Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1913-06-21
AVOID THE CROWDS
Danger From Pneumonia In Un-
settled Weather.
Great Menace In street Cara and They
Should Be Summed During the
Rush Hours, and Especially
While One 10 Fatieued.

The end of the winter, far from
bringing termination to the danger
from pneumonia. In reality marks the
beginning OF the season when this dis
ease becomes an extremely serious
cause of increase of mortality. says
the Journal of the American Medical
association This is true particularly
In large cities. In recent years this
increase has become more and more
marked and 10 all the more striking
because of the decrease In deaths
from other infectious diseases. Pneu-
monia has been aptly termed the
captain of the men of DEATH" dis
placing tuberculosis. which for 30
long occupied that bad eminence"
The most important problem before
the medical. profession at present is
the reduction of the death rate from
pneumonia. Considering the nature
OF the disease and the intense strain
which II Imposes on the heart, 1t is
probable that the only hopeful out
look for any considerable reduction
in pneumonia mortality is through the
prevention of the disease.
The prospect of cure for It, in the
popular sense of that term, has grown
less as we have learned more about
the disease. While pneumonia is
most frequent In the colder portion
of the year 1t is not dependent entire
ly on low temperature. The disease
occurs at all seasons and In all eli
mates, but is rather rare In the cold
, of high attitudes and is almost never
known to occur within the Arctic cir
Gle. In spite of all their suffering
from cold, Arctic explorers escape
this danger.
Hence we must assume that cold
acts in conjunction with some other
factor in the production of the dis
ease. Pneumonia is favored by lack
of sunlight and it occurs among those
who are much exposed to dust or who
have to breathe the emanations from
the lungs of other people. Catarrhal
processes affecting the air passages
prepare the soil for the implantation
of the germ of pneumonia. 1t is par
ticularly disease of city life and
crowded living. With our present
knowledge the prospects are hopeful
for the control Of pneumonia In the
future through prevention. This Is OF
special Importance to the Individual.
The avoidance of pneumonia is large
ly question of personal precautions
that prevent the development of the
disease by lessening the predisposi-
tion to 1t.
Men in middle life, particularly
those above fifty, must learn in un-
settled weather to avoid crowds. es-
pecially when fatigued and when they
have been for a number OF hours
without eating. Late at night, when
for any reason a meal has been
missed, crowds are dangerous. II this
lesson could be generally learned
there would be less pneumonia among
the well to do classes. The principal
danger comes in crowded street cars,
which II possible should be avoided at
rush hours. ut needs to be empha-
sized that the danger from overcrowd-
ing is greatly enhanced by fatigue
and going without food. In a word,
the prevention of pneumonia is now
much clearer than 1t was. Like all
other infectious diseases, instead OF
being more or less inevitable dis
pensation It has come to be recog-
nized as due to certain definite fac
tors which can be greatly lessened by
public and individual hygienic regula'
tions.