Arizona republican., 1911-11-06
SOME POINTS TO BE OBSERVED
IN BATTLING WITH TUBERCULOSIS
Francis Marshall Elliott
PHOENIX

way wrong that the tubercular patient must
have absolute and complete rest. both mental and
physical if he is to conquer the disease
Again the dietary rules formerly prescribed in
treating this disease have in years suffered
a complete reversal from those formerly in vogue
instead of attempting to stuff each patient to the
limit of his capacity upon exactly the same diet.
great latitude is allowed in the choice of foods the
only requisite being that the food be nutritious and
well cooked Neither is the patient any longer put
through the stuffing process but is allowed
and is expected to eat only such amounts of food
would be required by person in normal health.
Another point which should be observed by all
tubercuar people is that to make recovery from
this disease unlimited amount of fresh air, both
day and night, is a prime requisite. The more
hours the sufferer spend in the open air.
whether asleep awake, the more his chances of
recovery enhanced. A person who comes to
Arizona New Mexico and shuts himself indoors.
may have been his habit in the section of
try where he contracted the disease will die as
quickly and as certainly though he had remain
ed in his eastern home.
person afflicted with tuberculosis is peculiarly
susceptible taking cold; upon the slightest pro-
vocation such person contracts cold which
suits in pleurisy and inflammation that often ends
in a fatal termination of the disease. For the
son above stated tubercular person should be ex-
tremey careful about making changes in the
weight of their underwear or of their clothing
of their bedding. Such person had better suffer
some Inconvenience rather than take the chance
involved in the attempt to always be physically
The tubercular person who has been i'll for any
great length of time will find many of the vital
organs involved in sympathy with the diseased
lungs other tissue; the liver is perhaps the first
organ to become abnormal and practically cease its
functions in of this kind. In this the
patient will suffer from papitatiOn of the heart
and will nearly always carry a high temperature.
In effort to conquer this disease it is absolutely
essential that the bowels be kept open and the
liver active, and for this artificial slim
ulant must be used to cause the liver to perform
its function.
In closing this brief discussion the writer de
sires to urge upon every tubercular person the
danger which he carries constantly for his family
and the community in which he lives: tuberculosis
is infectious and be communicated from
person to another. The sputum of tubercular
person should be Immediately destroyed by fire.
The person who expectorates in public place
the streets is public enemy and ought to be
dealt with by the public authorities
Finally, the writer wishes to say that tubercu-
oss is a social disease and will be COM
petey eradicated until poverty is abolished Mean
time, the best that do is to observe all the
rules that tend to hold the disease in check. and
to such treatment has been determined by
experience to be most efficacous in checking its
ravages