The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1943-06-29

name indicates that the physician
should study the personality,
mind and soul Of the patient, as
we'll Is his physical health.
There are very few diseases in
which the mind of the patient
plays no part whatever IN the
symptoms Of the disease. Perhaps
an acute disease like measles or
pneumonia may be regarded pure
ly from the physical standpoint
and treated with that in view, but
in general the old maXlms to the
effect that What the patient
thinks about his disease may be
almost as important as the dis
ease itself" and We want to know
first what kind Of disease the pa
tient has and what kind Of patient
this disease has
Help Patients Outlook
The Importance Of this view
point is that the physician can al
ways do something about the pa
tents opinion of his disease and
outlook on life even if he can do
little or nothing about the dis
ease itself. In looking over a re-
cent textbook on psychosomatic
medicine | find that it has chap
tiers on diseases Of every system
in the body-the heart, the d.
gestive system, the endocrine sys-
TEN, the lungs.
Our mental habits are fixed in
childhood and it is not surprising
TO find the following statement IN
this book on psychosomatic medl-
cine Most of the feeding prob
lens in infancy are of emotional
origin" That may come as a sur
prise to some people but not to an
old family physician. Even in
childhood remember that the di-
gestive system is more than any
other part of the body disturbed
BY unpleasant emotional stimuli.
Tantrums in childhood may lead
TO a habit of mind which is dis
turbing to happiness in later life
in many ways. The tantrums may
turn into something that looks
like an organic disease. Many a
chronic dyspeptic who comforts
himself with the idea that his
stomach is weak" and that he
has ulcer is often an example Of
tantrums which have become fixed
in the digestive system.
Our personalities slop over and
influence not only members Of our
household, but nearly all our pos
der to determine what the proper
blood pressure is, it should be
taken two or three times so that
the element Of nervousness is en-
tirely eliminated.
1t is interesting to note in this
report on the blood pressure Of
adolescents that those who had
high blood pressure came from
families in which there was a his
tory of high blood pressure.
80 Surveys Disagree
This seems to be contradicted by
another study which have seen in
a medical journal in which the
family history of 1000 applicants
for life insurance was examined
and it was found that the incidence
Of family blood pressure disease
was only slightly greater among
those who had a high pressure
than among those who had a nor
NAL pressure. This contradicts the
findings Of the first report men
toned.
My opinion would be that life
insurance examination was a poor
one to analyze in order to deter
mine hereditary influences. | have
made a good many life insurance
examinations and | very seldom
found anyone who knew very much
about his family and especially
about the diseases that the father
and mother, brothers and sisters,
or grandparents had during life.
Most Of the time they have a very
vague idea about what the exact
disease was and if you wish to get
statistical data about the heredi-
tary nature Of high blood pressure
you should be very sure that the
individuals know about their fam
lily history. My experience has
been that when real information
was available, there is no question
about the relationship between
high blood pressure and heredity.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
N: What brings on nephritis
and is there any cure for it?
Answer: There are many kinds
Of nephrItis. The common cause
is the slowly progressive change
in tho small blood vessels Of the
kidney which was once called
"Bright's disease" The cause Of
many kinds il the aging process
and YOU can make IN Vour ouVn