The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1944-12-04

methods OF treatment. am re-
ferring now entirely to the com
monest type, tuberculosis Of the
lungs, or consumption.
The old idea of the treatment Of
tuberculosis Of the lungs which
prevailed when L started in the
practice of medicine was that the
essentials were rest, open air ano
nourishing food.
Climate, if the patient could at.
ford it, was considered to be giving
him the very best possible chance,
but open air treatment in any eli
mate was acknowledged TO be
about as good.
What are the results Of this reg
linen? Well, it took us a long t,ne
to realize that we were just fool
ing ourselves and the patients.
Then, as now, three-quarters of
our patients were quite advanced
with considerable lung destruction.
We put such patient to bed for
year and in the open air, or opened
all the windows, and fed him
plenty of food.
Dangers Of Recurrence
He fattened up and looked fine.
rhe open air soothed down his
lungs and the inflammation, so he
quit coughing. And then we pro-
nounced him arrested and let him
get up and move around or go to
work, and the result was half the
time he came back to us within
three months worse off than he had
ever been.
So along about the time Of the
end of the first World War the
idea became universal among stu
dents of the disease tina. We should
really put the lung to rest and to
do this we would have to put it
out Of commission. This was ac-
complished by some form of sur
gerry. The simplest form is to in
troduce air under pressure in be-
tween the two layers of the pleura
between, in common language,
the chest and the lung. This air
under pressure squeezes the lung
down, squeezes the pus and infiam-
matory exudate out, brings the
walls of cavities together so they
can heal. 1t is called pneumo-
thorax.
This has made an enormous i'm
provement in the number Of ar
rested and cured cases. Open air
and nourishing diet are not given
up, but they are now considered as
of secondary Importance.
Early Cases
II one gets a very early case
with involvement no bigger than a
half dollar at the top of one lung,
that kind of case can be healed by
rest, open air and diet, and doesn't
need pneumothorax. But we do
not get those cases very often.
Life and human nature being what
they are most Of the cases Of tu-
berculosis by the time they reach
the doctor are fairly well advanced
or far advanced and to give them
the old fashioned open air, bed rest
treatment is useless.
After his condition gets to be
what is considered arrested by his
physician, the patient with tuber-
culosis faces one Of the most crit
ical periods of his career. If he
blithely goes to work under full
steam the chances of breakdown
and recurrence are very great. He
should plan on at least a five year
period Of rehabilitation and lin
tied activity.
The ideal situation is that set up
with this very problem in mind by
Afro Garment work shop in New
York. Every worker in this plant
at some time has had tuberculosis.
They are under medical supervi-
sion from the beginning. During
their first year or two they are as
signed to light tasks, short hours,
and periods Of rest in the open air.
Gradually they get TO doing a full
days work and can go anywhere
and do anything. Five hundred
and fifty-two persons have been so
graduated, and at the end Of five
years SO per cent of them we're
strong and healthy.
So the prospects Of complete
cure if treatment is properly di
rected are good