BED CROSS SOCIETY

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 150, 29 June 1928, Page 11

BED CROSS SOCIETY

LECTURE ON "PAIN" The lectures given by members of the British Medical Association under the auspices of the Red Cross Society are proving very popular with the. public, so muelv so that the society finds difficulty in, comfortably accommodating those seeking admission, and is considering the question of securing a larger hall. On Tuesday evening Dr. Alan Tennent's lecture on "Pain" was listened to by a large and appreciative audience, many being turned away. The chair was occupied by Dr. Bull, who in the course of his introductory remarks said it afforded him pleasure to be identified with the Red Cross movement now operating effectively among 59 nations of the world, and having as its object: (1) The improvement of health, (2) the prevention of disease, and (3) the mitigation of suffering throughout the world. . After referring to pain as being Na-. ture's method of warning that something was amiss in the human1 mechanism, the lecturer pointed'out that pain was not a prominent early symptom in the early stages of two serious diseases, when the diseases were most easily •dealt with. He referred to cancer and syphilis. As to "cancer, tho painless lumps that begin so insidiously in the breasts of women over 45, or the ulcers, on the tongues and lips of men, especially pipe-smokers, should not be treat-' ed lightly. Early medical advice should be sought. Reference was: made by the speaker to pains in different parts of the body, and what they indicated. He gave examples of what was called "referred pain"; that was, pain which was felt at some distance from the seat of the disease. -.The classic ty"po was pain in the knee - joint, when the trouble was all in the hip, and viceversa; another example was pain over tho appendix region when the' trouble was in ■ the chest—pleurisy or pneumonia. Another classic example was pain commonly felt over the right shoulder, and thought to. be due to rheumatics, when the source-of the ailment is. in the gall-bladder. ' All these types of "referred pain" were due to the seat'of. the disease, and the other part mentioned being supplied by branches of the same nerve, or were supplied by nerve fibres w.hich leave the spinal cord at the same level. . . Dr. Tennent was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his lecture;