The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1927-09-08
Periodic Health Examinations

Physicians with foresight have adj
vocated periodic health examinations
for a number of years. But their seeds
fell for the most part on barren
ground. Only here and there were
there people with sufficient vision to
appreciate such procedure at its
real worth. But the constant hammer
ing away has finally made an impress
sion and today there are thousands
of persons who regularly receive a
careful examination.
Field Covered By Examination
A periodic health examination not
only means a physical examination Of
the client himself. The examiner at
the same time inquiries about other
members of the family, unless some
other physician looks after his family.
The prospective mother is impressed
with the Importance of prenatal care
and the necessity of regular examina-
lions during pregnancy; the value of
post-natal care, monthly examination
of the infant, advice as to it's care and
feeding. The older children are ex-
amined, inoculated against diptheria,
scarlet fever, and their living regu-
lated.
Physical defects found in the SUBJ
ject are carefully analysed. Some of
these may be disregarded, others
merely watched, still others prompt
w otf nI 70 hoh into "a
errors, improper living and working
conditions are often unearthed and
corrected.
In every case written advice is given
the client, copy of which is filed
with the record of the examination.
These represent just fractional
part of the ground covered by per-
iodic health examinations, but they
are sufficient to show why and how
such examinations are so invaluable
a life extension measure.
What Examinations Accomplish
First and foremost, the purpose of
periodic health examinations is to pre-
vent disease and prolong life. There
is no disease which cannot be cured
in its incipiency, not even excluding
cancer and tuberculosis. A regular
examination will disclose these dis
eases at a stage in their development
when they are still amendable to
treatment.
If, for example, every woman who
has passed the age of forty and has
borne children received a pelvic eX-
animation every three months ninety
per cent of cases of cancer of the
uterus could, in my opinion, be cured.
On the contrary, what do we find ?
The vast majority of women do not
present themselves to their physician
until the disease has advanced so far
that it is already inoperable and they
succumb to it within a year.
Like cancer, most disease can be
diagnosed by a physician long before
their existence becomes apparent to
the patient. Once a disease has pro-
crossed to the stage where it produces
systemic disturbances (symptoms) it
has already developed beyond a point
where a radical cure is possible. Had
these patients been examined periodi
cally the disease would have been dis
covered in it's incipiency-before it
had advanced to dangerous stage.
Costly Examinations Not Necessary
One objection to periodic health
examinations raised by some in the
nash hos tO do with their cost Not
that the fee was excessive for the
service rendered. The examinations
were unnecessarily detailed and
lengthy. They consumed several hours
and included elaborate laboratory
tests, x-rays, and SO on, all of which
brought the cost to $50 or more.
While the man of means is willing
and glad to pay such a fee for