The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-10-17
Less Faith Put in Drugs to
Cure Diseases Nowadays.
DEPENDS ON THE SYSTEM
The Efforts of Physicians Directed In
Many Cases Simply to Stimulate
the Body's Power of Fighting
Germs-Common Mistakes About
Household Remedies.

often do more harm than good. Years
ago. for instance. all sorts OF reme'
dies were administered to consump'
tiyes. and nine-tenths of the patients
died. To-day little medicine is pre-
scribed for consumptives and they
recover.
1t is the same with pneumonia. ty-
| phoid fever and host of other mala-
dies. The era of sure cures Is past,
end scientific physicians Lave learned
that the best way to combat most Ills
| IS by the indirect method of stimulat-
ing the body's natural power of fight
ing and destroying germs.
1t is a rule of nature that human
tissues when disturbed or disordered
exhibit strong tendency to return
spontaneously to a state OF equili-
brium. You strike your thumb with
d hammer and painful bruise re-
cults, with effusion of blood under the
skin and much Inflammation.
The tissues are mangled and many
Of the flesh cells are broken and die.
But in the course of week the
wreckage Is removed and new tissue
is there. The dark, wasted blood Is
absorbed and carried away. The
dead cells are carted off. too.
The Inflammation subside es. New tis-
sue takes the place of that destroyed.
The pain disappears and your bruise
Is cured.
With
maladies. AS soon as germ OF tub
erculosis or pneumonia enters your
body the white corpuscles In your
blood begin to fight II. II 1t is but
single germ. making a solitary ex-
cursion, 1t Is soon killed. But If In
stead OF one germ. million or hum
dred million invade your tissues, the
battle Is more strenuous and 1t takes
longer for your white corpuscles to
do their police work.
Thus 1t is apparent that the SER
iousness Of a disease may be meas
ured by the effort the body must ex-
pend in getting rid of its germs. A
pimple on the face usually cures It
self within two or three days. That
is because the staphylococcus, which
causes pimples. is a germ which falls
On easy prey to the anti-germ sub
stances In the blood. But an attack
of rheumatic fever lasts a couple Of
months, even when the patient Is In
good condition for fighting 1t. and
that is because the germ which causes
It Is a tough oneand puts up a hard
battle against the blood.
Nevertheless the body always
makes a hot fight and always has
chance of winning, albeit this chance
Is sometimes a very small one. All
that modern medicine processes to
do, In most cases, Is to help the
body In It's good work and to sur
round It with the most favorable con-
ditons.
A consumptive is ordered to sleep
In the open air and is fed on rich
milk and eggs in order that his blood
may become clear and healthy and
30 be able to wage successful war
against the tubercle bacilli in his
lungs. No effort is ordinarily made
to combat the bacilli directly.
The same thing occurs in the case
Of pneumonia. typhoid fever, yellow
fever and other diseases. The pat
lent is we'll nourished and well nurs-
ed and whenever medicine may lend
a handy reducing a fever or aid
Ing in the removal of waste products
this aid Is given. But the main
fight-the actual war on the germs
must be cond ucted by the body it.
self.
Again, there is universal ten
dency to exaggerate slight ailments
into very serious ones. A man who
has been confined to his bed for a
week by some sort of self-curing in
fiammation In the air passages says
that he had touch Of pnuemonia. !"
In reality 1t Is impossible to have
touch of pneumonia. One either
has the disease of hasn't It. In the
same way laymen often speak of a
touch" of typhoid fever or diphthe-
ria or erysipelas or dysentery or
rheumatism or scarlet fever or even
of such diseases as malaria or yellow
| fever.
No human being ever had a
touch" of malaria. When this
phrase is used the layman usually
means that he had an attack of In
fuenza or an extraordinarily bad
cold. with fever and chills. A man
who really has malaria cannot drag
through his daily work with no other
aid than an occasional quinine pill
and the privilege Of swearing at the
Office boy and of making himself
generally disagreeable.
The success of host Of homely
remedies for colds, bruises, sprains
&C.. Is based upon this error. A cold
is q simple infection of the mucous
membrane. and careful observation
shows that in man otherwise heal
thy It Is certain to cure itself withir
a short time. But the victim of
| coJd almost tnva rio hlv darnande tho,