The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-12-08
A CONCESSION TO TUE CHANG
 ING VIEW

A NOENOESshON AO kuE OkAANO~
 ING VIEW
 Discussing the effects of exposure to cold and wet pr. Edward c. Sewall said, in the San Francisco meeting of the AM.A. June 16, 1888: "One must distinguish be- tween normal persons and those who harbor chronic sinus infection. l believe that, ordinarily chilling induces respiratory disease only in those who already harbor respira- tory infection, most often in the sinuses. The normal person Is but little adversely influenced by a reasonable degree of chilling" Dr. Sewall cited John Muir, who, soaked to the skin, slept on Alaska glaciers. arose in the morning, wrung out his clothes and went his way. He rarely took cold - what ever Dr. Sewall means by that. He was e normal healthy person. He harbored no chronic sinus in- lection. He could not have exposed himself in such way If he had, opines Dr. Sewall.
 Oh, well. I suppose we should be content with the concession. At that, I believe could still contend that a reasonable degree of chill ing" of we could agree as to what constitutes reasonable chilling) is not harmful or dangerous even if your respiratory tract harbors some chronic focus infection --- that is, I could argue about that fairly well were 1t not for sinus trouble. That, l admit, has me on the defensive. I'm sorry about this, but Candor would be my middle name If l had e middle name. No evadlng the all too fa- miliar happening -- the victim of chronic sinusitis sits in e bit of draft, or gets his feet wet, or otherwise suffers a reasonable de- gree of chilling" More or less dls- turbance of his circulation ensues, the mucous membrane ir the vi- cinity of the opening from nasal cavity into the affected sinus swells form congestion, drainage from the sinus into the back of nasal cavity Is blocked, pain and inflammation light up anew,
 But now. having granted that, 1 insist that the unpleasant conse- quence of the chilling is purely mechanical and accidental, and that there is no scientific ground for the notion, still cherished by . good many excellent physicians that chilling in Itself lowers one'i immunity to respiratory infection.
 am glad to note that pr. 9ewall has definitely dropped that dear old tradition. Probably he voiced the present opinion of a large part of the medical profession.
 But another physician terminated the discussion with remark thai seems calculated to send lot oi good doctors scurrying back to the quaint old stand. Dr. H. Marshall Taylor of Florida, who has studied the effects of the cold water on the temperature and general condition of swimmers and bathers in Flori. da, added that as long as one car maintain his normal body tempera- ture in the cold or chilling environ- ment "hiS resistance is not rleces. sarily lowered" Whatever resis. tance may mean in pr. Taylort lexicon. That term connotes some. thing different to the mind oi nearly every one who uses 1t. I'm. munity is one thing. and only one; resistance" is anything you like tc imagine.
 Anyway. as long as I enjoyed 1t I'd never worry about my body temperature being lowered. But then I'm just a plodding old door-to- door practitioner and I wouldn't know much about the secrets some of these eminent doctors seem to have