The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1935-02-23

MANY letters have come to the
IVA Board concerning vegetarian-
ism. Workers want to know
whether there is scientific basis for
this form Of diet. Some people ara
vegetsrisns on principle not wishe
ing to eat anything which was once
living. Others, and we hope tina
majority are Vegetarians because
they believe it is a healthy and
economical diet, because they believe
that they can best keep their health
| by being vegetarians. The first is.
sue of HEALTH AND HYGIENE.
the Medical Advisory Boards maya
zine, will carry as one of its feature
articles, an analysis of vegetarian
ism. The subject will be analyzed
from the medical viewpoint, by the
specialist in diet and nutrition, of
the Medical Advisory Board. The
article will particularly answer the
question: Is strict vegetarian diet
healthful? To be sure of getting this
article, subscribe now. Advance
subscriptions, one dollar a year.
.
Doctors and Free Drug Supplies
HOMRADE G. P. of New York,
y writes to us saying that she is
anemic, and that her neighborhood
doctor gave her samples of "Hema-
boloids" and Of "Feosol S. K. F."
She wants to know which to take.
1t is important to remember that
the diagnosis of anemia is not one
to be accepted too easily. We will
assume that it was made following
an examination of the blood from
the finger, since this Is essential.
Secondly, was the cause of the an
emia determined?
AS to the preparations given,
Hemaboloids and Feosol S. K. F.,
both are iron preparations and no
better (but more expensive) than
tablets of reduced iron obtainable
in any drug store. Why then do
doctors prescribe the more expen-
sive (but no better patent medicine
or proprietary formula?
The answer is that doctors are as
much subject to a type of mislead-
ing advertisements about special
drugs as are the unwary workers
who read the subway ads and hear
the radio announcements about
the remarkable qualities" of Rem"
and "Vicks" and "CaScarets," etc.
The advertising is done in slightly
different way, that's all. Detail
men statesmen for drug houses
bring samples and report marvel
Gus results. The great drug firms
Corporations with millions in in
vestments and income) print their
own house magazines in a scientific
sounding fashion. They tell what
Drs. A and B said in praise Of
product x (Which it happens to be
pushing), but not what c and D
said against it; or, if the product
has real value, they advance reasons
why their product is the only one
to be used Git is purer, it is
pleasanter to take, etc.: they use
names so near in sound to the phar-
maceutical terms that their names
are mistakenly used; or if need be.
they get the sole right to certain
product and they establish sort
of monopoly over it.
Is the doctor to blame? Partly,
if you claim he should know better;
but that is forgetting that he knows
only what is taught him, whether
inside a medical school or out. He
too is another phase of the capital
list law of production for profit, to
which there are no exceptions.
Only by the cleverest vision can he
steer clear of or realize this him.
self, and alone his hands are bound.
Each evil such as this, each minor
failure spurs us to ever increasing
efforts to strike at the cause of the
evil. more than against the hard
worked and harassed neighborhood
doctor.
Shreds in the Urine
l. B., Bethlehem, Pa.--Shreds in
y the urine in the majority OF in
stances are due to gonorrhea, but
long standing bladder Inflammation,
not due to gonorrhea, may produce
shreds.
To determine whether these Shreds
are due to gonorrhea, they should
be examined under the microscope
to see whether or not pus or gon-
orrhea germs are present. Then
also, the secretion from the pros
tate gland, obtained by massage,
should be examined under nil
croscope. If there is no pus and no
germs in this secretion and If this
test is repeated three times with
the same results, then you can be
sure that you do not have gonorrhea
even If shreds are present. In YOUR
case it Is very probable that YOU
have been cured and have no in-
lection.
You should have the tests de-
scribed above, performed, and if
these show the absence of gonor-
rhea then you can forget about the
shreds. If, however, these tests
show the presence Of pus or gonor-
rhea germs, then you should have
vigorous treatment