Whatever happened to those 'old fashioned' ailments?


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Let's hear your list of ailments from long ago....................................what was Kanker, my mum said you got it from putting pennies in yer gob!!

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I've got all of them Margie.  The one thing I haven't got is hypochondria..

But not for long...

I think canker was those sore mouth ulcers....

Acid indigestion is now called acid reflux disease...LOL

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Why did we never have 'eating disorders'

Probably because food was in short supply, due to lack of money when we were kids.

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But with all those fry ups and chips cooked in lard and all those bread and dripping sandwiches, it's a wonder we didn't have acid indigestion all the time..... I still shudder at those Sunday morning breakies, sausage. egg, bacon, fried bread and tomatoes...

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Chilblains were common, not sure if folks still get them nowadays?

My dad took Carter's Little Liver pills, not quite sure what for, and my mum took some brown medicine for an upset stomach, you put a few drops in hot water. Horrible stuff it was too. Brown's comes to mind for the name of it. Also ginger wine did the same trick.

I think boils were more common in those days too.

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Thanfully we don't see kids at school with leg irons on any more, or those national health spectacles with some sticking plaster over one of the lenses to correct a "lazy eye"

Also remember some kids coming to school with their hair cropped and purple blotches on their heads don't know what that was about,

Is it right you could catch worms from eating uncooked sausage?

Rog

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I remember my grandma and a few others often talking about "going to the chiropodists to have my feet done". Not sure exactly what that was all about, but I don't think it was the kind of thing which people now go to health farms for.

And there were quite a few people around (adults and kids) who had one shoe where the heel was much bigger than the other; obviously a way of treating some kind of leg or foot problem, but it's something you never see now.

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In answer to Plantfit's question about the purple blotches: Ringworm is a common fungal infection of the skin, scalp and nails. Gentian violet is an inexpensive and effective treatment for ringworm available without a prescription. If ringworm is identified and treated early it can be treated at home in about a month. However, seek the advice of a doctor if the infection does not clear up or if you have concerns that it is worsening.

Ringworm is contagious. Though you might be applying gentian violet, it will take several applications, perhaps over many weeks, to treat the infection. During the infection period, wash your sheets and towels on a daily basis to help prevent the spread of the infection to family members. Gentian violet will also stain your skin and can permanently stain clothing. Take care to not get it on clothes.

Read more: Gentian Violet & Ringworm | Garden Guides http://www.gardengui...l#ixzz20UeYCqSo

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Almost every street seemed to have a kid in leg irons during the early post war decades. Polio was rife - I wonder if it was due to pollution in the waterways?

At the height of the polio epidemic in 1952, nearly 60,000 cases with more than 3,000 deaths were reported in the United States alone. However, with widespread vaccination, wild-type polio, or polio occurring through natural infection, was eliminated from the United States by 1979 and the Western hemisphere by 1991. (Source: internet)

Polio virus is carried in human faeces so I wonder if the inefficient sewage plants of the first half of the 20th century contributed to polio in waterways?

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Ricketts is now less common than when I was a child. I believe that was due to free school milk and NHS orange juice. Things Margaret Thatcher stole from the children.

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A lot of those diseases of past, were probably diet related and of course lack of decent clean water and sanitary conditions.

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Now there's a thing - you don't hear of lunatic asylums any more. I was sent to one for a check-up whilst in the RAF. They thought I was insane at one point. I met a fellow there who was "Working his ticket". Dressed as a Hare Krisna he sat all day long staring at the fish tank. He recognised a friend and spoke to me of his plans. Mad as a hatter but seemed to be a nice bloke.

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The one's I recall from my Nottingham days were Mapperley and Saxondale. I think there was one near Calverton too?

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I may be thinking of a children's home near Dorket Head. Rampton I had forgotten about - but that was for the criminally insane wasn't it?

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When I was living in Gedling in the 60s there was a section of Mapperley Hospital on Digby Avenue, it was right behind Wesrdale Lane infans & junior schools.

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