Section 7
Respiratory

LUNG CONGESTION (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

ACTIVE CONGESTION—Fomentation to back; Cold Compress to chest with Hot Leg Pack, followed by Cold Mitten Friction and dry heat to legs; short cold applications to hands and arms, followed by Hot Packs to arms; Revulsive Douche to legs; Hot Leg Bath with very Cold Compress to the chest and to the back opposite the chest. Change compress as soon as it is warmed.

PASSIVE CONGESTION OF CHEST—Apply Fomentation over chest for 10 minutes every hour; during the interval between, apply a Cold Compress, renewing it every 15 minutes, rubbing surface well at each change. This condition most frequently occurs in fevers. Prevent it by frequent change of his position. Apply same derivative measures as for active congestion (see just above).

PULMONARY HEMORRHAGE—Ice Pack to chest; remove and rub the chest with dry warm flannel, 1-2 minutes every 15 minutes; Hot Leg Pack, very Hot Sponging of the upper half of the spine. Place hands in ice water for 1-2 minutes; maintain skin circulation by dry rubbing. Keep him very quiet. After hemorrhage ceases, graduated cold treatment to increase resistance and combat the disease causing the hemorrhage. See "Tuberculosis of the Lung."

—Also see "Pneumonia."

PNEUMONIA (Lung Fever)

SYMPTOMS—Fever, chills, aching muscles, coughing, sore throat, bloody sputum, enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, pain in the chest, rapid, difficult breathing, and cyanosis (bluish skin and nails from lack of oxygen).

In bacterial pneumonia, it comes suddenly and the cough is dry at first; then a rust-colored sputum is produced, and breathing becomes rapid and labored. The viral form is more variable in seriousness, from the time it begins.

CAUSES—Pneumonia is a serious infection of the lungs and bronchial tubes. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or protozoa. The tiny sacs in the lungs (which look somewhat like grapes hanging from their stems) are where the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange is made. These sacs become inflamed and filled with mucous and pus.

Generally an upper respiratory infection (in the throat and the bronchial tubes), such as a cold, the flu, or perhaps the measles, occurs. Those under one year or over 60 are the most susceptible.

Bacterial pneumonia is more dangerous and severe than the viral type. There is also a fungal pneumonia, but those with HIV are most likely to contract it.

In children, the pain of pneumonia is frequently located in the abdomen, and cause others to think there is acute indigestion or appendicitis.

TREATMENT—

• You will want to use essentially the same treatment as outlined for bronchitis; except that, because the person's illness is so much more serious, he must be given much rest and intensified care.

• Rinse out the nose with saltwater, gently taking it in and blowing it out. Gargle with saltwater. Then repeat the rinsing and gargling with a goldenseal and myrrh mixture. This will help keep a cold or flu from going down into the lungs.

• But if the lungs are already affected, do the above treatment. Also give hot footbaths and a high herb enema at least once a day. Drink plenty of water. Take laxative herbs, to keep the bowels working properly. Give short, hot fomentations to the chest and upper back, with short cold between each hot application.

• Only give liquids the first few days. These should consist of fruit juices (diluted pineapple juice or orange juice) or lemon and water (without sugar), etc. Continue this until the high fever abates. Then give strained vegetable broths, whole grains (best in dry form, so it will be chewed well).

—Also see "Lung Congestion," "Bronchio-pneumonia," and "Lobar Pneumonia." Also see "Bronchitis" and "Pleurisy."

ENCOURAGEMENT—It is essential that every child of God obey His law. He never asks that you obey in your own strength. But, in Christ, you can be an overcomer, resisting all the wiles of the devil.

BRONCHO-PNEUMONIA (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

GENERAL MEASURES—See "Pneumonia, Lobar."

BRONCHIAL IRRITATION—Steam Inhalation, 15 minutes every hour; Fomentation to chest every 2 hours for 15 minutes, followed by Heating Compress; Hot Blanket Pack.

CYANOSIS—Short Hot Half Bath; pour Cold water over head, spine, and chest, to induce cough, if cough is checked or inefficient while secretion is abundant. It is well to have him sit in a tub with a small amount of hot water while a Cold Pail Pour is given, followed by vigorous rubbing and wrapping in dry blankets in bed.

AFTER CONVALESCENCE BEGINS—Heating Chest Pack night and day. Graduated cold applications, to build up general resistance.

—Also see "Pneumonia."

