The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1907-03-07
tuberculosis

aHI IaEn.t haH E-g-T .NSaA glt g'Hl4E.hAhaet
Monthly Bulletin of the State
Board of Health.
tuberculosis is an infectious dis
ease caused by the introduction of
the tubercular bacillus into some part
of the body. This may be brought
about by breathing directly into the
lungs particles Of dried sputum from
other consumptives, by kissing con
sumptives Or using any vessel, such
as a drinking glass, in common with,
a consumptive. It may also be caused
by taking consumptive germs into the
stomach through food, such as milk.
1t is occasionally produced by intro
ducing the germ through an abrasion
of the skin. The disease is much more
prevalent than is commonly supposed.
In North Dakota, excluding deaths
from accidents, consumption is re-
sponsible for about one out of seven
deaths from all other causes.
tuberculosis is not necessarily a
fatal disease, in fact, many recover
from it who never knew they had it.
The most essential point in the treat
ment of the disease is the making of
an early diagnosis. By this I mean
long before an individual has fever
and night sweats. and great loss Of
weight Dr. splitting of blood. The next
point is that the individual be in
formed as to the true nature of his
malady and given specific directions
as to how to take care of himself. One
OF our best authorities states that fully
80 per cent of the very early cases are
durable, so that l would urge upon
any one who has a cough which does
not readily respond to ordinary treat
ment to lose nc time in consulting a
physician. The treatment is more of
a matter of hygienic conditions than
medicine. In fact, many of the So
called sspatent' medicines are posi-
lively harmful and should, as a class,
be stunned. Some of these medicines
contain a large amount of alcohol and
make the patients feel better for a
while. Others contain sedatives which,
in a measure, alleviate the cough, thus
making a patient believe he is i'm
proving, when in fact, the disease is
steadily advancing, and every days
delay reduces the chances of the pa
TENTS ultimate recovery. AS an
abundance of fresh air is a large ele-
ment in the treatment, it is perhaps
advisable for those patients to whom
expense is no great consideration to
spend the winter months. at least, in
a warm, dry climate where they can
sleep out of doors all the time. It is.
however, perfectly possible to treat
such cases in this climate and it is
much better for a poor man to stay at
home where he has friends and can
secure the ordinary comforts of life
than to go among strangers and have
to practice rigid economy.
If a case of tuberculosis has occurred
in a family, every other member of
that family should take the best posi-
BILE care of himself for years after
ward. In fact, they should be under,
the Constant supervision of their phys
ician SO that if the disease does oc-
cur, it may be treated in its incipi-
ency. No enc should sleep in the
same room with a consumptive, GER
tainly not in the same bed. A con
sumptive should never dispose of his
sputum in any way that might allow
it to become dried and inhaled by
others as particles Of dust. For in
stance, he should never use a hand
kerchief, never spit upon the floor,
should not cough in the face of an
other nor over a table. Consumptives
should not prepare food for others.
Consumptives should e]xpectorate into
an approved spit cup of which many
are on the market, into an ordinary
spittoon partly filled with a disinfect-
ing solution and frequently emptied,
or into pieces of paper which are i'm
mediately burned or dropped into a
bag and burned later.
The fact is, that the habit of splitting
wherever it is most convenient is prac-
tical]y the only method Of transmitting
tuberculosis, SO that if we would all
give up this filthy practice, the dis
ease would soon very greatly diminish
and probably become almost extinct.
Summary of Vital Statistics Re
nOrto6 IN North nol/o+o C+o+o