CONSUMPTION CURE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 150, 19 March 1908, Page 7

CONSUMPTION CURE.

VALUE OF SANATORIA. ■-.V jr;,;-'" : ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. • Consumptive sanatoria havo become fami- -. liat ;• institutions !in Now Zealand. As a ;. means-.of isolating' sufforors from' an infectious disease,-and to this extent safeguardting, the community,, their valuo is self-ovi-dont, .but it, is another matter ...when ono asks:-"Do;thoy actually effect eurosP", On this point the public mind is subject to a . certain degrco of doubt.. Dr. Mason,- Chief Health Officer, who has ' been a, strong advocate of tho policy of erecting theso sanatoria, has a breezy confulonco in their efficacy which -is somowhat reassuring. Speaking to a Dominion writer • yosterday, . ho said that it was unanimously -, admitted- by medical men : th&t-: consumption ;can bo :ourod if treated in its earlier stages. rJ 'Suoh cures aro obtained m satis-- - factory.,proportion: at' the . Cambridge Sanatorium, '!■ nnd , cures aro also shown by , a ! smaller, percentago of- cases which are,.fairly . advanced whcn they como undor the doctor's notice., ■ . During the year which ended March; 31, ' 1907; 'the, number, of cases admitted to; the " Cambridge - Sanatorium was 116,- while; dur- "■ ing - the samO'. period 91: cases wero . discharged,, imd .10 died. The Medical Super? ;.intendent reported., that of, those discharged. 48 left the Sanatorium apparently in;good, health, and exhibiting on examination no ■ signs of' active disease. , Theso cases ono ■'*■ might bo • justified, in ; tabulating. a,s cures, but . personally ho would prefer to record thom simply v as cases m winch the diseaso was 'arrested moro or less permanently. The remaining -43 cases discharged > all - received . more or less marked benefit by their, stay .in the . institution.., Many, were -"greatly -. im- ' proved; . and would m - all probability conr ;-tinuo to improve after, their discharge, from I ► the-- Sanatorium,. provided that they > still | carried out-the mode-.0f.-life to which their residence in tlio Sanatorium had accustomed "them:" 'A ' small percentage gamed .very •'considerably in 1 weight, and improved in • general condition, but showed ; little . or;. no. . improvement in the .condition '; of VthV'.diseased»lungs,.. The cases: were admitted'into the Sanatorium m all stages of the' diseaso: '; In moro than half . the ■ casos ... both .' lungs/were: affected, and-.-mot', more V than 10 'pott,cent, of - those admitted .could bo described truly, as being early or incipient Oases. ! "I am convinced," Dr. Roberts ; /.'reported,'that J a very,. large • number of. cases could bo absolutely - cured, if. treated. ' early enough; ,but after a certain stage ..of - the disease is reaohed the benefit of sana.great, can only. 'be--temporary." <■ 1 ' Private-medical-men, who were. seen by- a Dominion .representative, agreed, that it was : : :toi .pbtaih/reliablo --data las to ' "this; cures' effected; in sanatoria, 'f. In the 'first > placo; it' is-- not, easy , to- decide, when - a patient. is > permanently cured ■~ H may leavo , the institution' showing no, active .signs .of tho disease,; and at the end of several lot'-'is', "cast"- amid' unfavourable conditions,, he -may bo again a i victim -, to:: the;• malady, in, a>-serious form. ~ Moreover, if tho-statistics of- an, institution i are: unsatisfactory,' .the. .explanation is gen-1 erally given, that an. unusually large number of cases had reached an advanced stage • when admittedso ithatj .withouti-.tho; most ■ dotailed : j tho state of health . '>f.;.piitients ..at,admission, j.tho,-. returns of cures give :very -little to go by. , . - ' It : was discovered that most medical men i agree on tho advisability of/sanatonum treat-1 •mont' inutile case- of poorer sufferers,,,who y. live in' congested! lodgingsj whpro they can- i not' get a maximum of frekli air. and aro ■"in 'Special'danger of spreading the vdiseaso. 'It was'■ also stated' that''consumption 'sana--'.toria-,iprobably.<)jiistify,-.itheir, costi/byjiwrtue ,of the.educativo discipline which they, afford. -Patients are trained, m the sanatorium totake all the necessary precautions to avoid ' -spreading infection.' Where doctors differ i . is as to tho adyisability. of sanatorium -resi-. i dence, for patients who. can .secure all the advantages, of a sanatorium in their own homes." ■ Ono doctor Btated: that he was firmly of opinion; that if a man could sloop ,in tho open air, breatho a ' pure atmosphere, tako healthy exerciso, and build up his constitution in his private homo, without risk of infecting others,: ha would bo. more likely to recover from consumption under -these condi- , tions than .m an^institution. The danger of the sanatorium, it' was ■- Btated, is.that,,people who are;not:very ill are made, despondent .by.ithe daily sight and ' ( companionship of other people whose doom ' is.probably sealed. Temperatures are taken ■• frequently) and- every: ohange of health is a of nervous study to the patient, who becomes introspective and depressed.; Conversation turns. naturally on the" malady which has • brought overyono . together; , sputum takos an- unhealthy place, in everybody's, thoughts,' and recovery :is not has-: -'tened-by'sucn a state of mind. A great deal is done at' Cambridge, no doubt, to provido AV.ork and .recreation; for . the with a view- to. dispelling these reflections, but -when patients are horded together it is • difficult to' keep ■ their i minds /from" dwelling on the cause. • ■■ • . „ "If-1 was consumptive," said this doctor, ' should live at Kelburno, or Karori, or ..Brooklyn,:and sleep:out .of-doors."