The Nome daily nugget., 1937-08-20


 ventive medicine are beginning to consider man and his environment as one organic whole and are studying some of our diseases from this standpoint. We have almost ex. hausted the field of bacteriology try ing to find germs as the cause Of dis ease. Recent work tends to show that the skin is an important factor in rheumatism.
 The skin is not just a covering man. tie or protective cloak of the body. IL Is vast organ concerned with the sense of feel and touch. It secretes sweat and oily substances. It also eXcretes certain things from the body
 We are finding that the protective action of the skin can be extended to guarding us against invasion by germs around us. The action of sunlight and ultraviolet light on the skin is well known to the layman.
 We know that the skin can be changed by the temperature of the air, by the humidity of the air, and also by changes in barometric pressure. The skin can be thought of as big receptor organ that receives from the outside world messages of all kinds and transmits these to the internal organs, through blood and nerve chan nelS.
 The capillary blood channels in the skin are thought by many authorities to be involved in rheumatism. It must not be forgotten that mans skin is an important organ in maintaining body temperature. It can eliminate heat in the summer time, which is really a refrigeration function. During the winter our skin acts as covering layer to prevent the loss of heat. In the summer there is an increased flow of blood through the skin, and in the winter there is decreased flow.
 The patient suffering from rheu. matism does not have a proper con, trol of the blood supply of the skin and the secretion of sweat. There Is tendency toward spasmodic contrac. tloh oi thC anu dl lllllcS these capillaries become engorged with blood. In other words, there is an instability in the blood vessels, con. trolling system.
 We just mentioned that the skin Is an important organ in controlling body temperature. The rheumatic individ. ual undergoes wide fluctuations in skin temperature. There Is oftentimes a subnormal temperature of the skin. This influences the metabolism of the body in that we lose the heat-regula. tory function of the skin that is so important for our well-being. When the temperature of the cells within the body changes there is change in the chemical products of these cells, and many authorities now think that this explains in part the development of pain in the muscles and joints.
 This Is new conception of rheu- matism and helps explain some phases of the disease better than the older bacteriological theory that was diff. cult to substantate in many instances The abnormal sensitiveness to changes in weather that are experienced by all rheumatics is due to the fact that these people do not have the proper skin function. The circulation of the skin Is changed as result of the al terations in temperature, humidity and barometric pressure in such manner that internal disturbances take place leading to the development of pain ir certain areas of the body.
 It is well known that rheumatic pains can develop as result of hot temperature environments as well as cold. Over eXertion and fatigue fol lowed by chilling of the body are also common factors.
 The proper treatment for rheumatism is to aid the skin by artificial means tc re-establish good circulatory system This is the reason that a hot water bottle placed on the skin close to the area of pain will cften stop the discon. fort. The proper treatment is an or. ganized medical plan of various types of physical ,aerapy, such as light treat. ment, neat treatments, massage, baths all of which aid the skin to re establish its proper circulation.
 We all live under the same weather conditions. Due to lack of contro of his skin, the rheumatic cannot ad just himself. The rest of us adjust ourselves perfectly and are in no wa, incapacitated by such weather changes The rheumatic speaks very truly wher he says he can feel weather changes
 e, Western Newspaper Union.