ART OF HEALING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22000, 5 January 1935, Page 6

ART OF HEALING

KECENT DEVELOPMENTS

INFLUENZA AMD CANCER

A NEW LIGHT ON DIET

MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY

BY DR. HARRY ROBERTS

(Copyright.)

Perhaps the outstanding event in medical research during the past year was the conclusive demonstration by Drs. Andrewes, Laidlaw and Wilson Smith that the most widespread of the remaining plagues to which the British Isles are subject, namely, influenza, is due to an ultra-microscopic virus, the units of which are too small to be seen through the highest powers of the microscope and fine enough to pass through filters impervious to all known bacteria. Many serious diseases of mankind have been traced to such a filter-pasuing virus. Small-pox is one, measles isi another, the common cold is B third. j - The doctors named succeeded last year in infecting, ferrets with human influenza, and, as a result of numerous experiments, they discovered that the serum of convalescent animals acted as a sort of anti-virus so far as influenza is concerned.' It has now been established, that the mouse is also G. possible victim of human influenza. At the same time, it would be unwise to jump to the conclusion that tlio problem of influenza is near its solution. We are a long way from a vaccine which will he as potent a piotector against influenza as calf lymph is against small-pox. Bisease of Metabolism

The public is apt to overlook those evidences; of, medical progress which are not spectacular and instantly complete. Discovery of the bacteria that lie behind so many of our epidemic diseases still impresses the layman almost to excess. But not all diseases are gernr.-caused; and few people seem to be avare of the great advance attained in recent years in the underBtanding of the important group of disorders collectively spoken of aa disease of metabolism —diabetes, rick" ©ts, pernicious anaemia, and a number of ailments associated with an insufficiency or an excess of one or other of the vitamin constituents of food, or of one or other of the secretions of the endocrine glands. Over all of these we have, in the last decade or two, acquired a mastery, or at least an understanding preliminary to a mastery, of which there was no promise or expectation a quarter of a century connected with thfs branch of pathology and therapeutics is our increased knowledge of what we may call the body's dynamic chemistry. It has long beeii known that the fluid in which all our millions of body cells are bathed has, so far as its main constituents are concerned, a strikingly constant composition. Revolutionary Knowledge

It has now <• been learned that most of our fundamental vital functions —• including those of respiration and circulation—are, to a large extent, regulated bv a series of chemical substances prepare'd either by specialised glands or by tissues not so specialised. Even nerve messages seein to have to be translated into chemical terms before the glands of organs which they control can respond to them. A striking example is afforded by an important nerve known as the vagus, which, among other functions, is chiefly responsible for steadying the beat of the heart. It js now proved that these vagus nerve messages have the immediate effect of provoking the creating of a chemical .substance or "drug" called acetylcholine, which directly influences the units of the heart. A very similar sequence of events has been traced in connection with the movements of the alimentary tract. It should he obvious to everyone with the slightest familiarity with what we must now call "the old physiology" of the nineteenth century how revolutionary is this addition to our knowledge, and how profound it§ effect on our conception of disease and on our methods of countering it. Cancer Research

Cancer research continues to occupy the full-time attention of many of our most devoted students and best equipped minds. Investigations are being pursued along'many lines; and all the time facts, both negative and positive, are being accumulated. Unfortunately, as each height is scaled, a further height comes into view. Those most aware of the difficulties are, however, the most optimistic as to ultimate success.

During the last year much controversy has taken place in medical and other circles over matters of diet and nutrition. Dr. Edward Mellanby and Mrs. Mellanby have again added considerably to our understanding of the parts played by the several vitamins in , the normal workings of the human body. Mrs. Mellanby s brochure on " Diet and the Teeth " issued by the Medical Research Council conclusively shows how important a factor in dental hygiene are the dietaries of the pregnant and nursing mother and of the developing child. But we need, in our appreciation of the significance of the vitamins, to remember that deficiencies in other food ingredients are far from uncommon. During the early part of 1934 an interesting experiment was conducted by submitting a large number of children belonging to the poorer working classes over a period of months to three dietetic differentials. One group were given nothing to supplement their home dietary; another large group were given daily a generous amount of various vitamin concentrates; a third group were provided daily with, a liberal milk ration —also, of course, supplemental to their home meals. Replacing the Family Doctor The interesting outcome of this experiment was that, although the average home dietary was proved to be appreciably below the desirable minimum in its "vitamin content, the mere addition of vitamin concentrates made very little difference either to the growth or to the health of the children, while the daily milk ration was accompanied with an almost startling ! increase in height and in weight, and, apparently, .in general vigour. As our leading medical journal put • it, it is evident that "the cheapest and best way of preventing nutritional disorders, and "of increasing resistance to disease in so far as that can be done by nutritional measures, is to improve the diet as a "whole. Provided the diet contains adequate amounts of milk, eggs, and green vegetables, the occurrence of a deficiency of vitamins, minerals, or protein is unlikely." The whole art and science of medicine are in process of ebullient transition. On the one hand, there is an increasing realisation of the advantages of collective organisation and collective provision—-that is, for the socialisation of hygiene and medicine. On the other hand, there is a growing recognition of man's individuality and of the impossibility of standardising medical therapy. The days of the old-fashioned isolated and independent family doctor are certainly numbered, but some modified equivalent will have to be devised. , .That is probably the most important and most difficult problem immediately confronting medical sociologists.