OVERCROWDING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 269, 12 November 1937, Page 12

OVERCROWDING.

SYDNEY HOSPITALS.

"CRAZE FOR OPERATIONS."

DOCTOR STRESSES DIETETICS

"The craze for operations, many of which arc unnecessary, is crowding the hospitnls nnd is largely responsible for ♦he acute accommodation problem," said a Macquarie Street specialist to a Sydney "Sunday Sun" reporter. "What wc want In greater concentration on the value of dietetics, more imagination in diagnosis, and a revision of the antiquated fundamental principles on which modern medical practice depends too much." lie declared. "What is the use of talking about raising thousands of pounds to build more hospitals? That would meet immediate needs, but we must show some vision and understanding of the real problems. "Dietetics, when properly understood and practised, will eliminate a big percentage of present-day illnesses, and when we modernise our viewpoint we shall find that there will be no need for more hospitals. "I am a surgeon, and it may seem strange to hear me say this, but I am of opinion that there are fur too many opera tons nowadays," he continued. "I never recommend an operation unless I am quite sure of the result. "It is a rare thing to-day to meet anyone who has not undergone surgical treatment of some kind, and. believe me, most of it is quite unnecessary." 100-Years-Old Ideas. He said that surgeons who had "this cra/.o for operating" were thoroughly genuine ana capable men. but , the trouble was that they were l>ound too much by rulerof-thumb methods of procedure that made no allowance for imagination or experimental departure from set formulas of diagnosis and treatment. , "Thesei in en are perfectly honest in advising operations, he said, "but nowadays we want" something more than tire mere slavish acceptance of fundamental principles that were lurid down, in many cases, more than 100 years affo. "At present I am curing a patient with stone in the kidney by dietetic treatment. "The results have been very gratifying, so much so that I am now applying similar treatment to a patient with gallstones. The whole object is to avoid operation. "When people know how to eat and what to eat we shall hear less of the maladim that now provide topics for endless conversation. We shall hear less, also, of the great shortage of beds in hospitals, because a proper understanding of dietetics will mean that there will be fewer people needing hospital treatment.

"Dietetic* for live stock are also destined to be recognised a* very net-en-nary, especially in cases -where animal* are deprived of their natural food under varying conditions." The doctor said that dietetics would also play an important part in the eventual solution of the cancer problem. Already it had been established that certain glandular irregularities were the precurser of cancer, and although there was no evidence as yet to suggest that glands held the key to the cancer solution, there was no doubt that glands would play an important part in determining the cause of the disease. When that information was available real/ progress could be made toward* a cure.