Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1948-07-09


people, some interested in us,
some interested in our money,
a few trying to promote a
new fad or way of life, or selling
some product, we are bound to.
be confused. Just what can we
CLEAN from all this advice that
sounds sensible enough to us to
make us want to do something
about it? In other words, What
do we want for our health that
is within our power to get if
we want it badly enough?"
In the first place, there is that
annual inventory" of our physi-
cal assets and liabilities that we
have been putting off from day
to day till better or easier time
arrives. Some folks call it a
physical examination. For years
physicians have been advocating
an annual check-up and suggest
ing your birthday as the date,
just to distribute the work
throughout the year. If you have
been having a yearly exam, be
sure to mark your birthday for
this important appointment and
take steps this week to have the
date entered on your physicians's
calendar. If you have slipped up
on this item the last few years,
maybe you should get it out of
the way before your birthday.
Every day the papers tell of
someone who has suffered a Sc
rious or even fatal illness, and
many of these could have been
avoided, or detected early enough
to be successfully treated, if the
person had given his physician
an opportunity to advise him at
at an earlier date.
Another resolution could be
called Think before you act"
Too often those of us who are
on the shady side of forty, or
even fifty or sixty, have the
mistaken idea that we are just
as good today as we were
twenty or thirty or forty years
ago. Maybe a few of us are,
if we have taken unusually
good care of our physical ma.
chinery, had the proper food
and exercise, and have been
fortunate enough to have de-
veloped good reserve. Women
as a rule are more careful than
men, or maybe more ladylike.
They rest from time to time In
their work or at least change
their pace. But / know some
who try to clean an entire
house I'm one day or drive at
their daily tasks as though
there was not going to be an
other day tomorrow.
A third resolution could be
ramed around the idea Look
before you leap" An automobile
is bigger than you are. And it
can hit harder. If you, too, are
in a car you have some advan-
tage but not much. 1t takes
about two-fifths of a second for
you to be able to start reacting
to situation, and after that the
time necessary to perform the
act. At 80 miles an hour an au-
tomobile travels 18 feet while
you are getting ready to move.
It's wise to look first and know
where that car is. Also, as we
grow older our eyes change and
we are not able to judge speed
and distance as quickly and ac-
curately as we used to, and we
can't get out of the way quite so
fast. Traffic deaths and injuries
will not be reduced until people
learn that the minute lost in
waiting long enough to be safe
is nowheres near as long as the
days and weeks and even years
of waiting they will have if they
should be hit, and live. AT 55
we still have over ten million
minutes to live. A ten million
to one bet is not even a good
gamble.
In this same line we do a
lot of crazy things at home too.
Falls are still the leading cause
of death In home accidents. A
good addition to our resOlu-
tions would be "Stop that fall"
The common causes that can
be easily corrected are loose
rugs, furniture In the usual
pathways, frequent changes in
location of furniture, damaged
stair treadS, lack of hand rails,
insecure means for reaching
high places and the usual clut-
ter and disorder found In
homes, especially where there
are children. PrOwling around
the house at night without a
light In a common cause. Out
side are slippery steps and
sidewalks, garden tools and
toys. Closely related are the
causes of burns and cuts, usu-
ally found In the basement and
kitchen. And I'm sure none of
you try that most dangerous
practice, home dry cleaning.
Don't. 1t isn't worth 1t.
When summer finally comes
and there is the yard to care for,
vacation to take. hot weather