The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-08-25
TvBERCULAR. TUBERCULOSIS

| Numerous diseases are tubercular such as
 laprosy, actinomycosis, syphilis but only one is Itubcrculous This will be news for numerous
 medical brethren. but If the brethren can only
 lay off their superiority complex or hoity-toity
 nations they'll learn a lot from this column,
 and have the written assurances of a lot of them that they have.
 For lay readers who want to know I may | explain that tubcrculous is the adjective per-
 tanng to tuberculosis. True, the name tuber-
 culoss primarily signifies tubercle disease. 1 Sti the adjective tuberculous refers to tuber-
 culosis and not to other diseases in which tuber- cles occur. Even as the nept use the term 1 tuberculosis and not any other disease. Tubercnar pertains only to tubercle. Scien- tihcally. in medical literature the term tuber- cular may refer to the fodulcs of leprosy or
 some other disease Not all that purports to be
 scientific literature is good English, is 1t
 all good science either But we may as well be right if we're going to use these terms at all
 So far as the laymans parlance fig concerned. don't think he ever has occasion to speak or write about tuberclcs at all, so he may as well forget there is such a word as tubercular. Tu bcrculous s the only adjective he need apply to tuberculosis.
 While sniveling about this. l want to
 make plea to real folks to discard the cheap
 little wisecrack term that go many dumbbclls
 affect when they refer to tuberculosis TB is l not tuberculosis Tbc. is an abbrcviation for
 tuberculosis if you must be SO succinct. but why | all the dIilidcnce about mentioning the name
 of the disease you're talking about? If you
 are trying to kid yourself or fool somebody else,
 why not go back to the good old dodge and Just | call IL "weak lungs" or Il "slght catarrhal trou- ble in the chest" or something like that? If you're going to talk about tuberculosis at
 all. for hcalths sake talk about IL, and don't
 duck and dodge the question like Il simpcring
 old maid trying to refer to her legs without re- fcrring to 'cm.
 This glib term "TB" came into use in tho first place through the antiquated policy of eva
 sion which our medical fathers pcrforcc fol-
 lowed, Tn an elder day 1t was as much as the patients life was worth to tell him the germs of tuberculosis had been found In the Sputum. So the doctors adopted kind of secret symbol
 by means of which they could tell one another. in the patients presence. that microscope had revealed T. E. uubercle baciIlD, and the goofy patient had no inkling of what this meant. But there B no longer any purpose served by such evasion and hO the term is too childish for even an intelligent layman to use now. It is not exactly good news for the patient to learn that his trouble is tuberculosis of the lung But in any case where the diagnosis or even a tentative opinion, can be arrived at reasonably early it is the doctors duty and
 him, and then if the patient elects to ignore the
 doctors advice. why, that k not the doctors funeral.
 For further information on tubcrculosls which iB yours if you incose stamped envel- ope bearing your address.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WartoIOgy
 [ had warts on my hands for years. I read your health articles fin our paper for q long
 time. ! put castor oil on my warts. Now they
 have disappeared. (Mrs M. B) AnBWer-1 hope you mean the warts. The castor oil treatment has Iot of advocates They all declare that rubbing the warts n moment with some castor oil each evening for week or two makes em vanish So castor oil is of some use in the world, besides lubricating air plane engines and keeping ones hair in condi ton.
 1 never miss your articles. Notice several readers report how they got rid of warts. | had
 warts on my hands but they never bothered me
 and never looked for a remedy. One day I | happened to usc a lot Of washing soda when
 used my dish washer, and it rritatcti my hands lot, but the warts vanished when the irritation | subsidcd. (A. M) Answcr--Thank you. Warts have way of coming and going without rhyme reason. So all presumptive causes cures must be taken not too seriously.
 | using dry ice safe? If sO where can I obtain
 some? (B. L)
 Answer--You cant remove moles safely. Only physician can do so. "Dry ice" Is soidi- fled carbon dioxidc. It freezes the skin other | tissue and causes it To slough away. just as it would if severely frostbIttcn Obviously the use of such weapon would be dangerous in any | hands other than the physicians. Freezing with carbon dioxide pencil is effective for certain types of molcs and other skin icsions. Eyes and Heart Is h injurious tO keep eyes open when swin- l ming under water? Is the heart and its func- lion affected by sleeping tine left side? U. Q. L)
 Answer--1. No. not unless the water is poi- tutcd. 2. Sleep posture has no effect on heart