THE HUMAN MACHINE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 1 October 1927, Page 12

THE HUMAN MACHINE

NEEDS ANNUAL OVERHAUL. “In a general way man is careless of health. So long as the machinery of the human body functions without undue friction, e is content to let what is apparently well severely alone,” writes Sir William Milhogu M.D., in the “Evening News” oi London “The mechanical engineer, on the other Land, recognising tho strain and stress to which machinery is put in the fulfilment of its daily task, insists on tho frequent overhaul and inspection of his plant, in order that any flaw, however, small, may bo detected and suitable repairs at once instituted. “Equally necessary is this overhaul of the still more delicate machinery of the human body, machinery which is becoming more and more stressed and strained as civilisation advances and as the fierce struggle for existence increases. “The prevalence of arterial and cardiac disease, of nervous affections and of cancer, jioint irresistibly to the conclusion that mankind is paying an increasing price for his short sojourn in this world. “Statistics show that, despite the reduction in the general death-rate, morbidity from these degenerative disseases has gone up by leaps audbounds during the past decade, and that one-third of the deaths amongst, males between the ages of 55 and i. are due to affections of the vascular (circulatory) system “Our unphysiological daily habits and our physical and mental indiscretions undoubtedly lay the foundation of the majority of the chronic ailments from which we suffer.

“In a general way, it may be said that disease is more easily prevented than cured. To prevent disease, ot to nip it in its infancy, necessitates a regular overhaul of the various organs of the body, the testing of various secretions, and the giving of advice as to the best way to regulate physical and mental activities. “If the public realised the impotence of such an overhaul, annual or bi-annual, catastrophe in the prime of life would not be so common as it is to-day.”