Colds Among the Eskimos

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 72, 26 March 1936, Page 10

Colds Among the Eskimos

The om theory tout the rmeusu cuiu in the Arctic kills the germs of the common cold as been “exploded" by Dr. 1. M. Rabinowitch, a Montreal scientist, who says that Eskimos fall an easy prey to colds. Tuberculosis was rapidly increasing among the Eskimos through contact with white men, declares Dr Eabiuowiteh. The doctor spent several weeks in the Eastern Arctic regions, accompanied by Dr C. C. Birchard, to study health conditions among the Eskimos. Natives of the Arctic regions, he said, never succumb to cancer or diabetes, but there was suggestive evidence of hardening of the arteries. "The healthiest groups among the natives," says Dr Rabinowitch, “ were found in communities where native clothes were worn and where the inhabitants were unable to obtain much of white men's food, particularly that made from white flour.” While the Eskimo is unable to resist infection from colds, ho can stand extreme fatigue and extremely cold temporaturcs. The presence of common colds among the natives is almost inevitable after the arrival of a ship, and infection from influenza, although only mildly affecting the white population, is known to have wiped out small Eskimo communities.

Many of the Eskimos have their teeth worn down to the line of the gums, partly owing to the habit of chewing leather in order to soften it.