San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-04-20
FOOD vs.. MEDICINE.
IMPORTANCE OF DlETETICS IN THE
TREATMENT OF DISEASE.

New Order of Things Among Medical
Practitioners-How Cures May Be 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
have been better understood, the depend
ence 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 a 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-
day are even beginning to realize that too
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 a better knowledge of
disease in general, and appreciate the fact
that the intrinsic tendency of many dis
eases is to recovery, and that dragging 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 a
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 fat. Again, there
is the mental influence to consider. Pa.
tients who have such steadfast faith in
medicine, as 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
hgent clssses. AS a consequence of this
condition of things, he is, in certain fami-
lies, obliged to give something in the way
of medicine, 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 fanlt IF