Bisbee daily review., 1909-03-21
PNEUMONIA
 MOST FATAL
 0f DISEASES
!t Ends More Lives Than Tu- bercu!osiS, According to Harvard Lecturer = Some Startling Data

it by John Bunyan," said Dr. Elliott P. Joslin. in his lecture in the popular
 course at the Harvard Medical school.
 Approximately one person in every 100 in Boston dies each year from
 pneumonia. and it is not far from the
 truth to say that one individual in
 every 100 or 200 has the disease each
 year" T. Joslin exhibited charts based
 upon those of the Boston board Of
 health, showing that pneumonia has
 caused moro deaths in Boston than any other disease.
 | "Pnuemonia is most common in
 young adult males though the disease
 IS most fatal in the very young and old continued the lecturer. "Osler i calls 1t the friend of the aged It Is three times as common in the winter ! months as in the summer and in the united States is most prevalent in the Southern Mississippi river belt i and less frequently encountered in the northwest timber region and along tho Mexican gulf. Occasionally num- l erous cases occur in one house, and recently siE appeared in oae family in I Somerville. It was found to be 1nOre common in the densely populated un- hyg1enic wards, though as a rule 1t is disease os outdoor occupation.
 Cold and 'bolds' account but for a | fifth of the cases. Excess in alcohoi
 with the accompanying debility and exposure are important predisposing factors One attack makes an indi- vidual more susceptible to another and Is per cent of tae eases give history | of having had 1t before. Several micro ! organisms may cause the disease. The usual cause is the diplococcus Ian eeoiatus. which Fraenkel associated
 with the disease in 1884. This germ is widespread, and has been found Tn the mouths and throats of 2O.S5 per | cent of all healthy people at one time or another. Occasionally the organ ism causes blood poisoning, and there | is no locsliZation of the disease in the lungs demonstrable
 -Four distinct stages occur during the course of the disease in the lungs. l. Engorgement with blood. 2. Red 1 qualification due to the appearance
 of a large amount of fibrin mixed with red blood corpuscles. The lung | increases in weight from it's normal
 weight of one pound to three to five
 bounds. 2, Disqualification -hy-ths | pred3minance Of white blood corpus cles. 4. Resolution-the stage in
 which the qualification of the lung
 is absorbed and recovery takes place. ! Pleurisy nearly always accompanies
 pneumonia, but this. as a rule dis appears with recovery of the pneumo- nis- At times fluid collects in the
 pleural cavity, and rarely this must
 be removed either by means of a hol-
 low needle, as shown by Morrill, Wy
 man and H. J. Bowditcn is 1850 CT by
 mak ng a larger opening iR the chest
 if the fluid is thick wi pus.
 | 'PnuemOnia Is ushered In usually by
 a chill followed by fever. cough, the raising of sputam and pain in the side due to the accompanying plueri ,. It usually lasts seven or eight days
 though it runs its course in a shorter
 or longer period. It is a limited di'
 ease, terminating suddenly by 2 crisis sudden fall in temperature.
 or by 1ysis.' a gradual fall in tenn perature. The crisis Is a time of dan ger because of heart weakness. The diagnosis of pneumonia is easy, but | Occa sionally central pneumonia occurs | and one is then unable from the ex- admiration of the chest to discover the
 disease. Here the X-ray is os heln. l In children the symptoms aIs often
 referred to the digestive trac and | there may be nc ocugh or aXpcctrra-
 ton. In old peoPle the dissajs sy'lnes on SO slowly anG with so little lsytr
 that it is often overlooked
 ! Pneumonia is very fatal disease. causing enc death in every four at ; tacked. In strong young, people the ] mortality is less. among the aged and
 in children 1t is coTrespOndingly great i CT. Alcohol increases the risk very l greatly, for nearly 0ne-half of the 1 heavy drinkers attacked with the dis ease succumb. Repeated attacks of 1 pneumonia make one less liable 10
 die. but even among such the mortal Iity Is IS per cent.
 The best preventative of pneumO-
 nia is healthfuIly conducted life
 plenty of sleep, food and fresh air.
 Weak individuals should not expose
 themselves to those who have the dis
 ease, and this particularly applies 10
 the very young and old. The patient should be given large sunny room, quite apart rom the rest of the house. Nursing counts for much and should be lavishly employed. as it is hard
 work to care for patients with pneu-
 monia. The disease is seIf-limited;
 1t cannot be broken up:' there Is uU specific cure. Treatment consists in
 keeping up the strength of the pa
 tent. Poultices and cough medicines are usually not necessary, but our chief resources are good food-milk
 and gruels and plenty of water-plen- | ty of fresh air and quiet. with close watching on the part of nurses anu doctors to avert a collapse of the heart. As one-nalf of the deaths are due to the complications, medical knowledge here avails much, because these can be appropriately treated. Little advance has taken place h the treatment of pneumonia compared
 with what has been achieved in dipS- ! thersa, or even consumption, but never
 before have physicians been in a 1 better position to discover methods Q, l controlling the disease Study and in yestigations will bring about this re suit Would 1t not be wiser, some what after the suggestion Of Jacob Riis, when our friends die of pneu- l nCnia, to contribute memorial sums tc medical schools and hospitals Ter ady or for the comfort of the many adv or for the comfort of teh many patients who suffer with it, than to send flowers to their graves? Re gently I knew an instance in which a cC ntribution of this nature was made Co the Massachusetts General hospital and acknowledged by them to the