The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-03-29
FOOD VS.. MEDICINE.
IMPORTANCE OF plETGTlcs IN THE
TREATMENT OF DISEASE.

| ''@FN' "SN' VT DloLfNOE.
New Order of Things Among Medical
Practitioners--IIow Cures Nav lie Eff
fected without Dragging and Dosing.
Ignorance of the People.
In the treatment of many diseases drugs
are, OF course, indispensable, but, as a
rule, no less important, if not more inn
portant, are the hygienic and supporting
measures, These relate to pure air, tenn
perature, diet, drinks, cleanliness, exer-
else, rest, sleep, etc As their Importance
nave been better understood, the depend
ehce upon drugs has lessened, and today
the Intelligent physician may be known
by the small amount of medicine which
he prescribes and by the large amount of
instruction he gives relative to the nature
OF the disease and the personal conduct of
the patient. The people as whole are
slow TO accept this new order of things, so
different from that in the times of their
fathers. Physicians are INSTRUCTED, and
their efforts are, too, sometimes defeated
by the ignorance of those in whose behalf
they labor.
Only the most intelligent classes of to-
much faith has been put in medicine. The
other classes still feel that the paramount
duty of the physician is the selection and
administration of drugs. Enlightenment
among them must necessarily be slow.
They must acquire better knowledge of
disease in general, and appreciate the fact
that the intrinsic tendency of many dis
eases is to recovery, and that drugging is
not always necessary even in those which
were formerly supposed to tend to fatal
result unless very active measures were
employed. Undoubtedly honorable ply
sicians assist all they can in the general
education of people on this vital subject.
Yet they are SO hampered by the general
confidence in effete theories and the
prevalence OF popular fallacies, which
threaten to exist until the end of time
they can do but little compared to what
they might do were the conditions favor
able-if the people did not resist enlighten-
ment. Let a physician be called to a
patient suffering from an affection that is
sure to end in recovery if left alone. He
gives proper instructions as to ventilation,
temperature, diet, etc., and leaves the
cure to nature. A very few people would
be content with such advice; more would
feel that the money paid for it had actually
been thrown away, and no inconsiderable
number would insist upon sending for
another physician, believing that in all
cases of sickness medicine alone can in
sure recovery.
Such notions do people entertain, and so
ignorant are they generally, doctors really
cannot afford to be perfectly candid, for
In many families honesty is at discount,
and there is penalty fixed for the same.
1t is true that if physician, every time
he made call, were to remain with the
patient an hour or more and deliver
medical lecture, occasionally one would be
encountered who could appreciate such
an effort and understand the subject dis
cussed. On the majority of patients.
however, it would fall fiat. Again, there
is the mental influence to consider. Pa
tients who have such steadfast faith in
medicine, as a rule really do better if some
simple, although absolutely inert mixture
is given them. So it will be seen that as
a public instructor, the physician who
ought and willingly would do much, can
can do but comparatively little, and his
sphere is almost limited to the most intel
ligent clssses. AS a consequence of this
condition of things, he is, in certain fami-
lies, obliged to give something in the way
ofmedicine, even if he feels that the same
is not absolutely needed.
That people are so grossly ignorant on
the most vital of subjects is no fault of
the reputable physician. 1t is purely their
own They not only do not try to learn,
but they actually resist enlightenment.
But we have wandered from our subject.
Vt was our purpose to point out some of
the valuable remedial effects which result
from notifications of diet, and the judi
cious increase or diminution in the
quantity Of food, in not few affections
special forms of diet are all that is re-
quired to effect q cure. Take, for in
stance, a disorder of the organs of diges- |
ton, such as dyspepsia If person suf-
fering from that has fortitude, and can
practice self-denial, he may, in nearly all
instances, cure himself if he properly Sc
lects and restricts his diet. But few care
TO make the effort, or at least to persist
in it long enough 1t is easier and far
more agreeable for them to take medi- |
cine, and so they go on eating and dosing
until the disease becomes chronic for |
rarely can it be cured by drugs alone.
Diabetes is a disease which only can be
controlled by restriction to a special form
of diet. A cure is even possible, but the
remedy lies with the patient. No medical
agent has yet been discovered which can
stay the disease. There are some which |
assist recovery when the diet is properly |
restricted, but they are comparatively |
valueess unless that is done. While in |
some diseases the treatment demands a
modification in diet and a diminution in |
quantity, there are many in which a judi |
ciOus increase is necessary. In inflamma- |
tory conditions of all kinds in which the |
starvation treatment was formerly en- |
ployed, the general principle now recog-
nized is to encourage and maintain a |
healthy condition of the blood by nourish-
ment. If sufficient food is given, the
blood soon becomes unfit in its vital and |
physical properties for the healing process
of nature.
So, since all diseases tend to weaken
and wear out the system, to feed the pa
tient is one of the first Importance While |
they exist, what is needed is to ''restore
the life that is being drained, build up the
tissues that are being wasted" AS a |
sign of medical progress, physicians at |
the present time largely substitute food |
for medicine in the treatment of disease,
and without doubt upon the valuable |
therapeutic effects of food they will in the |
future more than ever depend As has
been said, twenty-five years ago our old
fashioned drugs were counted by thou
sands, our elegant pharmaceutical pro-
ducts by tens, dietetic preparations by
units If the change goes on in the next
two decades as rapidly as. it has in the
last two, the coming century practice will
see this order reversed. The calomel, the
jalap, the EPSON salts, the tincture of
iron - these classics and venerables,
though still in use doubtless-will find
very little favor. Even now their regu-
lar employment seems to be kind of re-
proach, excusable only on the ground of
the great age of the physician or the pow
erty of the tient.-Boston Herald
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