100 years ago

At a meeting of the British Medical Association, Dr WJ Tyson opened a discussion on sea bathing.

He said that in considering the effects of sea bathing they must take into consideration not only the sea water, but also the characteristics of the town itself. His opinion was that the best months for bathing were July, August, and September. The best time to bathe was between breakfast and luncheon, and the water must always be left before the reaction stage. The length of time in the water, as a general rule, should be from five to 15 minutes, the former period for non-swimmers being quite long enough.

Slow dressing was as bad as slow bathing, and the friction of a rough towel should always be used on leaving the water. It was stupid for people to go to the seaside and bathe before first consulting a medical man and it was advisable that seaside visitors should take a preliminary treatment of warm sea baths before entering the cold water.

“The people who suffer most from imprudent bathing,” he remarked, “are excursionists, who dash into the sea regardless of the conditions of the beach and the water. The wonder is that more trouble does not occur to them than actually does. Sea bathing is beneficial if prudently undertaken.”

 

50 years ago

Every year, 90,000 boys and girls under 20 years of age were fitted with dentures, said Mr W Stewart Ross, a London dental surgeon.

He told the British Dental Association conference that a perfect mouth with sound teeth was a rarity in any adult, and the national index of pain, ill-health and disfigurement caused by dental caries should be of deep concern to all. Probably five million man-hours were lost each year as a result of dental disease, and the cost to the country could not be far short of £100m annually.

Mr Ross, who was chairman of the Dental Health Committee, went on, “In spite of this, there is widespread neglect, apathy and ignorance of the principles of oral hygiene, and neglected mouths are more prevalent than neglected attire.”

 

25 years ago

Old wives’ tales and remedies for various maladies often turned out to have more than a grain of truth, as research by doctors at a university hospital had proved.

The common herb, feverfew, had been reputed since the Middle Ages to be a cure for headaches. Now tests showed it could also reduce the misery of migraine. Doctors at Nottingham found sufferers given dried and powdered feverfew leaves in capsules had 25 per cent fewer bouts of migraine, and endured less nausea and vomiting during attacks. Significantly there were also no side-effects.