THE WHITE PLAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 100, 26 April 1912, Page 6

THE WHITE PLAGUE.

OPEN-AIR CUKE OF TUBERCULOSIS. ] ( GOOD WOKE AT CAMBRIDGE ] SA2I£XQKDOiL : (By A, & 34DODY.J " ! Although tie expression -opea-3.ir , treatment is an exceedingly common one, ( few peopfe have a-correct conception of its ■, true meaning. In point of fact, the man ] in the street will almost invariably tell , you, should you ask \" Tn J that the "open : air treatment" for consumption consists of stuffing oneself with fatty foods du-r- l ing the. day, and keeping one's bedroom ■ window "wide open a± night. The man- ] in-tice-street is right as far as he goes, ( bin he docs not go far enough; the • treatment of tuberculosis is not quite , such ii simple affair as is usually thought, i though it 13 by no means complicated j or unpleasant to the patient. The est&b- : li.--hmcnt of open-air sanaioßia is of I comparaLrvrly recent origin; medical :m"i----cm-r lia.* not always be?u favourably die- ; posed i!iwajd.-» the •■open-air" treatment for tutx>i-c ulo:-i-. But it few years ago i the iiirfortanale consumptive, instead of belli;: all''iwp,j i,j txposo himself with : comparative impunity to the four winds of ho.-i.vn. was confined to a heated room • a.nd carefully preserved from anything in the nature -of pure cold air. Consequently a.- we- now understand thing's, the disease hastened its way and the average tubercular rase was regarded as more or less hopeless. Nowadays the diseate has to be deeply seated before the . consumptive condition is loked upon as I ■ hopeless. indeed some most remarkable ' teeoviric* have been made even in cases looked upon with despair, so efficacious ' does thr , . open-air treatment prove in ' some r.i?s.s. The Tf Waifcato Sanatorium is a Gnv- ■ ; "■•rnmenf institution situated upon the ' f.unnv.l fit .1 hill called Maungakawa. ] ( ovei looking the borough of C bridge ' and about .wen miles distant from! that toy, n. The drive from <".a.m■bridgp f.MiUon to the sanatorium i (which bosats of being over 20001 i fta-'.L above fcta levtJ I n truly, fascinating, and i- at tune? reminiscent) of Alpiuf UCiligjtrt.-.. As soon as the plain i ' i.- left tbprf is. a continuously lovely: panorama, of charming bosh-covered hills.' cluicps of noble, pines doited here and , there, :i.nd heneat-h lies the picturesque ' 1 plaujo of the Waikalo, spread-eagled a? : i far a..- t.br eye can see. Up, up we go and thr *.-[•.-•( r oi tb-- , country change , rapidly <s_- the winding road brings u> nearer ■. i>c cicjt. house en the top. And what a. rlianc in t"n". atrros-pher'. Gone' ■ la tie "throaty" feeling of the dust ■ swept, roads of the valley and in t-.s. ■ place come;- a di-=iro to breathe to the ' , fullest, capacity of one's lungs. A.- t™ . get mo:-p : <•• cur ".-.Una Lion other topees J , of Nature's slave oi lovehnese unfold :■ ■them.-eh as. we gaze over the brow of ilaongakawa 1o the ragged landscape of j . the other fide. The sun is getting low i in the .horizon, and.casting shadows of: gold on the many hill peaks descends, m ■ delica-te ftEmi-tone,- to a violet haziness! in the valleys, thnlliug one with intense. ■ i admiration Ttul- this 5-pot was h?.3Tn ; sent to restore jad<"d constitutions and, ■weak lungii I The main buuuif dt tar Sanatorium' is a large white wooden structure o£i: i rather haadj-omr apptarance. The snr-1 I rounding ' T Toacdi, which contain the' sleeping aid diiing tucHers may tv» de- ! scribed vrithour exaggeration as ideal in ; their situation, well protected from the, cold and charmingly laid oat. There is j the Mason "colony" for the treatment I of -women patient?, which is directly in) iTont of the administrative Wock, and; lvin™ at th* bark the Wild and Plimkfi colonies a.,- used for men patiento-^U three, commanding masiunoent views. | Thr mode of treatment tarried oat is, exceedingly interesting, and should. be of considerable ieterest to those, mfforinp from throat or lung trouble., <. description theuld be valuable because . I th« obi»ci oi the institution is to teach' tuberculoid subjects hoy to treat them ; selves in Ihcir homes, and to resist the murderous onslaught of that destructive I microbe I.do«ti as. the tubercle bacillus, i Firstly. a patient if, taujiht Lhc necessity , of deanlinp*s. It » rigidly impressed I ! upon him that he must never expectorate | 1 except into flasks provided lor the pur- 1 1 pose, for. as is well known, the