LOBAR PNEUMONIA (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

GENERAL—Exercise special care, to prevent lung congestion due to exposure of shoulders or chest to chill by evaporation. Provide him with an abundance of pure warm air; have a supply of oxygen at hand for immediate use if required.

MAINTAIN GENERAL VITAL RESISTANCE—Cold Mitten Friction or Cold Towel Rub 2-4 times daily, after some appropriate heating procedure, as a Fomentation to chest or back, Hot Blanket Pack, or Sweating Wet Sheet Pack.

COMBAT LOCAL CONGESTION OF THE LUNGS AND INVASION OF THE SPECIFIC BACILLUS—Fomentation to the chest (both front and back) for 15 minutes every 3 hours. During the interval between, apply Cold Compress at 60⁰ F., changing every 15 minutes or as soon as warmed. Lengthen the period between fomentations and change the compress less frequently as the temperature is lowered, the pain less, and the stage of the disease more advanced. Several Ice Bags may be used in place of the Cold Compress, but the bags should be removed at least every half hour and the chest should be rubbed until red and warm, to maintain surface circulation and skin reflexes. The skin must be kept warm.

ELIMINATION OF POISONS—Sweating Wet Sheet Packs, continued for 2-4 hours, followed by Cold Mitten Friction, carefully administered. The Sweating Bath may be preceded by the short Full Hot Bath. Copious water drinking. Neutral enema twice daily.

COUGH—Fomentations every 3 hours; Heating Compress, changing every 15-30 minutes during the interval in between. Steam Inhalation 15 minutes, every hour; sipping half a glass of hot water when inclined to cough; careful protection of neck and shoulders from chilling by contact with wet bed clothing. Keep shoulders covered.

PAIN IN CHEST—Revulsive Compress covering the whole chest before and behind.

EXUDATION (ELIMINATION) OF PHLEGM—Alternate Compresses for 20 minutes 3 times a day, with continuous well-protected Heating Compress during the intervals in between and after convalescence begins; for unresolved exudation, Alternate Fan Douche or Alternate Spray.

CONSTIPATION—Daily Cold Enema or Cold Colonic.

DIARRHEA—Enema at 96⁰F. after each bowel movement; Cold Abdominal Bandage, renewing every half hour; Fomentation every 2-4 hours, if pain or tenderness is present.

TYMPANITES (gaseous distension of abdomen)—Hot Enema followed by small Cool Enema; Cold Colonic; Cold Abdominal Compress, changing hourly.

GASTRO-DUODENITIS—Fomentation over stomach and bowels or Hot Trunk Pack every 3 hours. During intervals in between, Cold Compress at 60⁰F., changing every 30 minutes; Neutral Enema daily.

JAUNDICE—Large Hot Colonic at 105⁰F., followed by small Cold Enema twice daily. Fomentation over the liver and stomach every 2 hours. During the interval in between, Heating Compress, changing every 30 minutes.

WEAK HEART, FEEBLE PULSE—Cold Compress or Ice Bag over the heart for 15 minutes every 2 hours. Cold Mitten Friction every 2 hours. Prolonged Neutral Bath with Ice Bag over heart, Cold Pail Pour to back of head and upper spine at the end of the bath.

CYANOSIS (BLUENESS)—Hot Blanket Pack for 15 minutes, followed by Cold Mitten Friction. Avoid exposure of the body to chill by evaporation.

HEADACHE—Ice Compress to head, or Ice Cap; Hot Pack to legs and hips, or other derivative treatment; Hot and Cold Head Compress [Simultaneous Hot and Cold to the Head].

NOSEBLEED—Ice Bag to back of neck, short hot Fomentations to face.

DELIRIUM—Heating Wet Sheet Pack, Ice Cap to Head, Prolonged Sweating Wet Sheet Pack.

INSOMNIA—Neutral Wet Sheet Pack.

CEREBRAL CONGESTION—Hip and Leg Pack, Ice Cap to head.

FEVER—Prolonged Neutral Bath, Wet Sheet Pack, Cooling Enema.

SUBNORMAL TEMPERATURE—Dry Pack, Hot Blanket
Pack, Hot Enema, and hot water drinking. Do not expose him during changing of application or after it.

PAIN IN ABDOMEN AND BACK—Hot Blanket Pack or large Fomentations over affected parts, followed by Heating Compress.

CAPILLARY BRONCHITIS—Hot Blanket Pack followed by Sweating Wet Sheet Pack. Hot Enemas followed by Cold Friction, carefully given. Fomentation to the chest followed by Heating Compress or Chest Pack, to remain in place an hour or until thoroughly warmed. Repeat bath when temperature rises to 102⁰F.

