Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1902-01-10
GOOD FROM DISEASE
SEVERAL AFFECTIONS THAT HAVE
THEIR CONVERSATIONS.

An AttaGk o& Smallpox, ~ Y0U Get
Over IL, WIN Add Years to Your
Life - Sufferers From Rheunatfsm
and Gent Are Long LIVED.
Have you had smallpox? II you
have and you have recovered from the
terrible disease without your eyesight
or hearing being seriously affected. as
is very often the case. you may con-
graduate yourself that smallpox at
tackled you, for you win probably, bar
ring accidents, live considerably longer
and enjoy better general health than II
you had never had the disease.
1t Is a remarkable fact-one OF ma
ture's peculiar compensations - that
people who have suffered from small
pox generally live longer than people
who have not. Why this should be the
case there Is only an improved theory
to explain, and the theory is that the
microbes which go to make smallpox,
being very powerful and pugnacious,
swallow up the microbes OF many 9th
er diseases which they find In the sys-
TENS OF the persons they attack; hence,
by contracting smallpox severely, you
stand good chance OF eliminating
from your system other diseases which
would seize upon you at some time or
other and. likely enough, prove fatal.
At the same time It must be admit
ted that smallpox is not scheduled as q
preventive medicine, and the number
or persons it either kills. mains or In
hicts with mental incapacities is prob
ably greater than the number of per-
sons whose lives 1t proloogs.
At the same time It is a fact that the
disease, though one of the most terri
BILE known to medical science, does you
a great deal Of good II you are capable
or throwing 1t OF without suffering
after effects OF q more serious charac-
ter than being pitted with the queer
little marks it almost invariably leaves
behind to distinguish its victims.
Numbers OF elderly persons In more or
less feeble health are kept alive by
coughs, such, for instance, as bronchi-
tbs. Chronic coughs are peculiarly CON-
mon to old people, and hundreds who
complain OF the distress caused them
by such affections are really indebted
TO their coughs for their length Of life
The reason or this is that most elderly
persons suffer with weak hearts and
feeble circulation Of the blood, and
weak hearts become weaker merely as
a result OF their weakness. A constant
cough corrects this, keeps the heart
beating more strongly than It other
wise would. and the strong heart beat
keeps the blood circulating more quick
~, and the vital organs are thus kept
in a state OF activity which could only
be maintained by artificial means and
for limited time but for the trouble
some 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 hQaltks- or suffer more acutely
from their coughs, and, choosing the
former. they benefit accordingly.
Gout and rheumatism are exceeding
ly painful diseases and Of course In
some cases prove fatal. but they confer
many a Blessing upon mankind, and
Rheumatism particularly is well known
TO doctors as preventive OF many 9th.
er diseases. 1t Is a notorious fact that
equity subjects generally live to n ripe
age. and albeit they suffer very Sc
Vereiy at times they generally enjoy ex-
celient general health, the very causes
or the gout keeping their blood in good
condition and making 1t uncomfortable to
many kinds OF microbes.
Cases have occurred OF whole house
holds, except one member, being
Arfn ~~vt&A. fvaR
and the lucky exception has been a
suffered from rheumatism or gOut,
which alone has prevented 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 nonsufferers
run. and large proportion of the peo-
pie who reach ages OF foursc0re years
are people who for years have suffered
from gout or rheumatism, to which
fact they undoubtedly owe many Of
the years they have lived over the al
lotted span.
Take half a dozen persons over the
age OF seventy who suffer from rheu-
matism or gout and half a dozen eth
ers who suffer from neither and you
VIII ind that, except for their rheu-
matism or gout. they enjoy very much
better health than the nonsufferers
and stand n splendid chance OF outliv-
ing the latter. Moreover, gout and
rheumatism greatly enhance a suffer
er's chances OF retaining his mental
faculties until the end. A large per-
centage OF centenarians who died with
Ali their wits about them and with ex-
celIent memories OF the days Of their
youth have suffered for many years
from rheumatism and been particular
ly free from other diseases.
The loss OF a leg or an arm is also
said to Go you good In the long run.
Perhaps that is an awkward phrase to
Rppiy to the loss Of leg, but let II
stand. It certainly seems that when q
man is deprived OF leg or an arm
the vitality and vigor Of the lost mem
ber remain with him to increase the
vitality OF the remainder.