Don’t Eat Much Meat if You Want Healthy Children.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 15, 13 April 1907, Page 42

Don’t Eat Much Meat if You Want Healthy Children.

By CHARLES WATSON, M.D., OF EDINBURGH. It is generally admitted that the excessive use of meat is an important factor in the genesis of many symptoms of disease, more especially of those commonly ascribed to a gouty origin. It appears, however, to be a singular fact that in the past fifty years there iias been a notable decrease in the incidences of genuine acute gout in this country, while there has been a corresponding increased prevalence of diseases which are commonly, if somewhat arbitrarily, regarded as of gouty origin. This fact, if fact it be, suggests that there is no direct casual relationship between the consumption of meat and the occurrence of aeute gout. Clinical experience further suggests that a process o£ evolution in disease is taking place, coincidently with, and in all probability dependent on, the altered habits—dietetic

ami otherwise—of the people of the present day, and it is possible that before long we may have to revise our present definitions of such terms as gout and gouty disorders. Tu the meantime it will be generally conceded that it is important to consider carefully the influence which changed dietetic conditions may exert on the incidence of various diseases at the present time. Among these changes the increase in the consumption of meat necessarily occupies a very prominent place. It seemed to mo important to determine by observation on animals the influence of an excessive meat diet on the structure' and function of the different tissues of the body, particular attention being directed to the state of the organs in the progeny of meat-fed animals. The material employed consisted in the young of mothers that had been fed for some weeks or months on a diet of ox flesh, the animals, after weaning, being continued on the moat regime, an equal nnmlier of controls being taken from the young of rats fed on an exclusively bread and skim milk diet. Both diets wore given ad libitum. Over 100 meat-fed rats were utilised for the investigation, their ages ranging from one day to three

months, the majority .being under three weeks bld at the time of death. A record was made of the naked-eye appearances of the skeleton, special attention being directed to the consistence as well as to the general appearance of the long bones, ribs, and flat bones. The most striking feature is the marked general softness of the whole osseous system, the condition being present .in every meat-fed subject. The long bones of the flesh-fed rats are distinctly softer and more pliable than arc those of the bread and milk fed animals; a similar condition is observed in the ribs, short bones, and cranial bones of the meat-fed rats. This soft condition is present in the bones at birth, and becomes accentuated as age advances. The full consideration of how far the facts observed admit any deductions applicable to disease in the human subject is beyond the scope of the present paper. I may here, however, refer in some detail to what, so far as I am aware, is a unique record of disease in an infant, in which the facts prove that the results of the present investigation have a real and practical value for the practitioner. The essential facts of the case are as follows:— The mother of the patient hail pulmonary tuberculosis, and made a satisfactory recovery under prolonged treatment along modern lines, one feature of the treatment being the daily administration of a large amount of nearly raw meat. The patient married, and continued to take an excessive meat diet. A child was born after eighteen months, and, in view of the family history, was artificially reared under the best hygienic and general conditions. The infant thrived fairly well until a year old, when there was some trouble with delayed dentition, for which the advice of the family practitioner was sought. As the application of simple remedies proved unavailing, anil the child became anaemic and further out of condition, a second opinion was obtained. The chief alteration in the treatment was the administration of raw meat juice, which was continued for six weeks. Under this regime the condition of the child steadily deteriorated, the anaemia becoming more pronounced, ami being associated with marked physical ami mental lethargy and fretfulness on movement. The child was then seen by a distinguished pediatric physician. * After repeated examination of the case, which was admittedly puzzling, and examination, of the blood, etc., the opinion was arrived at that the case was probably one of latent tuberculosis. At this juncture I had the opportunity of seeing the patient im a non-professional capacity, and as the clinical appearances vividly recalled a clinical picture which I had frequently observed in very young rats, I formed the opinion that the state of profound ana-mia and physical and mental lethargy was dependent on an exhaustion of the functions of the bone marrow, thyroid gland, and other structures, consequent on the excessive meat consumption by the mother. The child died in a few days. At the post-mortem examination no trace of tuberculosis was found, nor other recognised cause of marked anaemia in children. The long bones were unduly soft in consistence, and it is of special interest to note that the histological appearances of the radius of this child are identical in their essential features with those which were present in the ribs of the rats. These facts prove that the results obtained in my experimental investigation and recorded in this paper are capable of application to disease in the human subject. The importance of recognising this, both from the point of view of diagnosis and treatment, will be obvious. I desire to draw special attention to the view which is suggested by the record of facts described —viz., that in diseased conditions in early infancy attention should be directed to the dietetic conditions of the parents.