Medical Notes

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 7 (Supplement)

Medical Notes

The Disease Which Kills

TOLL OF RHEUMATISM CHILDREN WHO ARE DOOMED

certain children are born with a susceptibility to rheumatism, w.g should be able to adopt timely measures of protection and defence, and herein lies the chief possibility for the prevention of rheumatism

BT SIB WILLIAM ABBTJTHNOT LANE, 8.T., C.B.

Some children would appear to be doomed to rheumatism from their birth. They are not difbcult as a rule to detect. Coming from a "rheumatic stock," they exhibit what can best be described as an instability of mind and body. Fair-haired and with a delicate complexion, they are generally intelligent and imaginative, possessed of a capricious temperament, excitable, tiring quickly and recovering slowly while subject to emotional outbursts, night terrors, twitchings, grimacing, stuttering speech and general unrest.

No. VII. QCCTJRRING at all ages and in both sexes, rheumatism, in its various forms, is one of the most prevalent of all the maladies of civilisation. It is a tragic disease —rightly feared by all r-for it both kills and cripples: How often we hear of a bright and happy child whose promising life has been stricken by the fell onslaught of rheumatism, and how often have we seen a man or woman in their prime racked and incapacitated by this same disease? The ravages of rheumatism exact an enormous toll in human suffering and in human wealth. Workers laid low by rheumatism / are a heavy charge on industry and a serious drain on the financial resources of a nation. In England it has been estimated that 1 , in one way and another, rheumatism costs the colossal sum of £17,000,000 per annum. Trade prosperity is based on efficient production dnd this cannot be achieved unless workers are physically fit and mentally satisfied. It is of tho utmost importance, therefore, to employer and fmployee alike, that the greatest endeavours should be made to control, and if posisble to eradicate, this scourge ©f rheumatism.

They are liable to be troubled with cold feet and hands, chilblains and "dead" fingers. Sore throats, attacks of asthma, vomiting and diarrhoea are often present and such children have generally considerable difficulty in meeting sudden weather changes. This symptom complex is almost certain evidence of what is technically called the "rheumatic diathesis," and experience has shown that a child exhibiting this "complex" is practically a certain candidate for a rheumatic affection unless a very special and rigorous hj'giene is adopted. Stealthy Invasion In most cases, the rheumatism invades the child's system stealthily. It is a treacherous disease, and often irreparable damage in done to the child's heart before the parent is aware that the child is ill, for heart disease is the all-too-ccmmon legacy of rheumatism in. childhood. Vague wandering pains, felt more sharply in damp weather, as well as stiffness in the neck muscles and "stitches" in the side, are generally the first signs of a rheumatic invasion. Such pains have tho misleading namo of "growing pains"—this misnomer unfortunately often leading to their neglect by parents. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that the muscular aches and pains of a child must never be ignored. Put such a child to bed, and call in the physician immediately,In older children, rheumatism may show Itself in St. Vitus' dance (chorea), which is simply a form of brain rheumatism. or by an attack of acute rheumatic fever. In this latter condition, the largo joints (knee, ankle, elbow and wrist) become enlarged, tender and painful, and the inflammation has a tendency to- flit from joint to joint day by day. There is much fever, which is accompanied by profuse sweating.

Acute and Chronic At the moment, let us consider certain facts concerning the nature of rheumatism. We know, for example, that rheumatism tends to occur in tho ill-nourished and in those who have an infection hidden in some corner of their bodies, and there is an accumulation of evidence which points definitely to the fact that rheumatism is essentially a preventable 'disease. We may divide rheumatism into the acute variety as it affects children and young adults and the chronic variety more or less confined to those who have reached maturity. Every one jpiows that this compiaint "runs in families," in other words, that a rheumatic parent is liable to have a rheumatic child. Surely, if we know thai