THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

Evening Star, Issue 25701, 26 January 1946, Page 10

THE DIARY OF A DOCTOR WHO TELLS

HOW ACCIDENTS HAPPEN Monday, January 21. " How's it feel? " 1 asked Tom Barnes, when we.took the plaster cast otf his leg and foot this morning. " A bio funny," he said, awmvardly trying to wriggle it about. "1 guess I'll watch my step a bit when i get back to workin more senses than one. Of all the dam-fool things for me to do . . ." . " We all do silly things," 1 said. "I suppose most accidents happen that way." : , " But fancy, me . . ." and Tom reiterated how lie came to break his leg at work recently. Its not/unlikely that with full re-' sumption,- of work hoped for in 1946 there'll, be more people killed and injured than in the forces during an average war', year. Safety campaigns are needed ,in the workshop, on i the roftd, and most of all in the home. • A recent survey by a very large world-wide undertaking revealed that almost half of all " works " accidents •happen because of. " preoccupation or lack of attention." . An interesting test question asked of those who denied that this was so in their particular instance was:— " Suppose I were to asik you to do the job over again, and I were to tell yon that if you did it this time without accident I'd give you a fiver—do you think I'd have, to pay out?" The next best percentage of accidents were > due to " laziness or fatigue," agreeing that " laziness'" was hard to define and prove. "Mechanical risks" accounted for the next most frequent cause, but only (provided 14 per cent, of the whole. Admitting that "preoccupation or lack of»attention " may be associated with, if not the result of, fatigue, it is still obvious that most accidents are due to the human factor rather than the mechanical one. Safety committees, chiefly made "up of employees; are good ideas for work--shops. "Safety Weeks" are also good. Tuesday, January 22. 1 read to-night of the fears of Europe being attacked this winter by an animal with six legs and a pointed ■beak, each of which has a grappling hook, to fasten himself on his victims. The Nazis knew of this animal, and did little to stop its ravages on prisoners. It was. one of the horrors of Belsen. The animal has been identified as the Pediculus corporis: Its common name is the body louse, and it is pinhead in size. It kills more humans than any other .animal, including the mosquito. A Harvard medical historian says that in the past 500 years typhus—the product of the louse—has killed_ more human beings than any other disease. It is "the hand-maiden of war, famine, and revolution." . It - and not so much .the Russian snows . . . ' . defeated Napoleon. It was a major factor in the Crimea. Not every person bitten by a bodylouse gets typhus. The louse must be infected. Now we have typhus, vaccine. If enough .can be .made and the people persuaded to have it,;, the day of triumph of the body-louse is finished. Wednesday, January 23. " Tliey tell me they've got something even better than penifeillin," said John Furgell in the surgery this evening, always prides himself on coining out with the most up-to-date information about anything.) "What's its name? " I asked. ." Ah -. . -. strepto . . . well, etrepto something-or-other," said John. " There's some interesting work being done on strepto-mycin," I agreed. "Is it a fungus, too? " asked John. . "It's something from the soil," I 6aid.

I told John, in answer to his further questions, , that as far as 1 knew it wasn't obtainable here, that it was s.till in the' experimental stage, and that claims were' being investigated that it * acted on certain bacteria which tvere untouched by penicillin. "New cures " are announced almost daily; and -doctors are sometimes charged with being slow to accept them. It is trjie that doctors do not subject the patients to experiments - with every passing panacea. It is probably also true that when any new treatment is well-documented there is no.delay in its use. Thursday, January 24. "She never really got over the measles properly when she was nine," was Mrs Cantwill's diagnosis of the cause of her 20-year-oTd daughter's condition this morning. And she was probably right. Bessie Cantwill gave a history of having had a cough with the measles —and ever since. ■, ' " It's like bronchitis," she said, " but lately it's worse, and I cough up some horrible stuff. I feel'l've got to get it up . even though it wears me out to do it. People have told me that, I must have T. 8." Further conversation convinced me that Bessie Cantwill probably has bronchiectasis, a quite common condition which seems unknown to the average person. -Not infrequently it is the after-result of some other condition, such as pneumonia, whooping cough, measles, or even the bronchial obstruction caused by swallowing a peanut. There is a blockage or an inadequate drainage of the bronchial tubes, and infection results. Not infrequently the

condition is mistaken in the first place for- tuberculosis, especially as a -haemorrhage can occur. "We've got to take this in hand right away," 1 said to Bessie. "I'll look after the medical treatment, but you've got to look after the general treatment. It's essential you try and build your health up to the highest level by having a vitamin-rich diet, early nights, and fresh air. 1 want you to have a course of cod liver oil as well." I also arranged for Bessie to come to the hospital and have an examination of the bronchial tubes made by the special method used in this condition. • • • Coughs which remain after the childish diseases, especially whooping cough and measles, should net be neglected if they persist. Like everything else, early treatment is easier than trying to treat something which has become chronic. Friday, January 25. This afternoon, in the Honoraries' Room, we said good-bye to Father, the elderly physician who came amongst us for the duration of the war. I think he hated leaving, and was sincerely touched when the most junior amongst us gave.him a little present on our behalf, adding that he wished he had one-tenth of the wisdom and experience that Father had' shown us. " Most of what you are good enough to call my wisdom comes from a little poem," said Father in reply. "You all know it. It was advice to England's King from the Salerno School of Medicine long years ago," He recited softly:— The Salerno School doth by these lines impart All health to England's King. And doth advise From care his head to keep, from wrath his heart. Drink not much wine, sup light and early rise When meat is gone. (Long sitting breedeth smart.) When njQved you find yourself to Nature's needs Forbear them not, for there much danger breeds. Use three Physicians still first Doctor Quiet, Next Doctor Merryman, then Doctor Diet. (Names in this diary are fictitious.) (Copyright.)