sputum i i of tbr ronsincptiTP teems with bacilli,: which, when dry, is, a highly dangerous; ; souiT.' of infection. One realises dtir- < j ing a stay nt an mjtitution such as this j I the vital importance of f<-e.rn measures' I being taken by public health authorities i in the matter of preventing , spitting in i i public plarei. Somehow or othPT the! I public, are extremely lackadaisical in j I recognising how very gravely infectious ; tubeculon? it. with the result that many j contnt-rrt thr fell disease simply through i I i-riTniTi.ii carelessness. Medical men esti- ' mate that every consumptive drags two j : of >ii'- fellows doirn with him. and to 1 ' anyone with some little knowledge of the i ! subject this computation doe;, not appeaur. ! to be by any means exaggerated. But : J to continue the methods adopted for ■ treatment. The patient.- sleeping ?hel-; ' ter iB a -.-mall br.uie having on t-ro of its ■ I sides large folding-doers, whach open the I I full width of the structure. The bed i? j j situated broadways to these doors, and j J facing the patient is a double window so j I that from every .-.;r]c c£sept Sirer.tly b- j 1 hind him he is abie to get tile full benr- ' I fit of the ajr. Our is inclined to shudder j < at the pro:-p=rt of r.-pcriil]y on \ ! cold night. l , in r h::- little building, which] i is hardly more than a roof, but I may a.3- j I sure you ihaxir.,s had ihe ejrperiencp) ' that thi.-. moiii- of sleeping is not only j ' highly b?n»,S.MI. but extremely enjoy- j ! able* Fs-"' who have tasted of the de-1 i lights of sleeping in tbc open air ever I wish to spe.ad their night- in the limited ! confines of an ordinary bedroom, ere.n j ! though the windows be opened to their i I fullest ext?nt. And then, as to night j i apparel and bedclothes? Quite a lot re- ! quired yon may think! But that is not, : <..-, heavy bedi-Whiv .md tbi=4r night- ! wear are dieoouragtd he p-Uieat Boon ; ' ".comes acclimatised to the -.bJUy nigh ; a:r. and, v-uh a couple of blankets and ' a sleeping wilt of " col, &lumbers quite ! ortablv" id the coldest oi weathers, : An.l to those propie who are subie<St to ; : freou-eot coiqs. m the head, open-air livin:-']--. exoeeili!.;!'- hr.n°firial: i* i? a very', rare thing mdi;«*l ; - "> ■■"'" a patient nith, 1 a. c-cld at the Sana wriam-— one teems to ! ■ io.-.' one's tfind n T)cv Hi an almost miracul- j o'j. ; Uipxnor much f>r ; : Thr patient, if he :t ■"■"--•11 caoath. rises- ; i' if-f-n in the morning. unU t'as fir? ' V , !. : ;;-,is; of the day i? "drill." Th , : drill | ■ -■ ni j :--r:c- o; hre"lb.cg ficrciws ?'.•' h ::i .: i cry short '. i".i increases the; i," :;■ ■■'.'" ■ r.r l-:"i ! -'aiulJ, i, ■ • . i-r. '.' t ■V..iteJ '..'j; th.it !!;•:-■" t.vjr- i (~ - .!.■ it •: iLuvisabio i:i imtv i-a*c;i iiifj •■•*■■). ■••-;. ,ir- undesivab'r ia many! :•{ . i.v! ■'.:'•■:.'.■', only b-" undertaken on ' :.ii' -:'!■ i.y- ■; .i n:cdico! nun. During the [ da. ,, " there arc three heavy meal-, break-i : f<. t. dinner, and tea, and between these [ rrpa3t, there i≤ a Bght runch. and alter-

; nooa tea. JCainxsSy, the pafcent is en- ! , cotrraged to eat heartily, and, as a rule, | •eat hssrtiy be does. The fare is simple,' but of the most nutritious character, in- i /»TTwTrng plenty of cream, milk, and fresh ' eggs. The treatment ia not, as most ■ people imagine, simply a round of idle-, ness and stuffing, bat a course of gradu- 1 ated rest and exercise is carried out. I Gaining flesh, whilst a very desirabla | thing, is not the only consideration; the! strengthening of the tissues is toe main! object "to be attained in warding off the ' attacks of the tubercle bacilli. About three hours' work a day in the garden is the Trm T-jTmTm for patients who are well enough to undertake it, and the re- J mainder of the time is well filled up with ! periods of rest and recreation. Cambridge Sarcrtorrum is undoubtedly doing a splendid work in combating tuberculosis, gmr! it deserves every support from the New Zealand public. During my stay at the institution I realised the necessity of these places in a country where tuberculosis is such a me.nac-e to the community. And one is also brought to realise the necessity of imposing upon consumptivps tiie need of entering a sanatorium of this sort when the, disease is in an incipient *tacp. for, alas-, the great majority allow themselves to reach an almost hopeless condition bpfore they can bo induced to undergo the open-air treatment.