The Ypsilanti daily press., 1944-12-15

DR.. Clendening will answer
questions Of general interest
only, and then only through
his column.
result that the health Of the civil
population on this continent is
better than I was before the war.
But not so in the rest of the
world.
The problem of reconstruction
will be enormously complicated by
these grim conditions.
1t can perhaps best be illus
trated by the situation in tuber-
culosis. For 70 years there has
been a worldwide decline in incl
dence of tuberculosis, accelerated
immensely, especially in this coun-
try, during the last three decades
by deliberate planning and cam
palgElng.
Effect of War
In 1889 when the war started In
Europe the mortality from tuber-
culosis in the United States was
AZ. In l943 it was AZ. Canada's ex-
perience has been about the same.
. In England and Wales the rate
rose during the first years of war
from 62 to 50, but from 1871 it
has again declined.
In countries where the ravages
of war have been an immediate
experience, however, the story is
entirely different. Statistics are
naturally spotty, but we have
some reliable ones. In Paris the
tuberculosis mortality rate rose
10 per cent during the first six
months Of l94l, over 1889. Among
children the rate has increased 80
per cent.
In Holland and Belgium the in
crease is so per cent since the be-
ginning of the war. In Germany
from 1889 to 1912 the increase is
"a per cent. In Rome $3.50 per-
sons died from tuberculosis in the
first half of 1914 compared to an
annual average pre-war mortal
ity Of 1900.
Reports on Japan
Japan has always been a gen.
Grafton behind western countries
in tuberculosis control. For two
decades prior to Pearl Harbor the
rate was about 200 per 100000
population. Exact figures are not
available, but scattered reports
indicate a major upswing in Incl
deTce.
The causes for these conditions
are not difficult to determine
break up Of Public Health service,
crowded and uncertain living
quarters, and lack Of food. But
the situation indicates the neces-
sity for eternal vigilance. Our
enemy is scotched not killed. 1t
awaits, ever ready to renew its
depredations at the slightest op-
portunity.
There is another lesson, which
is that to preserve our own gains
we must not let any refugee or
immigrant enter our country
without an extra careful exami-
nation as to the possibility of his
being a tuberculosis carrier.
Indicator of Conditions
tuberculosis, as | said, is mere
Iy an indicator of general health
conditions abroad. / was talking
to a doctor recently returned from
China. He showed me some pic
lures Of little children with nutri-
tional dropsy - their legs and
bellies and faces all swollen.
This is an old story of war and
famine. American scientists, DR..
Gideon Wells and Roger Perkins,
studied post war nutritional
edema in Rumania in 1918, as did
DR.. A. J. Carlson in Russia. Their
first theories were that the condi-
ton was due to lack Of vitamin A
in the diet. But this was disproved
when Emma Kohmann showed
that the real cause was lack of
protein in the diet-meat, eggs,
milk. 1t rapidly clears up when
these foods are given-in fact
when any kind Of a complete and
balanced diet is furnished.
The burden Of rehabilitation Of
these stricken peoples must fall
upon our magnanimous and great
hearted country. Since we have
really improved our health record
on rationing it may be supposed
we can stand the annoyances Of it
for a few wears more. Certainly
we cannot let the little children
in foreign countries suffer in or
der to provide midnight lunches
for ourselves.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
P. A. C.:-Is there any treat
ment other than surgery for Du-
puytren's contracture of the hand 7
Answer: Dupuytren's contrac-
ture is the formation Of scar tissue
in the palmar tendons Of the hand,
causing the fingers to remain in a
semi closed position. | have never
known exercises or stretching or