500 PLAIN FACTS FOR OLD AND YOUNG 



exist before this period arrives, thus avoiding much of 

 the inconvenience and suffering of later years, to which 

 the individual will otherwise be exposed. The follow- 

 ing suggestions will be found of especial service in 

 preventing and mitigating the sufferings attendant at 

 this period: 



1. Individuals passing through the change of life 

 should be relieved from all burdensome cares, and 

 should be kept free from all sources of worry and 

 excitement. Cheerfulness and harmony of spirits are 

 particularly important. If this cannot be obtained at 

 home, arrangements should be made for the patient 

 to go to some suitable place away from home for a 

 few weeks or months. 



2. Special attention should be given to diet, which 

 should be simple, wholesome, and nourishing, but free 

 from exciting stimulants of all sorts. Tea and coffee, 

 as well as all other narcotics and stimulants, should 

 be studiously avoided. The enforcement of this rule 

 is sometimes difficult, owing to the intense craving for 

 nerve stimulants which many women experience at this 

 period. Bitters and patent medicines of all sorts do a 

 great deal of mischief when employed as they are apt 

 to be. Their use is wholly without good results, and 

 is often productive of almost irreparable damage. 



3. The general health should be maintained by all 

 possible means. Outdoor exercises, carriage-riding 

 when the patient is unable to take a sufficient amount 

 of exercise by walking, are to be commended. Careful 

 attention should be given to the bowels, which may be 

 kept regular by the use of coarse grains and an abun- 

 dance of fruit. 



4. The flushings or profuse j^erspi rations are best 

 relieved by hot saline sponge baths, hot and cold appli- 



