FRESH AIR FETISH

Grey River Argus, 13 May 1938, Page 8

FRESH AIR FETISH

WHAT REALLY COUNTS. LONDON, April 13. Many of the claims made for fresh air as a remedy for all ills are false, according to Dr. C. Hoyle, assistant physician to King’s College Hospital and Brompton Hospital for Consumption, in a recent address to the Royal Institute for Public Health.

“The idea that fresh air, as such, has any kind of miraculous effect in sustaining health or as a recuperative factor in illness outside of movement, temperature, and humidity is a pure fallacy,’’ he declared. “It is the change of scene, the relief from the daily round, the alternation of rest and exercise and pleasurable company that give to the ‘fresh air’ of our holidays an altogether undeserved reputation." Dr Hoyle was giving advice on how to combat the common cold.

There were still many false notions about clothing, and many people encased themselves in layers of wool the moment the leaves hegan to fall, he said. Yet women, who were less warmly clad than men, were less prone to pneumonia. Clothing sholud always be light, permeable to air. allow free evaporation from the skin absorb moisture up to a point, and not cling to the skin when wet. The essential cause of colds was infection with a living virus, and there was no means of avoiding it except by living as a recluse.