The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-10-23
HI, GRUMPY. HOW'S YOUR CALCIUM METABOLTSM?

Before the war l began preparing a Little Lesson especially for the old folks. By consent of Dr. Fred erick Filsinger of Buffalo whose contributions to medical literature on the neglected subject Of the care of elderly patients inspired me, I intended to issue the booklet un- der the title The Forgotten Peo- pie" which Dr. Filsinger had used for one of his articles. had made considerable headway on 1t, in fact l was frightened of by the re- sponse of the old folks.
 You see, I had always contrived to be hard boiled enough to dis curage them from telling me their symptoms. It is not that I have no concern for the health and happi- ness of the old folks. Nothing would please me more than to give the old folks long distance diagnosis and the right treatment for their ailments. As pastime that would be nearly as enjoyable as doing a crossword puzzle or reading a good mystery story. But can't do that. It would not be fair even to the correspondent who believes I could do as we'll as the doctor who ex- amines and knows him or her I'm quack-there's no denying that, but withal I'm a conscientious geek and like to sleep nights.
 At first blush the project seemed aluring. Except such occasional discussions of the health problem of the aged as those of pr. Filsing- CT which excited my interest, there had been little or nothing done about the matter in recent years, But since pr. Filsinger published his first papers we have had sud- den, and apparently nasty output of textbooks on geriatrics (old age and its diseases). none of which is worth the trouble of reading, and crop of popular books for the old folks, which are good deal better, l think.
 Still and all, Cicero, pr. Osler, Dr. Ernst P. Boas, pr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Luigi Cornaro and George Cheyne said practically all there was to saw about old age long ago. Some of the things they said were not entirely right in the light of our present knowledge, but If you undertike to write about senility you must quote those old boys with due credit or else twist their ideas into different words and pretend you have never heard of them.
 Books for the old folks which I can recommend are Treatment of the Patient Past Fifty" by Ernst P. Boas, MD, The Year Book Pulp fishers, Inc, Chicago, and You Are Younger Than You Think by Martin Gumpert, MD. Duell, Soan and Pearce, New York. The form CT is perhaps intended for medical readers, although there Is much in 1t that any layman may read with profit. The latter is for popular reading. Any book dealer can get these for you if they are not in your public library.
 Doctor Duck
 My wife had an operation which included, among other things, re- pair of one ovary." Does that mean removal of the ovary? I have re- peatedly asked the physician in charge but he always manages to send me away without an answer.
 (W. E. MD
 Answer-Repair hardly means re- moval Tn any case the patient has right to know exactly what was done at operation. If the doctor is on the level he will explain, in plain words the patient can under stand, what was done. Perhaps the doctor preferes to inform the pa- tient herself.
 Copyright l945 by John F. Dille Go.