The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-09-08
MODERN TREATMENT OF A COMMON
 REFLECTION

onoe had a, natient-but I didn't know how
 to treat him, and so lie died. of hemorrhoids' :,
 The truth is that didn't treat him at al
 wanted to treat him, urged pleaded and threat
 ened but mo- he would have none of 1t. Al the
 time I believed did my full duty. l oneleo o
 to operate the patient. He 1eared opela, sr tions He didn't relish the idea of taking an anesthetic He had a complex In respect ~ hospitals And he had always weathereo HIS attacks somehow before, so he elected 10 wolLy along through this one without DenenI Q. sur. yerv And I finally gave up, washed my nanas of the matter, informed his relatives l couid q not be responsible if the present illness enaea fatally and we all sat back to wait. we "ai'eo two weeks. Then the man dled
 Now this patient was an ignorant man. not just ordinarily ignorant as are most layHen' hat is, ignorant of anatomy, physiology, ny piene and pathology. He was so ignorant Una. there was no room left for any reasoning or h-
 teligent thought. So you couldn't tell nm anything that did not coincide with his notion The sort of ignorance that 1rks
 I was ignorant too. Had I been better in- formed I might have saved my patient Tn splte of himself. But my education had been sdoy neglected. Nobody had ever told me that It IS feasible to offer such a patient an alternative treatment. Of course, I had heard vaguely or lthe practice of certain quacks who pretended Ito treat hemorrhoids successfully by non-sur- gicaP' methods, and even to cure the troupie
 without requiring the patient to enter a hos pital or give up his work or regular occupation for several weeks. But the fact that only quacks doctors of no repute gave sucn.1reat- ment sufficed to convince me it was unsatisfac- .ory or dangerous treatment-otherWise reput- able physicians specialists would use such | reatment at least in some cases.
 To-day reputable physicians and specialists do give injection treatment for hemorrholds and other related conditions without detaining
 the patient from ordinary activities, without danger, without general anesthesia, and with uniformly satisfactory results.
 Had been far ahead of my time in prac- tice as some of my friends say I am in my health teaching I might have offered my pa tient injection treatment and no doubt he would have accepted such treatment. believe it would have restored him to good health. Lots of people not quite so ignorant as was
 my patient are ignorant enough to die of hem orrhoids.
 Here is a case where the patient almost achieved such an end:
 N had suffered with internal hemorrhoids for years. frequent bleeding and consequent
 loss of strength until finally he was unable to walk without assistance. Hemorrhods fre- quently prolapsed became strangulated, bled profusely. Patients hemoglobin reduced to 30 per cent. He was pale. Pulse rate fast even
 when he law at rest. In fact he had been un-
 able to remain on his feet since the last pro-
 lapse, strangulation and bleeding a few days before examination.
 received the injection treatment, two of the piles being injected the first day (the two the doctor thought were the worst bleeders), and two on opposite sides the fourth day. That
 vas al Two weeks later the hemoglobin was up to 50 per cent, no more bleeding. weight in-
 crcaslng and now the patient is actually
 grateful!