Omaha daily bee., 1919-04-06
Chemical Causes of Disease.

That diseases are often brought
about through chemical agents
scarcely needs illustration on account
of the frequency of such cases be-
ing reported by the press, and the
familiarity Of the average person
with the dangerous character OF
many chemicals, notably the poisons
Ptomain poisoning, which comes
from eating various foods that have
undergone peculiar decomposition;
arsenical poisoning, numerous cases
or which were reported in London,
England some years ago, in which
the arsenic was traced to the glucose
in beer: and painters collie, or lead
collie disease common in those
whose occupations bring them in
close contact with lead, are examples
OF diseases of chemical origin Indeed,
among the causes of disease, the
chemical agents are by far the most
numerous, and the most important
in as much as the majority of dis
eased states are fundamentally, or
co-lncidentally, of a chemical nature.
Most of the physical and mechanical
agencies, through the injuries they
lnfllct on tissues, are thereby trans
formed into chemical irritants and
the resulting reactions follow largely
as a result of the absorption Of dead
and useless material. For example:
a person is severely burned, yet sur
wives three days. He does not die
as a result of the physical agent,
fire, but from poisoning in one of two
ways: either so large a surface of the
cuticle was destroyed that the respir-
atory and excretory functions of the
skin were interrupted, so that pois-
oning followed the retention Of prod
ucts which should have been thrown
off from the body. or poisoning re-
suited from absorption of the dele
FERROUS products into which the skin
was converted by the fire.
b. Animate Causes of Disease.
Animate agents comprise two
classes. parasites and infectious
agents, both of which are found
among either the animal or vegetable
kingdom. Before the dawn Of bac-
teriology physicians had already ap-
piled the term infectious to diseases
that, symptomatically, conformed to
a certain type. Today we still retain
this application, but qualify it to the
extent by limiting the use of the
name of those diseases presenting
that symptomatology but are due to
living thing. Before taking up the
characteristic symptomatology Of an
infectious disease, however, | would
like to say something of living things
as a cause of disease. They are the
animates causes of disease, and are
and infectious agents. The designa-
tons have reference both to the
manner in which the agents live
upon the body, and the phenomena
their presence gives rise to: their
place in either animal or vegetable
kingdom is disregarded.
The mode of action of the infec-
tious agent is characteristic and
markedly different from that of the
parasite. When it enters a living
body it aims directly at the destruc-
ton of the latter. 1t multiplies rap
idly, tends to scatter it's broods
throughout the tissues, and all the
while gives off the most powerful
poisons known. This agent is wick
edly implacable, neither giving or
asking quarter. The battle that it
wages with the body can terminate
only by the destruction of one of
the combatants.
In contrast to this monster evil Is |
the lesser. the parasite. A parasite
is an organism that lives upon an
other organism called the host. The |
parasites purpose is an easy living at |
the expense of the host. 1t subtly |
recognizes that it is to it's interest not |
to inflict too great an injury. If |
perchance it causes the death of the |
host, it is an accident. 1t seldom
invades the body generally. From
this is seen the reasan for drawing |
a distinction between parasites and |
infectious agents, and why it is based |
on their mode of action and the eff
fects they produce.
ITO Be Continued.)