PREVENTION OF CONSUMPTION

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5288, 28 May 1904, Page 15

PREVENTION OF CONSUMPTION

(By a Family Physicau.) Everyone knows the serious and deadly nature ot the disease popularly known as consumption. Year by year it claim.* Ihousauds of victims at all periods of life. Neither childhood nor old ago ’s exempt, it Ims no respect tor social position, fcy> Ilia.t rich and poor alike suffer from its destructive influences. Prevention here is better than cure. SIMPLE LA Vw> OF HEALTH. I suppose no educated person will deny (ho fact that pure air is tho best prophyluct ie agent against consumption lienee Hi© importance of emphasising ths need for a knowledge and observance of hygienic measures at tho very outset. ‘There can be little doubt that the more tho nation ia educated as to the simple Jaws of health the less prevalent will consumption become. It is astonishing that even seemingly well-informed people should often be so ignorant regarding the rules which govern health, and yet these are so elementary that a child may bo taught them. Nature herself provides us with all. that is essential for the maintenance of embodies m a state of health. Many diseases are, consequently, entirely i>r ventiblo. and of no- disease may this hj more truly said than consumption. Un til recently heredity was supposed to play an important part in its production. Nov/ we believe less in heredity as a cause, and attach more importance to individual environment, more especial 1/ as regards the hygiene of the surroundings. SIX IMPORTANT FACTORS. Air, food, sleep, occupation, exercise and personal cleanliness are all factors more or less immediately concerned in the causation or prevention of consumption. r resh air is of ‘He utmost importance, ns is aisj good, well cooked, and carefully served food. A certain amount of sleep is essential to the well-being of the individual. Occupation must likewise receive clue attention, sonic tending to consumption more than others. A certain amount ’f daily exercise must be taken by everyone, and" personal cleanliness must ion no account be neglected if we are to ward off: disease. HYGIENE OF THE SCHOOL. It has long been our opinion that if vo are to stamp out consumption wo must pay greater attention to the hygiene of our day schools timi bearding senoois. Even the child of consumptive X’ are uts may escape the disease it he or she be placed in a thoroughly healthy environment. Too often wo fear that the geeds of tjia disease are sown in our large day schools. Ciuluren suffering from tho disease may infect o-tners with wJiom they come in contact; but apart from infection the notoriously unhealthy state of many of our schools is to bo blamed for many cases or consumption met with n\ children. Too often tne windows are kept shut during school hours, or if opened at all are so arranged that only a draught is the result. Where children aro crowded together fresh air ia absolutely essential. One nas only to enter tiro average schoolroom alter tbe pupils have vacated it to realise this face. Again, wooden flooring is almost universally employed in schools. Xietweon the crevices disease-laden dust finds a lodgment, and this from time to time may contain the germs of consumption. Further, the posture of the child merits attention, Stooping should bo made impossible by the us© of proper seats ana desks. Slates snould bo banished from every schoolroom, as they foster dirty habits, and do much to engender disease. HYGIENE OF THE HOME. Turning from - school and school-life, wo come to the house and home. It is often Burorising to find that consumption enters tho dwellings of tha rich. The cause is not far to seek, • Lack of fresfi air aiul the keeping of late hours aro usually the chief factors. We have seen many large houses,, tho windows of which were so constructed that they did not admit of being opened from the top. This is simply a disgrace to the builders of such houses. What wo need every moment of our is iresb air. How can wo breatm its purity if our windows are kept carefully shut. The first step towards hygienic principles in tji© home is to see that the windows are kept open day ana night all the year round. This rule ap plies especially to bedrooms in which w© spend at least a third part of our lives. Jt is of no use whatever to have houses architecturally perfect and luxuriously furnished if wo fail to recognise the im porfcance of admitting fresh air ints them. ATTENTION TO FOOT). Besides pure air we must not forgjt that all food must be pure. Those who handle it should be healthy. Ail milk ought to be boiled before use. Urcat care must be taken lest infection be btpught ufiout by using dishes which have prqyiousjy been contaminated by coinsumptive patients. If n visitor to a house is known or suspected tc be suffering from the disease, all plates and cups made use of by him should be thoroughly scalded oefore being put upon the table again. There is little risk nowadays of oon tracting the disease from eating meat, more especially if the latter nas been tnoroughly cooked. Milk, however, otten contains germs, and therefore should always be boiled, in spite of whac some authorities have said against this prophylactic practice. OCCUPATIONS THAT CAUSE CONSUMPTION. Workshops . and offices require most careful supervision in order fo diminish the number of cases of consumption so often contracted-within their walls. Some occupations are dangerous on account of the inhalation of dust which they entail. Here means should be taken to prevent its inhalation’ by .wearing proper filters over the mouth and nose. The habit of spirting on the floor or into tho fireplace should be absolutely forbidden, and proper ventilation should be constantly provided. Late hours and working in overheated rooms are most injurious. Tod frequently working men and women object to windows being opened in factories and workshops as tfioy think that thereby told will be contracted This, however, is a very great mistake, and one that every reader of this paper should £eek to remedy as far as lie? in his or her power. We have known >f hundreds of girls who have fallen victims to consumption simply from working all d a y In a nonrventilated factory and sleeping all night in a small room with carefully sealedvup windows. Fools truly perish by reason of their folly! In such cases, however, ignorance is at ch© root of the matter. - OPEN-AIR EXERCISE.

Open-air exercise is most important m ■ho nrevention of consumption. Golf and ycling in particular an both forms of iserciso which, when taken in znodora--ion, conduce to Health: while waiting is a means of exercise within reach of the poorest. Cycling enables each and all, rich and poor alike, 4“ enjoy the exhilarating mfnsnOß of pure country air. Per those avhoae time is limited, ic ilso affords one often most rapid means •f leaving the city smoke and dust Deaind, and obtaining a breath of that •lixir of life—fresh a(V- Even walking is useful and perhaps if we walked more and spent loss of onr time in badly ventilated trameara and cabs. WO would heueSt greatjv both in -pocket and health. Certainly exercise is a potent factor in the prevention of consumption, and one which cannot he overvalued.

A NATIONAL SCOOROD. Consumption is pre-cmiac-ntly a pro. ventiblo disease, and tbo i»o::er wo re. cognise this cardinal fact the belter. Only thou will we be able to deal witn it satisfactorily. It is too lute when the d’eoase has attacked us; wo must not let it come aer.r us, if wo wish to prevent its making havoc of our lives. The .aids we havo touched on are but tho elcnuiitarj' points iu a vast subject, tho importance of which in relation to (ho well-being .of tho community can hardly bo computed. Vdo need united effort in dealing with a d.isenso such as this. The lai(y can do much to help the medical profession by setting the example to their less well-informed brethren, y attending to the elementary laws of hygiene and by safeguarding the interests of others us tar as lies iu their power. Then, and only then, will consumption disappear from our midst, and what has up till now been a dreaded disease will become one of comparatively little mo. inent.