The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-03-16
ANY vITAMINs TODAY, FOLKs4

Street, Chicago, III.
 ANY VITAMINS TODAY, FOLKea
 Today most physicians prescribe vitamins for or administer them to many patients every day.
 Recently 200 volunteer medical students and technicianS at Duke University were divided into groups, and each group given either shotgun vitamin tablets, or liver extract tablets, or yeast extract tablets or placebo tablets, all Of the same size and appearance, to take for a month. The investigators concluded from the experiment that administration of vitamin supple ments to these apparently normal persons, consuming the usual Am- erican die (which, l suppose, means food anyway, had no dem- onstrable beneficial effect.
 In the first place, if the volun- teers were really in the best possi- ble health it would be pretty silly to expect that any vitamin or combination of vitamins could inn prove their health, vitality, sense of well being, capacity to work or anything else.
 In the next place if any of them did have any impairment of health due to deficiency of one or more vi- tamins, it would be pretty silly to expect to remedy the trouble by simply adding vitamin supple ment to the diet for month. These Duke University investigators evil dently confuse vitamins with drugs. I'm just plodding old country doctor and probably don't know much about the prophylactic or therapeutic use of vitamin concen- trates or vitamin supplements, bus somehow I have acquired the mo- ton that it takes several months of optimal Several times more than just average daily requirements) vi- tamin feeding to restore v1te in such cases. Vitamins are foods, and the systemic effects of year or several years of semistarvation do not yield to 8 month of proper nourishment.
 These selr-appoInted debunkerS of the vitamin craze were years be- hind the march in finding out about the newer principles of nu- l triton, as the authoritative ut- terance above quoted (from one of their voluble leaders, so well ! illustrates.
 From the na:vc requests l receive | in the daily mail I know that the education of the public about vita mins has been taken over by those old masters of public health educa- ton, the quacks and nostrum man. ufacturers-and one of the other category should include producers of bread, milk, oleomargarine, breakfast cereals and what have you But, right or wrong, the laity is now too sophisticated to be inn pressed by the quaint attitude of the slow-footed medical profession. After all it is absurd for the doc tors, individually or through their organization, to maintain, on the one hand, that one should take vii tamins only when ones physician has diagnosed a specific lack of the Wtamin or vitamins concerned; and and on the other hand, that bread should be doctored with Synethtic or concentrated vitamins such as thiamone (BD, ribofavin (B2 or O. D etc, to insure that every body who eats store bread shall get a kind of shotgun dose of vita min every day regardless. But then, isn't the stand taken or approved by the national medical organiza- tion usually like that?
 QUESTIONS and ANSWERS
 Window Screen VentilatOr
 Kindly advise if commercial cloth screen of small size used for dwellings is sufficient for bedroom window ventilation?
 1 AnsWer-Yes. Even ordinary un- bicached muslin screens, full sash size, have served very satisfactorily for ventilating schoolrooms, offices, workrooms, bedrooms, during the season when artificial heating is required. Send stamped envelope bearing your address, ask for pamphlet on Air Conditioning.
 Twins
 Why is it that some twin girls can become mothers while others cannot?
 | (D. W.
 Answer-Being twins has nothing to do with capacity for motherhood.
 Child Nipped by Dog
 Daughter nipped in cheek by puppy. School nurse sent her to - hospital. Health department ordered detention of dog. which we did, and immediate Pasteur treat ment. Should the Pasteur treat ment be given? e. O.
 Answer My advice is that you pay no attention to the health de- partment, the school nurse, the neighbors or the cop on traffic post, but do precisely as your own family physician advises.
 Copyright 1945, John F. Dille Co)