The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-02-06

March is the season in our climate
when 30 per cent Of the entire
years cases occur.
Today our control Of pneumonia
by medical means is better than 1t
ever was. But these results de-
pend upon the early recognition on
the part Of the sick person or the
family that something is seriously
wrong, wrong enough to call a
doctor and apply treatment. This
Is probably the most important act
a member Of the family can do in
the treatment Of the condition.
Cases Often Heard
The cases you often hear about
of someone who had q bad cold
"and it ran into pneumonia" do
not represent all the facts. The
likelihood is that II was pneumonia
all the time, but the rugged in
dividualist who had it-"ne'er sick
a day in my life, not going to let
little thing like q chest cold get
me down" type-goes outdoors and
through a hard days work, al
though he or she can hardly stand
up, and comes home and collapses.
Those are the dangerous cases
the ones which swell the mortality.
1t is probable that If . we'll
informed member of the medical
profession could have charge Of
every pneumonia patient from the
moment when the first symptoms
show themselves and could keep
him in bed indoors with our pres
ent methods Of drug treatments,
the present death rate could be cut
in half. 1t is the fellow who de-
cides to bull it through, who is
found collapsed on the sidewalk or
in some doorway or shuts himself
in his room with a bottle Of whis-
key, that makes the statistics so
bad.
The Danger Signs
What are the signs, the danger
signals, that family, friends and
business associates should recog-
nize i? In the latest text book, l find
there are six general kinds Of
pneumonia, from plain old-fash-
toned pneumococcus pneumonia to
virus pneumonia, but this need not
confuse the layman because the
signals are about the same in all
Of them.
In all, u nearly all, instances
the onset is sudden. A fellow feels
fine one day, and the'next begins
to feel like all get out, headache,
no appetite, muscles aching. Cough
and expectoration may be conspic-
nous by their absence. There Is
usually a feeling Of tightness in
the chest, enough sometimes to be
called pain. That Is the time to
get nut the household Thermometer
ana take the temperature. II no
had . chill, that Is final, and also
lucky for him because II scares
him enough to send him to bed.
The death rates for all types Of
pneumonia have fallen from q
peak of 200 per 100,00O population
in 1905 to about 25 in the last few
years. There was q peak year Of
$50 in 1918. but that was the flu
epidemic. Most Of the steady i'm
provemeHt has been due to the use
Of the sulfa drugs, and now with
penicillin generally available to
any doctor we may expect even
greater reduction.
Comforting Thought
II is comforting to know in these
days Of doctor and nurse shortage
that in the opinion Of those who
have had the most experience, gen.
eral care which consists Of rest in
beo, plenty Of water to drink, fresh
air in the bedroom, a flannel jacket
over the chest, and soft or liquid
nourishing food is more important
than any specific form Of treat
ment. DR.. Francis Macdonald, Of
Boston, had a large series of cases
in which for one reason or another
no specific treatment-such as
sulfa drugs, serum, or penicillin-
was given. His results compared
very favorably with another series
which had all these advantages.
"The fact is emphasized" he
writes, "that the non-specific form
of treatment is Of the utmost i'm
portance."
To summarize:
l. Learn to recognize the first
signs Of pneumonia, fever, chills,
discomfort in the chest Of sudden
onset.
2. Put the patient to bed right
away and even il you can't get
doctor or sulfa drugs, the results
are likely to be good.
must ba mpt-if we fall to NEE