Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1935-06-06

IL AcA Ohly WkO
layman, but the medical profession
as a whole has never paid any real
attention to our bodies when they are
well There have been libraries and
libraries written on disease, but the
books written on what Is normal health
are virtually non-existent.
The whole effort has been to study
disease and then to cure it. It has been
a good way and has accomplished a
very great deal.
It has in fact increased the span
Of our life expectancy so that it now
stands at approximately sixty years.
But now that we are reaching this ripe
age, number Of the medical profess
sion are saying: "Instead Of waiting
for disease to manifest itself, let's
see If we can't prevent 1t. Let's see
If we can't keep people so healthy that
they won't ever be laid up with long
spells of sickness. We have cut down
enormously the death rate from such
contagious diseases as diphtheria,
smallpox, rabies and measles. We have
made progress with diabetes and per-
nicious anemia. Now let's see If we
can't prevent the degenerative dis.
eases that break down the proper func-
tioning Of the organs Of the body, or
at least keep them faring up until q
person is well along In years."
Obviously the first step in this OBJ
jective is to make study Of normally
healthy individuals so that we can
learn how healthy body reacts to
certain stimuli. In the hospital con-
nected with the University Of Illinois
Medical school, we had recently for a
continuous period of $50 days two men,
one thin and the other stocky. They
were both healthy and twenty-five years
Of age.
We made many tests. We drew
blood from each every other day, and
sometimes twice daily. Stomach an
alysis was done at frequent intervals.
All urine specimens were saved and
analysed. Bastal metabolism was done
daily. Ten different skin tests were
made twice each week.
The stocky, blocky type proved a
stable sort Of fellow. He did not vary
from day to day. When put into q
hot room or into a cold room he was
not uncomfortable. He showed little If
| any metabolic change as result Of
these climatic environments. His urine
was acid in reaction. He seemed to
ho 70 In oll tn IL
food. We gave him certain foods to
determine just how stable he could
| maintain his equilibrium of chemical
reactions. He can be summed up as q
| vegetable organism. He was q diges-
tive creature. He gained 20 pounds.
He never did any type Of work but
stayed in bed all the time. To eat and
sleep were his major functions In life.
He would read little beyond the daily
paper and he mapped between turning
the pages. He was happy and con-
| tented.
The tall man showed great variations
in his body functions from day to
day. His metabolism was unstable.
His urine was always alkaline. He was
uncomfortable in the hot room; he was
excitable and uneasy; his temperature
went up. His stomach stopped secret
ing acid and his urine became concen-
trated. He lost weight the day fol-
lowing and did not get back to normal
weight for ten days. His whole water
metabolism was upset. On the other
hand, he Jared very well in the cold
room. Changes in diet produced con-
siderable changes in his metabolism.
his was skin and nervous organism,
and he was completely different from
the stocky man. He was always up
and about and looking for something to
do. He never slept during the day. He
washed glassware, helped in the labora-
tory, and became a real laboratory as
sistant In the year and half he was
under observation.
Then we made a study of a hay
fever, migraine headache and hive
group of patients, normal in other re-
spects. These we found belong to the
unstable types.
4HclE VdTlOuS TedCLlOuS CudIlcu upOh
paper look like a profile Of the Rocky
mountains. They change more during
the course of day than the stable
type change after having been given
the same stimulating medicine. They
are put together In a different manner
and react differently to things around
them. They show more changes In
their blood chemistry from day to day
than one would expect to find in sick
people. But they are normal, that is,
in so far as their fiucruating, vaccilat-
ing and spasmodlc type of controlling
machinery will allow them to be nor
NAL
We began these studies TO gain a
better understanding Of normal peo-
pie. Much to our surprise we found
the normal range Of variations to be
much wider than we had previously
supposed. We have still much to learn.
q western Newspaper unioA-