The Tender Toe, Essays on Gout and Its Affinities

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER V. A FEW WORDS ON DIET AND EXERCISE. Van Swieten told of a priest who, whilst he had a rich living, was a constant sufferer from Gout, but happening to be taken prisoner by the pirates of Barbary, he was kept constantly at work in the galleys for two years, which had this good effect, that afterwards, when he was ransomed from captivity, having lost all his troublesome and monstrous fatness, he never once had a fit of Gout, although he lived several years after the event. Not long ago a workman told me that whilst the proceeds of a legacy lasted, he was seldom free from gout; but his disease vanished when all his money was spent, and he was compelled to work as a bricklayer's labourer. The words of Trincavellius should be heeded by the gouty: -- Some think, quoth he, the more they eat, the more they nourish themselves, not knowing that only repairs man which is well concocted, not that which is devoured. Nothing pesters the body and mind sooner than to be still fed, to eat and ingurgitate beyond all measure, as many do. I have no hesitation in saying that there is no disease that is more under control than Gout; and none which can be so readily prevented. The sufferer from Gout must, however, follow his medical attendant's directions as regards regimen and exercise as carefully as the strictly medical part of the treatment, if he would not again suffer from this disease. As regards the influence of animal food over Gout, this fact is certain, that the taking of an excessive quantity of meat to the exclusion of other needful aliments by persons of sedentary habits, or persons with gouty tendencies, assists in the development of this disease. Animal food should not be taken more than twice a day; and a man, to keep healthy, should not have hab...