The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-08-03
WHY PILE REMEDIES AXE OoCAhHA
 WORTHLESS

1, o,,orr testinoon published to the effect that a given remedy has cured pies theiI @ are nrohablv a hundred gullible persons "ho nave faftbf,liv tried the remedy with little or no benefit.
 peon1e are silly and prudsh about the ques-
 tion, though less so than they were . Lo yGa yIaa apo At the present rate of progress the dlag-
 nosis and treatment of hemorrholds VIII De
 fairly satisfactory to the sufferers Tn another Ao
 or 20 years. . , -oroodv +o do much good if the patient has not piles at all By tabulating large number or cases A iounu .,a several years ago that the diagnosis or the pa tient that the trouble is piles,. when he con- suits the physician for relief, is correct Tn four cases and wrong in six cases out or every iv.
 This alone makes it pretty tough TOT the pie
 cure business. -
 Then again, piles or hemorrhoids are
 chronic condition, not an acute or temporary
 one and so it is not correct to say plles are
 toured" if the pain,, bleeding or inflammation
 which causes the immediate trouple eooSiuee
 for a time. ,r.s
 vein An attack" of piles usually means acute
 inflammation of the pile perhaps subsidlng aIt,
 CT a few hours perhaps perslstne Tor seveia, h'sd
 days and terminating in clotting Of the blood
 in the inf1amed vein. This clotting calls Tor in-
 cision and drainage as a measure Tor qulck
 relief: otherwise the victim must suHer alro- ciously for many days besides the peril of grave consequences from septic lnfectlon . ~ In the six cases of so called "ples" in which the victims are wrong about wnat ans tnen an various other troubles, some minor, few very grave found when proper examination IS made.
 low minded may be about such situations, sens- ible folk should leave their disgusting prudery at home and speak quite plainly and in their own language when they consult the physician | If doctor is worth hoot in any way the pa tient should never feel any embarrassment l about the matter of language or ideas to be used in con veying to the doctor the present complaint Since common convention forblds the of medical terms or any very polite terms relating to such things why should any tn1ltf fnn1 h. Ca6 | awkwardness when he has complaint to make to his doctor?
 In nine cases out of 10 the patients diagnosis of "itchng piles" Is wrong.
 A doctors guess is little better than a lay mans about such troubles The doctor who un- dertakes to prescribe treatment for alleged case of "piles" without having made an exam ination to determine definitely what he is deal ing with. is simply quack, no matter what ms general repute. quack is one who professes | knowledge or skill about something of which he actually has little or none.
 In another talk we'll consider the general causes and the prevention of piles. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Holding Breath
 By breathing more deeply for three minutes can hold my breath 1-2 minutes Is 1t pos sibIe for me to have any kind of organic heart disease? (N. J. P)
 Answer-It is by no means impossible. A normal individual can hold his breath 40 sec- onds without preparation, and from two or three more minutes with preliminary deeper breathing to saturate the blood for the moment with excess Of oxygen IT the heart IS lm-
 paired he cannot hold his breath so long. Some persons with grave organic heart disease can hold their breath 40 more seconds because of good cornpensation; the breath holding test is merely practical measurement of the efficiency of the heart
 TOnsils and Bad Risk Four doctors said my tonslls ought to come out, but not in good enough condition for
 the operation, as my blood was too thin. My
 sister sent me your article about electrO-sur- gical extirpation. wrote you and you rccom-
 mended Dr I went to him early in March, had my first treatment without local an-
 esthesia and found 1t no worse than having a
 tooth filled. Had very little sore throat after 1t. I have had six treatments in all, and at no time
 meal Began feeling better after the second | treatment. In one or at most two more treat
 mcnts my throat will be absolutely clear. can | recommend this as an ideal way to get rid of
 bad tonsils (Mrs A. A. Al
 Answer-Indeed 1t is, especially in caseS where there is some standardization for the old Spanish method. The complacent physi- cans who condemned the method out of hand when I recommended it last summer now feverishly trying to perfect themselves in the technic in order to hold their practice, but not every doctor who chooses to buy diathermy There is but one drawback about the diathermy or electro surgical electro guation meth cd of extirpating tonsils-only exceptionally skilled and painstaking physicians can employ 1t successfully for children under 10 years of age. The more see of the results of diathermy fashioned surgery in qualified hands. the hard | CT iS is to understand how any adult of normal intelligence can to-day elect to submit to the comparatively greater danger and torture and Inconvenience and expense of the crude tonsl- lsctomv by guiliotine and snare.