MEDICAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 17 (Supplement)

MEDICAL NOTES.

ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS., DOCTOR'S ORDERS. GENERAL AND PARTICULAR. (By PEHITUS.) It will be interesting to note how long the trade in vita-glass and quartz lamps ■will survive the.decision of the English Medical.Research Council of England, •which, after an'=exhaustive test of seven months, lias declared the ultra-violet ray to have no appreciable effect upon human nutrition, nor its use to benefit diseases. The enormous amount of money invested in clinics, machines and. general equipment is likely to arouse |he wildest opposition to the declaration of the council, but that body has no purpose to serve beyond arriving at the truth, and it is of immense value to the public that such a council should exist in order to prevent exploitation of the sick for the benefit of interested persons. Fifty years ago the medical profession was assured that the treatment of a consumptive of the most hopeful character was to keep him sheltered from cold and fresh air. Young men who were tuberculous were* advised'to take office work in a warm comfortable office, free from draughts; to wrap up warmly when going out, and in cold weather or at nights to cover the nose and mouth, with a scarf or wear a "respirator , (a" muzzle of wire, wool and sijk. .which covered the mouth and fastened behind the ears with elastic bands), and. remain at home when the cold winds blew. This treatment lasted so long that there must have been a sufficient number of recoveries to assure the profession they: were on the right track..; Well,'it was all wrong. .'. ! ' • , ■ Last year it was discovered thattaerr no'particular benefit in sunburn., or 1 . T&otonged bathing, although j healthy .people could -enjoy both and survive. "This year it i≤ the ultra-violet; ray that " is condemned. Men who live always in the open air. exposed to all weathers, acquire a healthy hardness of constitution which tends to prolong life, and makes it easier, and experience, professional and lay, shows that outdoor ' :.;^jf^fe ? other, jwyertlie:

less there are men and women who live to a great age immured in dark unventilated offices, who take little exercise, eat moderately, and imitate St. Thomas. j"he fact that Dr. .Hollier at his sun hospital in the Swiss Alps has so much success is due to.altitude, exercise, food, temperatare, supervision, and constant exposure to air and light. The ultraviolet raj had all the credit of what isdone by the entire system of recuperation and sensible- living. Change of air and scene and occupation" will work wonders—even in the dark.

Doctor's Orders. A jesting London coroner has made a few amusing remarks about the dictatorial ways of eonie members of the medical profession. * He said that if a patient was told what must or should be done he had no escape, no redress, and must obey. He added that if the doctor found his orders were not obeyed he should throw up the case. At the same time a judge has said when half a dozen doctors have definitely deckled in one direction there is nothing easier than to find another six equally decided in an entirely opposite way. Therefore all the dissatisfied patient has to do is to call other doctors until one or more decide in accord with his wishes. It is quite right that a doctor whose orders are neglected should resign from the case. He has fired his shot and loses dignity and faith if he does not retire. Ho'may be wrong, but it is not etiquette to weakly admit this.

The. General and the Particular. Lord Dawson of Peim in giving an address'in-London eaid: "It is to the field of general practice that we need to pay attention, for it would be a sorry day for any country were general practitioners to. become weak in their work or their influence. This is now- , a danger. The practitioner is one of our protectors against the 'stunt , specialist. Only the other day an American lady eaid to me, :*lf I get an acute sore-throat I have no one to tell me what to do with it. Three specialists come in.one after the other; one with a laryngoscope, .the next" to take my blood, and the third to take a culture, and by the time thi-y all report I am either better or dead. A"ain, it is to the interests of the community to identify the practitioner wit't the health of the people and to give him his career. 1 will, put certain question.-, to rou. Is it not a fact that practice, is becoming grouped around occupations ra;d social needs, and less located in the home ? The needs of the expectant mother, care of the child, the treatment of tubercle, are all examples- -You have only

to go through the wards of a hospital, and time and time again you see a poor man about 40 or 50, nothing else wrong with him- but this—and a grave wrong it is—rthat he has been a blacksmith or a lighterman when nature meant him to be a tailor. That fitting .as regards employment —fitting the round peg into the round hole —is a duty that should come under the mantle of the medical profession."

Specialism is easy because the specialist is confined to one line of practice: it is remunerative because—well, I do not know why a man who does one thing efficiently should be paid more than one with a hundred times more knowledge and experience and who is able and willing to treat any of the hundreds of physical troubles which come before him in his daily routine. The general practitioner who reads and makes use of his reading, who thinks more of his occupation than of any amusement, who is temperate for the sake of his . patients, and who is genuinely interested in his profession, stands higher in my estimation than anyone in the world. He is a rock in the shifting eands of experimental medicine and he cannot be easily overpaid. To stand in the consulting room of a busy general practitioner and note hi* quick calm change of thought, the almost ridiculous succession of human troubles which flow through the room is a lesson in training, energy, and attention, to detail. Ringworm, a bunion, abscess, wound, boils, tuberculosis, heart disease, nettle rash, pregnancy, cough, c-aneer, a dislocation, a fragment of ste-1 in the eye, they come and go, none without benefit. Diagnosis carefully made, children comforted, women soothed, men "barracked" good naturedly, it is, as I have said, a lesson, la the country, upon the top of all this, is the dispensing, testing, and accountkeeping to be'done, and the morning and afternoon visiting, and perhaps at night one or two maternity cases. The man who is incapable of this sometimes becomes a specialist, the man who ean do it and does it faithfully, is the underpaid and often neglected general practitioner.