The Waterbury Democrat., 1933-09-19
SOME CHILDREN HAVE NO RESISTANCE AND OTHERS HAVE SOME IMMUNITY

A reader who was born 80 miles northeast of because I harp so much on certain symptoms such as tightness across tho chest.
 If belabor certain particulars 1t is for the idea of resistance" for instance, is so firmly fixed in the popular mind that one must belabor the question in order to show how untenable
 Certain children seem exceedingly suscep. tible to the common respiratory infections (c-r-i to you and me, "colds" to scoundrels who insist on retaining the right to spread disease indis- criminatey), while other children seldom catch anything worse than scabies. ringworn or pedi- sSoa s latter eSss wss ,sS means nobody can tell you. though almost any mounteback will rattle off sets of rules or offer terious "resistanee." Whenever there is a rumor of an outbreak of flu or pneumonia all the mountebanks try to beat one another into print with these rules for the guidance of tho simple public. Ole Doc Cummins head man of the public health service bureau in Washington usually has the drop on the ambitious state and municipal health officers-suspect the astute surgeon general keeps his rules all set up and we'll oiled and when the news of the epidemic breaks all he has to do Is instruct some dozing all the newspapers of the country and, bingo, the Cummins joke is published before the pikcr health commissioners get their contributions
 The main thing these eminent health author- ities urge for maintaining good resstance' IS brisk exercise, take 1t. Anyway they give you something to worry about. You must avoid exposure to cold; on the other hand you must beware of stuffy or overloaded rooms; as you dodge back and forth between the two evils, well, your metaboli3m Is bound to increase. Then when you get ready for bed at night you open your window to secure fresh air. but as soon as you get 1t open you remember Ole Doc Cummins warned about drafts so you quickly shut the window again: This exercise carried on till you drop off, enlivens your circulation
 So far as our knowledge goes. any naturally acquired immunity is always slowly acquired (weeks rather than hours). Likewise 1t Is as ,IN ,1x, loyt Iouk ta deal of comfort or assurance in this knowledge. the knowledge that any degree of immunity one happens to have against any particular dis ease Is not going to be lost in a hurry. If get ting the feet wet Easter morning predisposes to or makes one more likely to have pneumonia, bronchitis or other illness. there will be plenty of time to prepare for the illness, which can- not develop much before the Fourth of July.
 Unless it be question. of the relative rations light naked skin which the two classes of children get. we don't know why the one group is susceptible to cri and the other~is not.
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Pillow for Leg Cramps
 I have found by experience that placing a small pillow under my knees at night has cured me of cramps in the legs which formerly dis turbed my rest (NIrs E.)
 Answer-Thank you. Many correspondents have told of the relief they get from such cramps by pressing the toes against the foot board. or if no footboard then pressing the toes of one foot on the instep of the other foot
 Thick Nails
 Maybe your correspondent who asked about thick nails and whom yOu advised to go bare- foot few hours each day Is poor and has to kidneys, liver. sweetbreads. or such sources as will file them down on the surface daily for Q time, as the nails grow out they will become thinner. Mine did. anyway. (Mrs 1T. R. WI Answer-.Thank you The poor dare not go without shoes, is that the trouble?
 Blinking
 Son 6, began blinking his eyes every few seconds, shortly after school opened last fall. His eyes were red. He said the cold air makes him blink his eyes. When school closed his eyes got better and the blinking ceased. Again aft- CT school opened he started blinking. (Airs B. IF. ILL
 Answer-As you say the boys vision sas found unimpaired. can suggest only one thing perhaps he needs cod liver oil or Vitamin A in such ordinary things as raw carrots, bananas, oranges. cooked egg yolks. cream. butter. earn hIs or her living. If one wIih such nails
 (copyrIsht. isss. John F. pille Co.,,