The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-12-15
DISEASES THAT Do You GOOD.
Rheumatism and Gout ProIong PEG.
pies Lives.
(PearsOn's Weekly

(Pearson's Weekly
II IS a remarkable fact-one Of natures
peculiar compensations-that people who
have suffered from smallpox generally
1--we longer than people who have not.
why TINS should be the case there is ONLY
an improved theory to explain: and the
JheOTy IS that the microbes which 60 TO
MAKE smallpox, being very powerful and
pughacIous, swallow up the microbes of
many other diseases which they find i'm
the system of persons they attack. Hence
oy contracting smallpox severely Won
stand a good chance of eliminating from
your system other diseases which would
selZe upon you at some time or other.
and, likely enough, prove fatal.
Al the same time il must be admitted
tnat smallpox is not scheduled as a pre-
Vent1ve medicine; and the number Of Der-
sons It either kills, mains or fnfIcts with
mental incapacitieS is probably greater
man the number Of persons whose lives it
pTOlOngs.
At the same time it is a fact that the
disease, though one of the most terrible
known TO medical science, does YOU a
great deal Of good if you are capable Of
throwing 1t on without suffering after
enects OF a more serious character than
being pitted with the queer little marks
II almost invariably leaves behind to dis
tinguish its past-time victims
Numbers of elderly persons, in more or
less feeble health, are kept alive by
coughs, such, for instance, as bronchitis.
Chronic coughs are peculiarly. common to
old people. and hundreds who complain
OF the distress caused them by such sf-
Iections are really indebted to their
coughs for their length of life. The rea-
son OF this is that most elderly persons
suffer With weak heart and feeble circu-
lat1on of the blood, and weak hearts be-
come weaker and weaker merely az a re-
suit of their weakness. A constant cough
corrects this, keeps the heart beating
more strongly than it otherwise would.
and the strong heartbeat keeps the blood
circulating more quickly; and the vital
organs are thus kept in a state of &C
pVltY which could only be maintained by
artificial means, and for a limited time,
but for the troublesome cough.
Moreover, the constant reminders given
by the cough deter the sufferers from
running risks Of catching colds. In other
words, they have to study their health or
suffer more acutely from their coughs,
and choosing the former, they benefit
accordingly.
Govt and rheumatism are exceedingly
painful diseases, and, of course, in some
cases prove fatal, but they confer many
a pressing upon mankind; and rheumatism
particularly is well known to doctors as a
preventive of many other diseases. 1t is
a notorious fact that equity subjects gen.
orally live to a ripe old age, and albeit
they suffer severely at times, they gener-
ally enjoy excellent general health, the
very causes of the govt keeping their
blood in good condition and making it un-
endurable to many kinds of microbes.
Cases have occurred of whole house
holds, except one member, being stricken
with infectious diseases and the lucky
exception has been a sufferer from rheu-
matism or govt, which alone have pre-
vented him from contracting the diseases
which have run through the house. Such
sufferers do not run half the risk OF
catching the common illnesses that non
sufferers run. and a large proportion OF
the people who reach ages over four
score years are people who for years have
suffered from govt or rheumatism. 10
which fact they undoubtedly owe many
OF the years they have lived over the
allotted span,
Take half a dozen persons over the age
OF 20 who suffer from rheumatism or govt,
ana half dozen others who suffer from
neither. and you will find that. except for
their rheumatism or govt, they enjoy very
much better health than the non-suffer-
ers. and stand a splendid chance Of out
living the latter. Moreover. govt and
rheumatism greatly enhance a sufferer )
chances of retaining his mental faculties
until the end; a large percentage Of CEN
tenarians who die with all their wits
about them. and with excellent memories
Of the days Of their youth. have suffered