The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-02-23
ONE OF MY BETTER ARTICLES

ONE OF MY BETTER ARTICLES
 A Canadian medical colleague prescribes for me Brady good der and a sedative so will rest better and tomorrow, perhaps, write one of my better articles. The doc- tor was irked intolerably by my article entitled "All Gods Chillun Have Tonslls and Adenoids."
 But no one seems to know what MacTavish's or MacanybodyS Stomach Powder is - perhaps my Canadian colleague meant to refer to the veterinarian.
 Tn the article which aroused the doctors indignation, I said that far too many children have been sub- jected to crude and unnecessary surgery for "adenoidS" they didn't have. also said that the scandal ous racket in wholesale tonSil and adenoid operations which fiourished in the years of my youth Cas doc tor) left one wrong impression on the popular mind and another wrong impression on the medical mind. The wrong impression left in the popular mind is that the mere presence of tonSils and ade- noid body in the throat is abnor- mali the wrong impression left in the medical mind is that it is necessary to "get every bit of ton- sil tissue" when operating for sim- pie enlargement of tonsils and ade- holds in children or young adults.
 In the article suggested %-tay treatment to shrink enlarged ton- sils and adenoids in cases where the children's hearing is impaired. I said also that tonsils and ade- holds serve two useful purposes first, they manufacture blood cor puScles and second. they protect the body against infection, respiratory infections. I didn't mention one respiratory infection which men, tion now-infantile paralysis. There have been numerous reports in medical literature of susplciously high susceptibility to infantile par alysis in children whose tonSilS have just been removed.
 Here I beg to call my Canadian colleagues attention to a book by one of the foremost authorities on the question of removing tonsils: "Childrens TonsiLs In and Out !" published Lippincott Co., in 1882 by Albert D. Kaiser, MD, Profess sor of Pediatrics, U. of R. Medical School Rochester, N. Y. Although Dr. Kaiser himself seemed to con- clude that tonsillectomy is of some value. his observation of thousands Of Rochester school children over a long period of years, half of them with tonsils untouched, the other half with tonsils removed. seems to me to have shown that the removal of tonsils is a procedure Of ques- | tionable value in the great major ity of cases.
 For enlarged tonSils and Tor ade- holds in children under eight, if obvious obstruction of breathing makes treatment necessary. I'd ad- wise nothing but tonsillectomy - clipping" the tonsils. For septic or infected tonsilS in older children or adults, nothing but diothermy electro coagulation) of course in the hands of a physician skilled in this most difficult method.
 Canker Sores
 What causes canker sores in the mouth? I have been getting them quite frequently for the past few years. tMrS. W. F. s.
 Answer-Some investigators be- lieve a virus causes them. Touch each sore once or twice daily with half glycerin and half tincture of iodine on a wisp of cotton on a toothpick. This srnarts like the dickens for a mament. but gives re- lief afterward. Avoid other irri- tants (cvoarse food. hot things