Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-10-27
AvSnl..ULoSiS IN IOWA.
D..ileun from Board of Control
De..ring important Information
s respecting Campaign Against
White Plague.

FROM reports which are reaching
Lnis department the outlook for the
.onsumptIve is much more encour-
aging and hopeful. 1t is well
known tact that if persons suffering
from tuberculosis are to recover the
disease must be known early. So
true is this that it may be stated as
a truism, that tuberculosis is cur
able just in relation to its early de-
lection" The recognition of tuber-
culosis in it's earlier stages is quite
difficult and the fact that physicians
are diagnosing it more promptly
than in the past is only another in
dication of the progress being made.
No longer are colds ar hoarseness
passed over with hasty examination.
In either event now a most careful
diagnosis is made including in many
instances a microscopic examination
of sputa. Indeed, so much import
ance is now attached to these ex-
ternal signs that thorough physi-
cal inquisition, so to speak, is i'm
mediately instituted, especially of
the entire chest cavity. Percussion,
palpation, and auscultation are very
frequently supplemented by tuber-
culin tests of various kinds, especi-
ally is this true of suspected cases
where the clinical signs present in
dictate that the person may be vic
tim of the tubercle bacillus, and be-
cause of these facts many persons
have been put upon the highway
TO recovery.
al profession with reference to the
ultimate control of tuberculosis is
refreshing, for it is an intelligent
zeal working out the problems of
care and treatment Of the consump-
tive. Shacks, tents. balconies and
screened porches, in fact any slit
able place affording isolation and
open air, are utilized for the treat
ment of patients with the result that
restrictive measures established have
prevented infection of other persons
while patients have in many instan-
ces made favorable progress in the
arrest of their disease. And the
effect on communities in general Is
proportionately as great as on the
patient himself. The people learn
that the consumptive when properly
cared for is not dangerous, and In
addition have. also learned the value
OF rest, good food and fresh air.
This then becomes preventive medi-
cine.
| It may be stated that the senti
tment created among the people o.
the state by the information which
they have been receiving the pas
few years has made possible this
new order. Formerly when physi
clans made diagnosis it was common
for the patients to reject their find
ings and refuse to believe that they
were the subjects Of the dread dis
ease; but with the knowledge thai
upon the early detection hangs tn,
hope OF cure large numbers eagerl!
| grasp the situation and take advan
tage of the opportunity Afforded t
make recovery.
That the outlook at present /!
exceedingly hopeful can be seen at ;
glance from the progress which ha.
been made in the last four year,
against the dread white plague. The
campaign of education has beer
supplemented by the patients sen
out from the State Sanatorium, who
wherever found. are beacon light.
reckoning to the hopeless that Their,
Is hope for them, if only they tax.
advantage of the opportunity for al
early detection Of the malady.