Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-08-15
VALUE OF THE X-RAY.
Within a Decade 1t Has Become Al
most Indispensable to Surgeons.

most Indispensable to Surgeons.
! AS an adjunct to surgery the Roent-
gen ray has become indispensable,
and there are few surgeons in Amer1-
ca today who do not employ it as a
| diagnostic in their general practice.
| The conduct of many operations which
are now performed with comparative
ease was rendered extremely difficult,
if not impossible, before it's introduc-
ton. By it's use it is possible to de-
termine the nature and position of
fractures, the presence of foreign
bodies, and the surgical treatmea1
necessary; by it's use, also, the con-
dition of the heart and lungs can be
learned, and the size, position and
shape of the stomach and its n. 's
tines determined with considerable
accuracy. tuberculosis, pneumonia
heart trouble, diabetes and various
disorders of the bladder and kidneys
can be recognized sooner by this than
any other means, and their progress
often arrested at an earlier stage than
would have been possible before its
advent.
There are, unquestionabIy, many
eminent physicians in this country
who hold that as therapeutic agent
the Roentgen ray has accomplished
comparatively little, and that it has
signaIly failed to fulfill the promises
made for it in it's infancy, but those
who are employing it in their daily
practice find in it a powerful lieuten-
ant in the treatment of various dis
orders, for many of them, before the
advent of the ROentgen ray, no prac-
tical remedy had been prescribed; in
fact it is an open question whether,
at the present moment, it is not ac-
as it is a diagnostic.
There is probably no ailment to
which flesh is heir to so destructive
or so widespread as consumption
the great white plague. Indiscrimin-
ate in its tastes, it attacks rich and
poor, black and white, with almost
equal fatality. During the past few
years a determined stand has been
made against this disease by the
medical profession, and every new
agency which seemed to promise even
temporary relief has been faithfully
tried. Two of the most important of
these are KOch's tuberculin and Mara
gilan0's more recent injection of spe,
cific tuberculous bacilIi directly into
the lungs"-a specific obtained by in
jacting bovine animals with a water
extract of living tubercular becilli, and
extracting a serum therefrom.
As an auxiliary in the treatment of
this disease the Roentgen ray has
proved particularly valuable, especial
ly in the first and final stages. While
IN the final stages the inevitable end
has never been aVerted, the homorr-
hages, night sweats, and fevers have
been controlled, the pain has been
aIIayed. the general condition made
more comfortable, and in many cases
the patients life prolonged. In the
earlier stages the appetite, weight,
and strength have been materially in
creased. and the general condition so
improved as to enable the patient to
make much better fight against the
progress of this dread affection.
@ Has consumption been actually
cured in its iRcipient stages? is a
question few physicians would be
ready to answer in the Affirmative at
the present time. but many, no doubt.
have their private opinions. It is GER
ta1nly an indisputable fact that per
sons possessing many of the prelim-
mary symptoms-some. even, who
have been advised to that last resort
of the consumptive-the sanitorium-
hdye been apparently cured, and with
the passing of time there has been no
recurrence of the malady-Van Nor
denis Magazine.