The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-03-01
THE GERMS WE CARRY AROUND ARE
 TAME

Long years ago, I gather from the attitude of the old-timers there was complete accord
 in the profession in reference to colds. All good doctors believed that exposure to cold or chilling caused pneumonia, bronchitis, sore throat tuberculosis, rheumatism, grip, distem- per, catarrh what had you Then some rad
 cal freak, nut, faddst or cheap sensation seek CT, just to be different, conceived the notion that maybe something else might be concerned
 in the causation of colds and this wild idea seemed to grow as our knowledge of bacterl- oogy and pathology increased, until eventually the profession accepted the theory that such illnesses of infectious character that is they caused by the invasion of the tissues by germs.
 With the general acceptance of this theory it became necessary to dispose of the original | assumption that cold or chilling was the essen- tial cause of the illnesses mentioned. So we physicians, always resourceful, began to explain to the dumb laty that the exposure to cold or wet or the chilling made the tissues more vul- nerabie and then the germs hopped in and at tackled.
 This amended theory served pretty well for a while. Then some more radicals nuts, Wild theorists. cheap publicity seekers or something began to ask how come the germs are always at hand to hop in and attack when the poor victim happens to get wet or chilled.
 So it became necessary to amend the amend ment by just suggesting that everybody goes about with complete assortment of all the more popular germs in his nose or throat al al times, and thus cold draft low fog is all that is necessary to bring about the bacte- rial invasion or infection.
 This amended amendment is still doing serv- ice for many of our comic opera health com missioners and old fossil medical authorities. But there Is just little flaw in it which I beg to point out. The suggestion has no scien- tific support whatever. It is just one or those funny notions
 Excepting we'll recognized "carrer" states such diphtheria carriers, we have no evil dence and no reason to imagine that anybody carries in his throat the germs of any known disease at any time, unless he is i'll with coming down with, convalescent from or "carrier" of the disease in question.
 On the other hand. everybody knows or should know that in the case of a known car rer of diphtheria. the carrier himself IS inn mune to the disease.
 think it is a fair and uncontrovcrtible con- clusion that medical science does not recognize or acknowledge any such universal and gen. eral germ carrying eminent old fogies in the health and medical world would have the pub- lie imagine.
 Oh we have plenty of germs. microbes. bac- teria in the mouth nose and throat but these are tame and harmless, at least to ourselves even if they may sometimes be capable of caus- ing disease when passed over to other persons QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Asparagus Does asparagus have cleansing effect on the kidneys the system? Does the odor notice able after one has eaten asparagus indicate
 diseased condition of the kidneys? (F. CD | Answer-No. No. It is more significant | than the odor of onions garlic on the breath | after eating such things.
 Injury 1 was severely struck in the lower right side | of my body Do you think should see physi. clan in case this may cause appendicitis? GIL SD
 | Answer-It is not likely to cause appendicitis | but 1 think you should have medical advice | about the injury regardless. | To Conceal Flemish l Long ago in your column I saw recipe tt
 cover scars. Miss F. Mo
 Answcr-It is merely paint for temporary | concealment of white patches, pigmented spot. | or any smooth blemish of the skin. It con | sists of a mixture of 1 1-2 ounces of zinc oxide l 1-2 ounces of calamin, half an ounce of give | erin in enough water to fill pint jar. To thi | add drop by drop, till you get tint to matcl
 the normal skin. ichthyoi Ichthyol is a very | thick dark brown substance Usually from 2' to 60 drops of ich'hyol is sufficient. Copyright, John r. Ollie Col