Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1912-06-21
CATCHING COLD" IS A
DANGEROUS DELUSION


The war over colds and thei
causes has broken out anew in tn
Medical journal. This week d.
William Brady Of Elmira, y. z. a
tacks with violence what he call
the "bogy Of catching colds"
There are some five differen
kinds Of bacilli and cocci which
bring on coryza. or cold. says DR.
Brady. Each variety has a large nam'
and meaning to the medical profes
sion. Also. according to DR.. Brady
there are four predisposing factors
in acquiring cora: oyerheated
apartments, unhygienic dress, insult
sicient ventilation and oyereating
The medium of infection he thinks
is usually dust. but direct infection
undoubtedly occurs in children IL
timately associated indoors wisn
coryza carriers He adds that the
ideal pace to catch coyza is the
average schooloorm, where medical
inspection is conspicuously wanting
The articles goes on:
Coryza never develops primarily
in the open air. Exposure to rain
hail. wind and snow is tonic so long
as it is comfortable physically
comfortable
Wet feet are OF no consequence
usless they become uncomfortable
cold; and cold feet are not a cause ut
sign Of defective circulation.
Plunging the feet into cold water
does good, not harm, provided the
reaction is obtained. Cold bathing
likewise, whether in health or in i'll
ness, is wholly a matter of vase
motor reaction.
lie the necessity OF guarding against
coryza infection Not one physic-
ian in a thousand. says he, instructs
coryza patients to disinfect the nasal
discharge, although it may be
swarming with virulent pneumococci.
merely because he thinks the trouble
is simply coryza and only cold
DR.. Brady adds:
The universal indoor plague-sim-
pie coryza-is a disabling, frequently
multilating, sometimes fatal, in
fictitious disease. prevailing epidemi-'
cally. The treatment is hygienic
medicinal, dietetic, biological and
surgical The prognosis is re-
covery. chronicity, permanent deaf
ness, operation or death. 1t is most
commonly observed in individuals
least exposed to cold air and rough
weather; and it is never observed
in the Arctic Zone.
The medicaI procession aids and
abets the propagation and spread of
coryza in two ways. both negatives
First, by passivly encouraging the
catching cold phobia; and. secondly.
by failing to isolate simple coryza and
disinfect the nasal discharge. The
economic waste chargeable to this
fault is beyond computation. the ir-
remediable deafness. the unneces- /
sary operations on accessory sinuses.
mastoids and middle ear. the pre-
ventable deaths from cerebral le-
sions directly due to simple coryza. !
are appalling. All because a few /
superannuated sanitary engineers /
and family doctors of authenic vim
tage insist that there is such thing /
as catching cold"
Yet there are still isolated in
stances is which a woman takes
cold after childbirth. by and with
the consent of her medical attend
ant, and has "a bad run of fever.
To this crime we. as a profession,
are accessory before the fact, since
we cling to the catching cold delu
sion. We aid and abet the OBJ
stetrician with the dirty hands. We
lend encouragement to the surgeon ;
with the dirty instruments.
Draughts are inevitable as the {
raising sun or the falling rain or the {
changing weather. No sanitarian
las yet offered or ever will offer a
means of ventilating a room without
draught. A draught that causes no
scomfort--physical. not psychical
do no harm. A clean
iraught of cold fresh air is an I'M {
nitigated blessing