Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-04-07
HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
BY DR. LEONARD KEENE HIRsHBERG.
A B., NJ. A., NJ. D. John Hopkins).

why an Infected Joint Takes Time to
Grow Stif.
You have been in the best OF
health Suddenly you fall i'll with
a sore throat" Just when you call
the doctor to exclude diphtheria the
throat gets welt" Doctors have to
hurry their patients often or the pa
tient is well before the Aesculapius
arrives.
Shortly thereafter-or mayhap
years afterward-a gritty, grating,
rough, creepy, scratchy, rusthng-lke
sound is heard, or rather felt, IN
the knee Joint, shoulder joint, or, in
deed. in several joints. This may
be the end of the matter, or the
process may stop only with a fixed,
deformed, stiff, immovable joint
Lately Drs. Nathaniel Allison and
Barney Brooks of st. Louis under
took experimentally to clarity this
strange state OF affairs. Why the
ailments named, together with sew
eral other "ankloysed" or immov-
able Joint troubles, joint aches, Joint
pains. and Joint deforndties are still
called by the absurd name of rheu-
natism by some doctors and most
plain people until it seems as i'm"
possible to drive this useless, mean
ingless term rheumatism" from the
English language as to make dla-
monds grow on milkweeds'
Stiffness Comes Slowly.
In one of their Investigations the ST
o,,is surgeons found that the dis
orders which fall to the lot of the
knee Joint or any other joint depends
somewhat upon the part Of the bone
Injured. 1t depends upon whether
the end, the core, the edge or margin
of the bone was hurt.
IF two surfaces of the bones were
denuded opposite each other, so1t,
fiborous tissue joined them toseaher
at the end of two months heanng'
No new bone, however, developed.
When two or more surfaces within
any human joint becomes immoyaoie
and bound stiffiy together, medical
nundits use the term "ankylosls.
This is decidedly better than that
foolish word of no meaning, "rheu-
matism," because it designates a
definite condition
There are many possible kinuS Oh
"ankylosed" joints, but three OF them
are we'll understood. One deforms or
stiffens the hinges of the joint with
bonv rigidity. Another is partly car
tilage and partly 1brous scars, While
the other is in part fibrous ana III
part bony.
The st. Louis experimenters en-
ployed dogs and used the knee joints
particularly in their researches. The
same loving care and attention was
given to the dogs as would be gwen
in operations upon mankind. IWeh-
+v experiments were performed, dur
int lnfQrta
with bacteria, injured in various
ways, and even eXclsloIl Oh Ine Joiii'
carried out.
They discovered as a result OF
their Investigations that stiffness and
rigid fixation in joint never comes
on suddenly. 1t is a slow, indolent
process which may be stopped AT
the end of six days, soft, fresh scar
tissue begins to appear between the
injured or infected surfaces. AT the
end of nineteen days after the accl-
dent or illness, tissue adheres to botn
surfaces and thus connects them.
Caused by Bacteria.
This soft, intelocking tissue does
not become hard and noisy until
three months or more afterWard. In
deed bone does not manifest its pres
ence until five or six months or
more after the infection or accident.
When bacteria or disease germs
we're inserted directly into the joints
after or during any sickness they
flow into the Joint with the lymph
or blood--it mattered not whether
the microbes were those of tubercu-
losis or of pneumonia, of sore throat
or of boils, the extent of damage to
the joint varied only in degree not in
quality or kind.
A little redness, soreness or pos
sibly swelling was later followed by
fluid In the joint. Then "adhesions,'
or bits of thin scar tissues. began TO
form and float around or stick to the
adjacent surfaces.
None of these things were visible to
/ the unaided eye, and the little pa
| tients were often unaware Of their
| Joint disturbances
These experiments as we'll as others
confirm the knowledge and advice
given here at various times, namely!
| that infections and fevers, sores and
/ infiammations, boils, bad teeth, large
tonsils, adenoids, sore throats, dan
druff, pimples, and accidents may al
be sources of arthritis, stiff joints and
other ailments foolishly called "rheu-
matism," and falsely blamed on foods
diets and 9ridS.