The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-02-05

only, ana Jnen only through
his column. 20
tom as main or presenting symp-
tom: weakness is, Of course, one OF
the symptoms Of nearly every i'll
ness.
DR.. ]. C. Meakins, of Montreal,
analysed the principal symptom.
the one which made the person
seek medical advice, in 1000 pa
tients. Pain led the list with 526
instances. Weakness was next
with 436 instances.
Symptoms and Disease
A symptom isn't q disease:
every symptom may occur in one
of a dozen or hundred diseases.
So it is valuable for the diagnosti-
clan to have Q kind Of chart, .
guide, showing the most frequent
causes of any given symptom.
Such chart has been supplied for
the symptom Of weakness by DR..
Frank N. Allan, Of the Lahey
Clinic in Boston.
DR.. Allan took 500 consecutive
patients whose chief complaint
was weakness, fatigue or weak
spells and followed them through
to the final diagnosis. These were
entirely unsolicited. He took them
just as they came. When the doc
tor said: "What do you complain
Of ?" and the patient said, "Weak.
ness" that patient went into DR..
Adams list.
In 80 per cent of these cases
there was no physical disorder
found. They were nervous, wor-
ried, tired of the routine of life.
worn out trying to reconcile their
abilities to make adjustments and
the burden and pressure Of their
problems. They had no anemia,
heart disease. lung disease, or any
other kind Of disease measurable
in a modern clinic.
Physical Disorder
In 20 per cent Of cases . physi-
cal disorder was found. II was OBJ
vious in about half Of them, and
somewhat difficult to discover in
the rest. The commonest causes
were nervous conditions Is per
cent?, chronic infections, such as
tuberculosis a per cent?, nutri-
tional disorders, such as diabetes
and thyroid gland deficiency q per
cent?, heart disease Is per cent?
and anemia e per cent?.
Contrary to ordinary opinion,
pnly one case Of vitamin deficiency
was found, and only three cases Of
eancar. q negligible percentage
among 800 cases. AIN the minds Of
the public" writes DR.. Allan, "lack
Of energy today means lack of
vitamins. Our experience lends no
support to the theory that vitamin
deficiency seriously affects the
health of large percentage Of the
population"
A still widely held belief, how
ever. is that constipation is re-
sponsible for weakness, but there
was no case in this series in which
weakness or fatigue could BE-
blamed on constipation.
Cheering Reflection
A cheering reflection on this set
Of statistics is that nearly every
condition found to be the cause Of
weakness can be relieved by mod
ern medical methods Of treatment.
A person with thyroid gland insult
ficiency can be relieved by taking
thyroid extract. Diabetes Is easy
to control, as is anemia Of nearly
any kind. tuberculosis requires y
good deal more sacrifice on the
part Of the patient, but cure Is .
possibility. And people with Sc
rious heart disease live many
years with modern methods.
] saw an old friend of mine the
other day who, according to our
records in the medical school of the
University Of Kansas, had serious
heart disease for fifteen years:
right now she looks fine and Ia
planning a trip to Florida for the
winter as she has for several win
tiers past.
| would guess that the hardest
patients Of all to do anything for
in DR.. Adams experience were the
ones who didn't have anything the
matter with them. Except nerves.
as the saying Is. But nerves are
not so easy to control. Sometimes
the burdens Of life are q little too
much. even for the strongest. This
burdensomeness is transformed
into the symptom of weakness.
l.