CONTRAINDICATIONS—Do not use Cold Full Baths or anything equivalent.

GENERAL METHOD—Maintain warmth and activity of the skin, taking special care to avoid chilling of the shoulders, which should be especially protected by a wrapping, closely applied. Combat pulmonary congestion by local applications made as directed above. Keep the temperature down by carefully managed hydrotherapy measures such as the Heating Pack, the Hot Blanket Pack, followed by Cold Mitten Friction and like measures rather than Cold Full Baths and Cooling Packs, which aggravate lung congestion by producing retrostasis. Promote vital resistance by frequently repeated partial Cold Frictions, and thus sustain the vital powers until opportunity has been afforded for the development of antitoxins and the suppression of the disease by the natural healing processes.

—Also see "Pneumonia."

TUBERCULOSIS—1 (Consumption)

SYMPTOMS—Coughing, general fatigue, loss of appetite, chest pain, night sweats, and low-grade fever. The cough is at first not too productive, but later increasing amounts of phlegm are coughed up.

The person loses weight and the sputum becomes bloody.

CAUSES—In the 19th century, tuberculosis (TB) was called consumption, for the person seemed to waste away. It is caused by a highly contagious bacteria, the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Although it generally affects the lungs, it can attack any part of the body: kidneys, bones, skin, intestines, spleen, and liver.

In adults, pleurisy is frequently a complication of tuberculosis. The sharp chest pain one may feel might be the pleurisy (which see)

It is spread by coughing. Tiny droplets are inhaled by others. The germ enters the lungs and remains there. As long as the person maintains a healthy lifestyle, the body encapsulates the germs; that is, a tiny calcium shell is placed around the TB germ, to render it harmless.

If the person continues to eat right, get enough calcium in his diet, obtain adequate rest, exercise out-of-doors, and breathe vigorously to keep his lungs in good health—he will not develop TB, even though the germs are in his lungs.

TREATMENT—

• The treatment is obviously a matter of retracing one's steps—and doing what he should have done earlier.

• Initially, he must overcome the critical phase of the disease with fasting, rest, and good food, all the while having fresh air in his room.

• But later, he must take time each day to do something out-of-doors (such as walk up a hill) that will exercise, not only his body, but his lungs.

• Keep in mind that the tubercle bacillus remains with you; it is believed that you will have the seeds of it in your lungs for the remainder of your lifetime. So once you are on your feet again and appear to be well, you must continue a program of careful eating, living, outdoor activity; all the while obtaining adequate rest every night.

• At the present time, TB is making a powerful comeback—and is once again becoming a modern plague. So be careful. It may be in the air of the next building you enter. Live right every day.

—Follow the cleansing and healing program given in "Bronchitis," and "Pneumonia." Also see "Pleurisy."

—Also see "Tuberculosis—2."

ENCOURAGEMENT—Day by day we are to live for God. Day by day, we are to help those around us. As we do this, angels work with us, and what a joy is ours!

TUBERCULOSIS—2 (J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas)

GENERAL—Destroy sputum (spit); he should avoid swallowing it again; live in the open air and sleep in cool, well-ventilated rooms.

INCREASE GENERAL VITAL RESISTANCE—Graduated Cold Baths, twice daily; fattening dietary; systematic exercise; out-of-door life; cool, dry, elevated climate; very brief Radiant Heat Bath, daily or 3 times a week.

ANEMIA—Cold Bath twice daily; food rich in blood- making material; easily digested foods, rich in protein.

INDIGESTION, ANOREXIA—Dry aseptic dietary, dry toast, malted cereals. Hot Abdominal Pack; Ice Bag over the stomach half an hour before meals.

CHILL—Rest in bed, Dry Pack, hot-water drinking.

COUGH—Fomentation to chest, followed by Heating Chest Pack; sipping hot water when inclined to cough.

PAIN—Revulsive Compress for 15 minutes, 2-3 times daily; during intervals between, well-protected Heating Compress.

PULMONARY (LUNG) HEMORRHAGE OR CONGESTION—Very hot application to spine between shoulders, Ice to chest, ice to hands, Hot Leg Pack; keep the extremities warm; elevate the chest and shoulders.

FEVER—Neutral Pack for 15-20 minutes. Free water drinking. Rest in the horizontal position until the daily evening temperature becomes nearly normal.

