Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1889-11-12
THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN.
IN Earnest and Able Plea for ne Proven.
ten OF Dlse0SA

~ to know just what L. the physica
condition of each member Of the fam.
lily in the absence OF any manifest ev-
idence of disease. To this end period
ical examinations should be made OF
such q character as to reveal any
lurking morbid tendency without
waiting for its development into
actual disease. There should be no
such a thing as q discovcrable affec-
ton remaining undiscovered. Death
from Gnsxspected heart or kidney dis
ease, for example, should cease to be
possible. There should be no more
histories like the following, now 80
frequently repeated:
A person supposed to be in good
health Is Fastening along the street
perhaps hurrying to catch train
All at once he is seen to stagger and
fall. Passers : by rush to his as
sistance, but he gasps a few times.
and, before any aid can be rendered,
he is dead. An autopsy reveals that
he had fatty degeneration of the
heart, and the extra demand made
upon the heart by the unusual exer.
ton was more than its enfeebled walls
could respond to. He was not aware
of the existence Of this condition, but
If his doctor had merely laid his finger
on his pulse his suspicion would have
been aroused, and listening to the
heart would Immediately have con-
firmed it By proper treatment and
the avoidance of severe exertion the
catastrophe might have been averted
for many years, and the usual limit of
life might perhaps have been at.
tanned.
Or again, gentleman who has
thought himself quite well goes as
usual in the morning to his place of
business. A few hours later he is
brought home in a carriage in q state
of Inconsistencies. In spite of the
most prompt and judicious treatmen:
he does not recover from his coma On
the contrary, commissions set in, and
in the course of a few hours he dies.
Unknown to him or to his family he
has been suffering from Bright's dis
ease. the symptoms being latent up to
the last moment. Yet a very simple
examination would have revealed to
his doctor the actual condition of af-
fairs, and by proper care and proper
treatment the fatal termination might
have been almost indefinitely deferred
The records of examinations by the
physicians OF life insurance companies
show numerous instances in which
very serious disease exists without be-
ing suspected either by the patient or
his friends. This fact in addition to
the frequency of cases such as those
described above, Is enough to show
the extreme Importance of a system by
which the actual condition of persons
not consciously i'll should be periodi-
cally Investigated.
But the opportunity afforded to the
family physician to ward off injurious
influences from those under his care
might be extended much farther. II
should be within his province to indi-
cate what occupations were suitable to
Il q given youth, and what, in the inter
ests of his health, should be avoided.
He should be able to prevent feeble,
ill-nourished, narrow-chestedl lad beina
put behind a desk in O counting-room,
where the tendency to pulmonary dis.
ease already existing would certainly
be developed. He should have such q
voice in the selection of boarding
schools as would prevent the children
being sent to institutions in unhealth-
ful localities, or In which there was
danger from defective sanitary pre-
cautions. In the selection of q new
!. dwelling, and even in choosing sum.
mer resort his Judgment as to the
topography and the sanitary condi
tions should have controlling influ
ence. His supervision should extend
to O proper adaptation of Quotations
methods to the capabilities Of the sew
eral children of the family, and to tn,
order in which their faculties develop
On this latter point 1t Is high time tina
the influence of medicine should b,
felt in pedagogics. Mental physiolog,
should lie at the foundation of ever,
school curriculum It Is incongruoul
that ct this age Of the world the devel
opment Of the mind should be intrustet
,ihreservedly to those who have no
even the most elementary knowladoa n