"THE RICH MAN'S AILMENT."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 176, 2 August 1910, Page 4

"THE RICH MAN'S AILMENT."

Appendicitis has. been called "the rich man's ailtbeht,^ because at one time it was said that only those who were "well-off" &iuld afford; to have it. Of recent yfears, however, the middle and lower classes have been attacked by it,' ani$ vthe increase in the number of cases tias caused some alarm, among' the me^ic&l profession in England. It is said that more cases have been repotted during the last six months than, in any previous period of equal length. Not. long ago a rural local body took what was probably an unprecedented step in drawing the attention of the Local Government Board to the, alarming increase in the number of cases in its district. A West End physician, of large experience, Dr Donald: Hood, who has held several high official posts, states that appendicitis oases were ra,re about twelve1, or thirteen years ag<>.' Now they are common, and much more virulent; "instead of seeing case after case1 running a '"Simple' benign course and speedily redbtering under medi-. cal. treatment, we are called, upon^ to deal with a vast number in t which immediate operation-is" essential, and it. would not be an to say that whereas in r the 'seventies and 'eighties those cases were only met with comparatively rarely, they are now of almost'daily occurrence." To what is the increase due? our rreaders very well'ask. The commonest explanation is that it is more apparent than real;' that it is due to Better diagnosis. > What in former years were, thought to be other complaints are', now labelled appendicitis. But this does'not-satisfy "some doctors. The medical officer of the local body we have referred; to puts the increase down to the use of preservatives in food. The preservatives themselves do not affect the appendix; it is the decomposed food they disguise that does the harm. Dr Hood believes appendicitis to be due to a microbe, which may, under, certain conditions,be conveyed from one individual to 'another. ; This opinion, however, is not shared by the profession, as it is pointed^ out that experiments made with microbes found in the appendix have given negative results. Attention is drawn to the fact^ that the greatest care from the earliest stages does not suffice to save life in some cases. The young Viscount Chelsea, grandson of Earl Cadogan and heir to a great title and vast estates, .was put under medical treatment at the first signs of the disease, and attended by five doctors, but he succumbed. In the case of appendicitis, as in many others, doctors disagree, and it will probably be many years before a physician is found who will solve this great and terrible mystery.