NIGHT SWEATS—Very Hot Sponging at bedtime.

HYPOPEPSIA, ATONIC DYSPEPSIA—Daily, general cold applications; Ice Bag over stomach for half an hour before meals.

DIARRHEA—Enema at 95⁰ F., after each bowel movement, followed by Cold Abdominal Compress at 60⁰ F., changing every half hour. Rest in bed till checked.

CONTRAINDICATIONS—Avoid general cold baths when hemorrhage is threatened. This includes Cold Full Baths, Cold Pail Pours, Cold Sitz Baths. It also includes Steam Baths.

GENERAL METHOD—The great object to be kept in mind, in the hydrotherapy treatment of this disease, is to build up his vital resistance by carefully graduated cold applications (the various Tonic Frictions), repeated 2-3 times a day. The intensity of the application should be steadily increased from day to day in order to secure good results. No one is too feeble to receive water therapy of some sort; and, by careful graduation, persons of feeble physique, but in whom the disease is not yet far advanced, may be trained to receive very vigorous cold applications with excellent effects. In making the cold applications, care must be taken to avoid chilling him; for this would immediately aggravate his cough.

—Also see "Tuberculosis—1."

EMPHYSEMA

SYMPTOMS—It is only with great effort that the person can exhale air from his lungs. There is continual breathlessness. Most any exertion brings coughing. It is hard to breathe in, but worse to breathe out. The neck veins often stand out from the effort, and he breathes through the mouth in order to try to get enough air in and out. Breathing is usually rapid and short. He may breathe 25-30 times a minute, and still not get enough air.

Eventually his chest becomes barrel-shaped, his face ruddy, and he speaks with short, broken phrases.

CAUSES—The word, "emphysema," comes from a Greek word meaning "to puff up with air." The walls of the lungs lose their elasticity, so air cannot be easily pushed in and out, as should normally happen. So there is air in the lungs, but it is not moving in and out. As emphysema progresses and there is more obstruction to airflow, the lungs enlarge with trapped air.

The most frequent cause is smoking, but air pollution also receives some of the blame. Live in the country and do not have tobacco in your home, and you should be able to avoid this problem.

Emphysema has become the most common modern lung infection in the Western world. Needing a continual exchange of air to survive, we use about a thousand cubic feet of air each day. It passes over lung surfaces which, if laid flat, would be as large as a tennis court. In emphysema, a large portion of the alveoli (the grape-like sacs where the air exchange occurs) are destroyed, and the blood is not properly aerated.

TREATMENT: LIVING WITH THE PROBLEM—

• The person absolutely must stop smoking. Tobacco smoke should be banished from the home, car, and place of work. Also avoid hair spray and other sprays.

• Avoid allergens that you know of.

• Maintain a program of regular exercise. Walking out-of-doors is always the best. Try using 1- or 2-pound hand weights and work the muscles in the neck, upper shoulders, and chest. Those with chronic emphysema need strong muscles there more than others do.

• Eat less and a little more often. Prolonged digestion requires more oxygen and blood to the stomach, and away from other parts of the body which also need them.

• Avoid gas-forming foods, such as legumes and cabbage. These cause abdominal distention which can interfere with breathing.

• Sip warm, clear liquids in the morning (such as herb teas), to help clear mucous from the airways.

• Excessively hot or cold foods may induce coughing.

• Avoid hard-to-chew foods and maintain a low- salt diet.

• Do not eat when emotionally upset or angry.

• Drink enough water. The fluid intake is needed to keep the mucous, in the lungs, thin.

• Maintain your ideal body weight. Some of those with this problem tend to put on weight and retain fluid. The closer you are to your ideal weight, the better for your lungs. Stay on a low-calorie diet. The thinner you are, the less flesh your lungs have to supply oxygen to.

• Obesity and constipation decrease the patient's resistance to respiratory infection.

• Keep your clothing loose; this helps you breathe better.

• Learn to breathe correctly. The tendency is to breathe short and fast. But make yourself breathe steadily, from the diaphragm. Strengthen your respiration muscles by blowing out slowly through pursed lips for 30 minutes a day. Try to exhale twice as long as it took you to breathe in.

• Learn to cough properly. Inhale slowly and deeply, exhale through pursed lips, and cough in short huffing bursts rather than vigorously.

• Pace yourself in your work. Work steadily; it is not necessary to work fast.

• When working, lift while you exhale through pursed lips; inhale while you rest. When climbing steps, climb while exhaling; inhale when you stop to rest.

