The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-26
VITAMIN D AND RESPIRATORY
 INFECTION


 Formerly we thought Vitanlin A was the "anti-infectiye" vitamin or at any rate most essential for the prevention of so-called "colds," ir- fuenza or grip, sinusitis and other respiratory infections. This as- sumption is now questioned and, from all I can learn about the practical use of vitamins (not ani- nal experiments but human ex- perience) there is no good evidence to support the idea. The evidence seems to show rather than vitamin D, not vitamin A, aids in building immunity against respiratory in- lection. This conclusion is based not only on human experience but also on animal experimentation. In one experiment (out of many on record, references to which I am glad to give physicians on Tequest) a group of rats well fed except for lack of yitamin D were given in- jections of rat typhoid germs and 63 per cent of the rates succumbed. A control group of rats fed smaller diet but adequate yitanin D, were given the same rat typhoid injections, and only 27 per cent of these succumbed.
 Insufficient vitanin D is the cause Of rickets. It has always been rec- ognized that infants or children with any degree of rickets are cor- respondipgjy weak in immunity against pneumonia and other Tes- piratory infections.
 4 great many persons who have adopted the habit of experimenting their ordinary diet with irradiated yeast tablets, which are rich in vitamin D (produced in the yeast by irradiating with certain waye- lengths of ultraviolet IighD have noticed and reported an increased immunity and decreased fre- quency of "coids" tto thee, cri to me-.
 Vitanin D is apparently a de- fepse against pneumonia in chil- dfep afflicted with whooping cough. Among 2,462 cases of Whooping cough, more than half of the chil- dren with marked rtcketg con- tractcd pneumonia, W per cent Of the children with mild rickets con- tracted pneumonia, and only % per cent Of the children without rickets contracted pneumonia.
 Tn children with measles there is the same tendency to develop pneu- m0nia if there is a deficiency Of yitaHnin D,
 When you say "coIds" you don't know and nobody knows what you are talking about, Just one or ar- other illness, usually communicable via conversational spray more com- n0nIy than via open-face sneze or cough spray. Only fault I find with calling the illness or indisposjtion "cojd is that the term implies an intention or desire to disarTn the ignorant or innocent folk around you and a caIlous indifference con- cerDtBg the fate of those you in- feet, I urge you to have a spark Of decency and call 1t cri. T have cn (DrOn0unced kree) means I don't know yet whether 1t is simple cOFyza, diDbtheria, measles, infan- tie paralysis, but I'm giving fair wafptDg-g0verD yourself accord tngjN There is a golden rule of hygiene, too,
 Of a group Of children with diph- tberia 13 per cent had no rickets, @ per cent bad some signs of Ttckets, The former class had death rate Of B per cent, the iat- ter g death rate Of 63 per cent.
 QUESTIONE E ANSWERS
 Drought Needed
 Both of our children, aged s and T, vet the bed, The older boy only began to do so after he had measles last fail but the younger boy has always done so. H, ID
 Aslswer-Eend stamped envelope