The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-05-23
Advent 81 Preventive
Medicine; Sick Cured
From thursdays Daily.


of Mankato and. Blue Earth county
in favor of the construction of a
county tuberculosis sanatorium. the
following paper on "The Advent of
Preventive Medicine" reeade by DR..
c. J. Holman before large con-
Sregation at the Presbyterian church
Sunday night. will be of interest.
The paper follows: ,lss.
"BetWeeh Birth and death. Isl life.
Life occupies itself with continua-
ton. Life seeks not only to pro-
mote its continuation, but to make
itself enjoyable and pleasant. This
we have been a long time in finding
out. For a long time the starting
and stopping points were, considered
the most important. Life itself, the
journey from birth to death was not
well understood 1t was not studied
and measured or much thought
about, or valued. A person lived un
til he died; that was definite,
Whether he. lived healthy, en-,
joyable life and died at a good old
age, or dragged out miserable ex.
istence, pestered by many ills, de
voured by fierce diseases and died
young was no. ones concern Most
men fell early victims TO this ignor
ance and general indifference: Fol-
this. then, there was a reason as
there is no reason for the existence
of the same. conditions or affairs
now. aEt. .is.e
Food MAS, scarce; life was cheap;
health q negligible quantity; death q
release for the victim and the relief
to the survivors. Now it is differ
emit Wealth is piled up. The in
dividual can produce more than he
can use He is valuable economic
asset to the state. 1855 sea,
Longer and healthier life. Much
is still as it used to be. Infant NOR
tally, contagious diseases, tubercu
losis, alcoholism, social diseases. ,oc
cupational diseases and the, genera
waste of health and life attest this
Some Improvement, however, il
noticeable. Preventive medicine il
becoming an established SCIENCE. tn,
laws of health and disease are beini
understood for conservation o
health is becoming national pol
icy. 800
Social. Service BY Physicians.
Physicians are not using, medicine
to give internally as much as the,
did formerly. They stand ready +
give even less when patients ar
ready to take less medicine and kee
their faith in what is being don
for them.
Most every physician finds tim
when he would like to give hisi pa
tient advice, directions and counse
and prescribe no medicine, But
after weighing the facts crefully, Il
after weighing the facts carefully, h
concludes tht the patient would b
the loser by it,
There is no question but tina
faith crystalizes saround concret
act, just as taking a dose of med
cine is more potent than faith NOR
abstract. On the other hand, ther
is no question as to the power {
medicines to accomplish result
when the need is present. ys,,..
There is nation wide deman
for greater security against diseas
and greater efficiency is going t
mean more work for the. .properl
trained healer and prevention tina
there has been p, ~ sa .3s4 :.
The dominating public sentimen
behind the. essentials of orthodoxy j
religion, medicine and business, ,th
best Judgment of the best traine
men in each of these professions ha
always been, is now and Away
will be accepted as the general rul
of guidance by the dominating me;
sure of the public.
There is no, more. mysticism b
which the. speculation of untraine
minds becomes safe-guarded in me-
icine than there is in banking.
"The public has right to deman
that physicians keep abreast of tn
growth and understanding of til
social side of disease; physician
must meet that demand. The publ
has right to demand that phys
clans keep abreast of the discoverie
in biologcals meteorological and o
ganic cheJMaiisatry in their relations
medicine -tthi
Pricesaof Health.
"A popular idea is prevalent col
corning health ito which frequent e
preston is given thus: you ca
buy everything for money, but yo
cannot buy health"
This is. not true. The truth
that we cannot buy health after it
thrown away and broken. Secon
handed, tinkered up health is hard {
buy. nor is it worth much, but goo
first rate health can be bought lii
any other commodity -
ut should be understood tb;
health and money are convertib
things. That health is sold al
thrown away for money is, "A, we'll e
tablished fact With foresight al
wisdom the reverse can be mac
true. We can get health for none,
it can be had for less cost in Il
end, if bought at the proper tim
One should buy health for ones-se
and family before the present su
ply (whieasSMe. may not have mus
of on halldl is exhausted.