The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-04-11
Today S Science
by DAVID DIETZ-

INDUSTRIAL employees in the United States lose
Il the huge total of 25OOO0OOO days annually as
result of disabling Sickness statistics gathered by the
American College of Surgeons show.
Calculating the value of these days at 81 each,
DR.. Malcolm T. MaCEachern associate director OF
the college, calculates that sickness costs the nations
industrial workers ST OO000O000 year
School children are absent from school total OF
10000 600 days year because of Illness the StatiS
tics show
Last year. heart disease caused 286,356 deaths.
cancer caused 128475 nephritis claimed 1O7776,
cerebral hemOrrhage 94,572, pneumonia 86946, and
tuberculosis 74,836.
Seven thousand persons are sick with tubercu-
losiS at any time, most OF which IS preVentaole
Dr. MacEachern says. we still have 10000 to lOOOoO
cases of smallpox each year in spite of the work
of Jenner.
I'VE have $4,000 cases of typhoid fever, another
preventable disease.
Rest and good. nourishing food are two OF the
principal means of building up resistance against
tuberculosis: a simple vaccination prevents small
pox incubation treatments prevent typhoo' as tne
World War proved; yet thousands OF persons each
wear apparently do not think 1t good economy 10
make these expenditures and as result fall i'll or
die of these diseases
THOUSANDS of children die each year because
of failure of parents to give them the benefit OF
toxin and anti-tOXin as prevention against olph-
liberia. DR.. MacEachern says.
Another disease which causes great inroads be-
cause of lack of attention is cancer.
Let us say that a person has a sore on his up
DR. MacEachern continues. He tries nItie ooc-
toring himself with home remedies, but with no
imurovement Still he does not go to see his pnysl-
clan but imagines that the will disappear OF
itself Before he is aware the spot has increased III
size and by the time he goes to the doctor, he mas
a well-deveoped cancer that will be difficult TO cure
Those weeks in which he delayed medical care nave
probably cost him his health"
DR.. NIacEachern also points out that two-thlros
of the maternal mortality in the United States nghV
be saved by more medical care for mothers
1T is a significant fact at the Maternity Center
Association of New York City. where poor mothers
are given good prenatal and postnata care the ma
ternal mortality rate is only "a per 1000 live births,
while the maternal mortality for the entire country
Is 63 per 1000 live births
DR MACEACHERN also calls attention to some
- Of the savings which have been made when real
effort has been put forward to prevent disease. The
outstanding example he says is the marvellous de-
cline in nortalities from tuberculosis.
Figures based on millions of our population he
continues show that the death rate from tubercu-
losis has declined from close TO 200 per 100000 TO
sos per 100000.
Moreover the greatest improvement in tubercu-
losis mortality has been among the wage-earners
where the burden once was heaviest. In 1911, the
highest tuberculosis mortality was experienced at
the age OF 49, 1t is close to the age of S. This
means that within IS years the heaviest tuberculosis
burden has been shifted TO period we'll along in
middle life and TO time when the children OF the
wage Garner are generally capable of supporting
themselves"