The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1905-10-27
The Supreme Need of the tuberculosis
Patient.

In the Journal of the American
Medical Association DR.. Norman
Bridge calls attention to the fact that
the tuberculosis mortality has been re-
duced in the last thirty years from
14.25 to 10 per cent of all deaths.
These results are not accidental, but
are clearly due to the increased knowl-
edge of the best methods Of treating
this disease. In order to point out
the best course he calls attention in
the following words to some common
errors still prevailing:
Men grow fixed in their ideas; they
come to regard their notions as i'm
mutable, and SO are slow to discover
and to change. 1t is somehow easier
for us to think that quinine or cod
liver oil, creosote or a change of eli
mate; some inhalation of drugs or a
so-called anti-toxin, is good for tuber-
~culosis, than it is to understand that
the great first purpose of all treat
ment is to increase the p~hysiologic
power of the patient to resist the dis
ease and to destroy or circumscribe
it's cause within his own body.
"The sober fact confronts us that
the one supreme need Is for more pow
er in the afflicted body to restrict or
destroy the tuberculosis process. For
our. present guidance this truth is so
vital that it takes rank with a confess
sion of faith in religion.
1--WE have given our patients some
drug, and have neglected the half doz-
en- measures whose tendency is to in
crease the power of the patient. Thus
we have often thrown away the great
resources of rest, fresh air, outdoor
life, changes in surroundings, and a
systematic effort OF increase the nutri-
tive forces the body.
There is no objection to the tonic
medicines, always provided they are
understood to be minor and subsidiary
things, never Of great value, and to be
used only as aids to the general meas.
ures referred to.
ITO give drugs, while the patient is
allowed to go in ar unhygienic course
of life without advice or correction, is
an error awful in it's results.
Every one of these patients should
be constantly supplied with outdoor
atmosphere in such abundance that
every successive inspiration brings a
fresh dose of air to the lungs, and
none from previous expiration. Every
one should have long hours Of rest
If feverish, the rest recumbent should
be almost or quite constant, for exer-
else increases the fever. The digest
i've powers should be made to do their
best, under the most careful supervis-
ion, toward improving the nutrition
and possibly also the resisting power
Of the patient.
patients have been allowed to stay
indoors without proper ventilation,
and breathe a poisoned house-air
three-quarters Of the time. We have
subscribed to the popular untruth-as
pitiful as it is groundless-that pa
tients in a gentle current of air called
a draught are in danger of colds and
other harm, and so we have kept them
breathing over and over again their
contaminated air. The truth is, one
never takes cold in any draught, even
a wind, if his body and head are kept
warm by clothing. : The advice of the
profession ought to be to keep in a
draught, never out of it; only it would
lessen the business of the physicians
while it would be of incalculable ben
eft to the people.
"A consumptive's body should al
ways be well and equally clothed, and
should never be hampered or restrict
ed by garments. Snug corsets and
conventional gowns are an absurdity
for the tuberculosis woman; worn as
they are by most such women, they
frequently tip the scales in favor Of
death rather than recovery"