• Go through the day relaxed, not with a sense of alarm over your air problems.

• Avoid contact with anyone with a respiratory infection.

• Avoid drugs which suppress coughs. They dry up secretions, which you do not want.

• Use only essential and unscented soaps. Avoid perfumes, gas stoves, carpeting, curtains and draperies which cannot easily be cleaned. Avoid hot, humid climates. Avoid furry, feathered animals in your home.

• Get plenty of fresh air. Use a warm scarf or mask over the mouth and nose when outdoors in cold weather. Keep the body warm at all times.

• Place 3, 4, or 5-inch blocks under the foot of the bed. This will help prevent mucous from accumulating in the lower part of the lungs during the night. (But not too steep, for that would be hard on the heart.)

TREATMENT: SOLVING THE PROBLEM—

The suggestions above are typical of what you will find in most books. It is difficult to find remedial solutions, but here is one:

Several years ago, a Christian mother visited her neighbors, and met a woman with emphysema. It was a small, stuffy house and the lady smoked. So the mother went back home and eventually found a treatment; it was a wet heating pack from Kneipp's book, written nearly two centuries ago. She gave the treatment to the woman, who got well within several weeks. This was the treatment:

• Place a plastic sheet on the bed, both above the bottom sheet and beneath the top sheet and covers. Dip another sheet in very cold water, and wring it out somewhat—quickly, to keep in the cold.

• Work quickly: Wrap the sheet about the person, who is standing unclothed. The sheet covers everything but the head and perhaps part of the neck. Than wrap a dry blanket around him. The person immediately gets into the bed, and is covered well with the top sheet and blankets. This is essentially something like a heating pack, but done only with a wet sheet. The effect is immediate freezing cold, which the body gradually warms. The person can remain like this all night.

In the years that followed, the mother mentioned the incident to a number of medical people and doctors, who were astounded; for everyone says there is no cure for emphysema.

ENCOURAGEMENT—By both creation and redemption we are the Lord's property. We are required to obey His laws, but we are never asked to do it in our own strength. Christ helps us in all that we do.

LEGIONNAIRE'S DISEASE

SYMPTOMS—It initially appears to be the flu. There is headache, fatigue, achiness, and moderate fever. But then it develops into what seems more like pneumonia: a high fever (105^o F.) with coughing, diarrhea, chills, disorientation, slow heart rate, dry cough, infection of the pleura, vomiting, severe chest pain, and shortness of breath. From lack of oxygen, the skin becomes bluish and sputum that is coughed up, eventually, is gray or blood-streaked.

CAUSES—This is the strange disease which was first identified at the American Legion convention in 1976, which affected 182 partying in a hotel.

Those who smoke, drink, have diabetes, emphysema, or kidney problems are more likely to contract the disease. Younger people quickly recover, but the elderly can die from respiratory failure.

The Legionella pneumophila bacteria can be in heating and cooling systems. That is how the Legionnaires got it in that hotel. The disease is not directly transmitted from person to person, but through cool water droplets.

TREATMENT—

• Essentially follow the regime listed under "Pneumonia" and "Bronchitis." See your health care provider. The present rate is that 80% of those contracting the disease die, so this disease is a very serious matter. Immunosuppressed patients (such as chemotherapy-treated cancer patients), transplant patients, and AIDS patients are the most susceptible in contracting it.

ENCOURAGEMENT—Copy the example of Christ: His love, tenderness, and obedience. Minister to the needs of everyone around you. They need the peace and happiness that you have found in Christ.

Q FEVER

SYMPTOMS—Some of the symptoms are like those of typhus (which see), and some are like those of broncho-pneumonia (see Pneumonia, Bronchitis). There is a sudden onset of fever, headache, weakness, and a pneumonia-like infection.

CAUSES—Q fever is quite rare in the Western world. It is caused by a rickettsial organism (Coxiella burnetii) and is worldwide in its coverage. First discovered in Australia, it is now known to even occur in the United States.

It is endemic in domestic animals. Sheep, goats, and cattle are the primary reservoirs for transference to humans. The disease is spread to humans by bites from an infected tick (Dermacentor andersoni) and from drinking raw milk.

TREATMENT—

• See your physician. Give this problem the care you would give to typhus (which see), bronchitis, and pneumonia (all three of which see).

ENCOURAGEMENT—There are many from whom hope has departed. Bring back the sunshine into their lives. You can do this as, prayerfully, you seek to bring a knowledge of Jesus into their lives.