Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1923-02-23
DIPHTHERIA
By DRIP. L. Clark
Dy DT.I. y. OIdTK
Copyrighted by Federated Press
Health Service)

JUST as smallpox ana CypnOlQ IeVef
arise from filthy conditions, external
and internal, so does diphtheria de-
velop from a filthy condition of the
human body.
By filthy condition of the human
body mean internal more than ex-
ternal
Various authorities state that from
1% to 28o of the population, other
wise in perfectly good health and go
ing about their business, have the
dreaded diphtheria bacillus always in
their throat. These people are called
carriers" Of diphtheria of which
there are some 10000 to 10000 run
ming around the streets of Chicago at
the present time. Thousands of peo-
pie have the diphtheritic bacillus in
their throats and yet do not have
diphtheria.
When a child is brought to me look
ing pale, yellow, wheeling, coughing,
nose stopped up, tonsils enlarged,
adenoids possibly, / don't think any
more about antiseptics in connection
Nth the treatment of that child than
fSo about the population of Betel-
| guese.
l ask the mother: "What do you
feed the child ?" and when she says
cereals, milk and cream and sugar,
toast and eggs, and fruit, canned or
fresh for breakfast, | don't have to
| 90 any further for the cause of the
systemic catarrhal condition of that
child.
The mixture of cereal, cream and
sugar is bad for a human stomach.
| The starch in the majority of cereals
| is devitalized and demineralized so
that it contains nothing but pure
starch. Mixed with milk or cream it
is never properly insalivated when
eaten, so that digestion does not take
place and fermentation always oc-
ours. The sugar added takes on fer
mentation, acid or alcoholic, and
adds fuel to the acid fermentation
which starts in the child's stomach.
This acid fermentation, with the
putrefaction of protein, poisons the
blood through absorption as 1t
passes on through the alimentary
/ tract. In it's endeavor to get rid of
the poisons the body attempts to
throw it off through the mucous mem
brane and we get a systemic cattar-
rhal condition.
First this catarrhal discharge is
Just light mucous. AS the body be-
comes more and more poisoned the
mucous gets thicker and dirties,
heavier more yellow. All the mucous
membranes of the body are affected
| the throat, the nose, the tonsils be-
come infamed and as the mucus gets
more foul staphylococci develop and
we get pussy mucus. The staphy-
lococci in turn change to streptococcl,
and then as the body becomes filthler
and the discharge more foul strep-
tococci may develop into diphterltlc
bacilli or pneumococcl.
| Now let the resistance of the body
be little further broken down by a
continuation of the bad feeding and
overfeeding. and then some sudden
exposure to cold or wet or overhead
| ing or chilling, and the nervous sys-
tenn will be SO overcome with poison
that it is no longer canablee OF send
| ing out the imrulse that keeps the
organs of the body raised to a SUI
fcient degree of efficiency to preserve
immunity against disease on that
body. With the increased filth germs
multiply and thrive and we get a
case of diphtheria.
In treating diphtheria the first
thing to do is to cleanse the main
sewer "a good dose of castor oil
followed with a sufficient dose OF
podophyllin, according to the age OF
the child, to stir the liver thoroughly
and produce large flow of bile. The
bile in itself carries off much excre-
tory matter; is itself antiseptic and
cleanses the intestional tract. Ston
all feeding. Give nothing but water,
and plenty of it. The blood will
rapidly cleanse itself, and then clean
blood will attack the infamed spots
in the throat and at least will stop
pouring out the dirty mucus in which
germs thrive
Enemas should be ~iven at once
when there is a susnicion of throat
trouble, and repeated two or three
times dailv. AS soon as that has
been done give dose of castor oil
a good heavy dose. hen put the
child into tub of hot water, as hot
as it can be comfortably borne, and
it should be kept there until sweating
profusely-15 minutes, 80 minutes or
an hour. Then take it out, wrap in
a blanket and nut it to bed.
A child treated this way will have
normal temperature on about the
fourth day, ALTHOUGH there will still!
be membrane in the throat, but it will
not be growing, rather, it will be
peeling off very rapidly. 1t may be
a week or ten davs before the little
patient should be given food. Ger
tainlv wait until the throat is clean
and the temperature is normal, then
try some orange juice or some vege-
table broth; and if the temperature
rises discontinue the vegetable broth
and orange juice and give water.
rood cannot be given until it is
given with out raising the temner-
ature. A child with diphtheria treat
ed this way will get we'll if it has
any comeback at all, if the narents
or nurse will get right down to pusi-
ness and hard work.
In a few hours the food so taken,
instead of nourishing and holding up
the strength of the little sufferer, has
become great mass of seethinng
dinhtheritic corruption which must be