The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-07-31
Sunlight as a Panacea
Or. knopf Points Out Remarkable
lsntanceS of Its Remedial Value

vanced recently by some medica
authorities, that sunshine is Injurious
TO consumptives i'm general and 20 per
sons of the blonde type in particular
DR.. Knopf brought forward his views
on the subject in an address las
week before the National Association
FOR the Study and Prevention of Tu.
berculosis at the Auditorium Hotel
Chicago
The first statement Of the sunlight
theory 10 which Dr. KnOpf takes ex-
ception was made in November, 1907,
in American Medicine. That periodi-
cal characterized the advice given in
the Hygienic and Dictetic Gazette for
October, 1907, by Dr. j. w. Vain
wright, that those suffering from tu-
berculosis should not seek the sun
shine instead OF the shade as dread
full" And according to an article
signed by Major Charles u. Wood
ruff, NJ. D., OF the United States
Army, published in the New York
World Of January 70, 1908, sunlight
breeds tuberculosis and other dis
eases and consumptives must keep
in the shade in order TO be cured.
To refute such statements DR..
Knopf addressed some fifty OF the
leading authorities on the subject Of
tuberculosis in this country and
abroad in order to get the consensus
OF opinion Of men competent to speak
on the following questions:
Whether sunlight is harmful In
cool or cold weather TO the average
tuberculous patient provided he is
careful in protecting his head.
( Whether the Improvement noted
among patients in winter in our tenn
perate zones is due to the absence of
sunlight or other reasons.
Whether solar therapy, or sun
baths, are OF any value in carefully
selected cases under proper super
vision.
Whether DR.. Woodruff's theory
that blondes would do better In cold
weather and cold climatic conditions
and brunettes in warm has any foun-
dation.
From forty-odd answers received
from men who have right to speak"
said DR.. Knopf, "the vast majority
said that person OF the blonde type
does not do any better in colder cli-
mates than those having brown or
black hair; that brunettes do not do
any better in warm weather or warm
er climates, and that sunlight is not
harmful In cool or cold weather. pro-
vided that the patient is careful to
protect his head. They stated, fur
thermore, that the improvement noted
among tuberculous patients In win
ter Is to be ascribed to the cold and
to whatever sunlight Is there"
Besides giving in detail the an
swers received from the medical men
whom he consulted on the subject,
DR.. Kopf also made the following re-
marks In his Chicago address. which
may serve as warning to those who
are In favor Of the doctrine Of dark
ness:
''Those OF us who work among the
poor in the tenement houses know
only too we'll how much more fire.
quently tuberculosis develops In the
houses OF the poor, where the ma
Jorlty live, sleep and work in dark
rooms, where the sunshine never en-
ters or enters rarely. Let me quote
in regard to this from a letter re-
ceiyed as recently as May from Mr..
Robert w. De Forest. president of
the New York Charitable Organlza-
tion Society and former Tenement
House Commissioner:
More than 100000 persons sleep
every night In dark, unventilated,
interior rooms in tenement houses in
this city. These rooms have no win
dows even to adjoining rooms. This
state OF AFFAIRS is largely responsible
for the fact that 10000 persons die
OF tuberculosis in New York each
year."
DR.. Knopf went on to say:
"Scrofulous diseases, local. bone.
skin and joint tuberculosis we find
most frequently among children of
the sunless tenement houses in large
cities, rarely among children reared
IN the country, where they are ex-
posed to great deal OF sunshine.
Thus it would seem that the men
dealing with tenement house prob
lens and tuberculosis among the
masses are in favor of light and par
ucularly OF sunlight as powerful
preventive factor in tuberculosis.
There Is no tendency among them to
wish to revise the old Persian saw
ing: Where sun does not enter ply
sician enters often
"The wonderful results obtained
In the climatic researches in the high
attitudes OF Switzerland are ascribed
by close observers 20 the great
amount of sunshine in those regions.
and we may Justly claim the same for
our own beautiful climate in New
Mexico, Arizona, Southern California
and other Southern regions, also for
the higher regions in the Eastern
sections OF the country.
SO much for the ordinary influ
~ G..l.N