sleeps well and who can digest 

 his food while satisfying a hearty appetite may 

 be considered in a good state of health. Under 

 modern conditions very few persons enjoy per- 

 fect health, but the observance of a few simple 

 rules helps to keep one reasonably well. Very 

 certain means of securing and maintaining good 

 health are given in the article HEALTH HABITS, 

 immediately following. 



Related Subjects. Various articles relating 

 to health are presented in these volumes under 



their proper headings. The reader is especially 

 referred to the following : 



Health, Habits 



Heating and Ventilation 



Hygiene 



Immunity 



Life Extension 



Mastication 



Medicine and Drugs 



Mental Handicaps 



Nutrition 



Physical Culture 



Quarantine 



Sanitary Science 



Sewer and Sewerage 



Athletics 



Baby 



Board of Health 



Breath and Breathing 



Child 



Diet 



Digestion 



Disease 



Education (page 1944) 



Fatigue 



Fletcherizing 



Garbage 



Gymnastics 



In addition to these, many of the articles listed 

 in the indexes under ANATOMY, DISEASE and FOOD 

 contain information bearing on the topic. 



HEALTH, BILL OF. See BILL OF HEALTH. 



HEALTH HABITS. Many of the physical 

 difficulties of the school child are caused by 

 the wrong sort of habits. Habit formation is 

 the basis of character, and in much the same 

 way is also the basis of health. When bad 

 health habits are formed early in life it is a 

 very difficult matter to break them later, for 

 they become an almost unconscious part of 

 daily life. On the other hand sound health 

 habits should be largely a matter of automatic 

 action on our part. But good health habits 

 can be acquired only through definite consck 

 action at first, and such action must be 

 on accurate knowledge. With this in view 

 us consider how to form successfully the 

 tial habits of health. 



Health Habit Formation. But comparative 

 few people enjoy good health most of 

 time. More than three million people in 

 United States and Canada are sick all of 

 time, yet at least half of this sickness mij 

 be prevented. Professor Irving Fisher of Ya 

 University has shown that at least one 

 one-half billion dollars are lost every 

 through the waste of preventable diseases, 

 say nothing of lost happiness and permanently- j 

 reduced vigor. Much of this sickness is caused j 

 by the neglect in early life of sensible health 

 habit formation. 



The formation of health habits is fairly 

 when begun early, and includes comparatively 

 few simple principles. For our present purpose 

 we may state the following as the most essen- 

 tial health habits: 



Food habits. 



Sleep habits. 



Mental habits. 



Exercise habits. 



Recreation habits. 



Food Habits. While a whole volume migh 

 be written on food habits, yet the general prin 



