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Show Wky Influ enza and Pneumonia Swept Into Their Graves gorous Young People Wko Never Had Been Sick BeforeWkile Many Old, Feeble and Sickly Patients Recovered encountered !n the euV Jecets of tuberculosis. This is not to say that they do not have murmurs, mur-murs, but the murmers are due to causes other than valvular disease, the mechanism of which is well understood. under-stood. Mitral Btenosis causes a mechanical Impediment to the pulmonary pul-monary circulation, thus creating congestion conges-tion or plethora of the blood vessels in the lung3, which permits of phagocytosis. Anthrax is a gangrenous gangre-nous condition of the : ', . s . 1 i.';" vV : ".'' ' ... ; V. -y lfil ' ' : X S y $ ' ' ,v : ; V,: spmmy a -i4a $&? ' : -. t . .i p.. .,: ; . r Mi&s Josephine Howard, ' . . ' . . -y v- ' "r". ! J Young-, Husky, Never III a '.'.'11 ,r ; Day in Her Life, a Perfect - Y ' t .' ;. .' Specimen of Physical Vigor, --''-' , ; y "."- ,t . ,J V Caught Influenza, Developed . 5 T - ; " - ''..J -is's Double Pneumonia and Died ,Vij'''.--.: ' .' "'f- 4 in Two Days. She Had the p,- . A ordinarl,v repar Disadvantage of Never Hav- t 1 pa'.thy are in fc ing Had a Severe Illness to , j toSuonzal in fee i Develop the Disease Resist- ( ' - ' Medical obse ing White Corpuscles of the . Ma-'s- hve .rep n, , ... ... 4. ' . ! cept epidemic o Blood She Was Caught Un- , .. ' - 1 cent of the en prepared and Succumbed. j r " i tacked, while oi f ' ; suffering from t' f . - ' , fiuenza. Moreov s . of tuberculosis h li. -'' rested form anc V'-'vrZ ' ..." v ' ' v. f? ' - y . , . Ekin, frequently f; . . ... . what like a carl -.-.. 1 spreads rapidly. i - . . - f tious disease of J . -t occasionally tran . V V ' - J the handling of , J j - ' . . j Ehaving brushes, w'j ' ' . ' . disease Is restrai . r. . fection with the : i ' Attacks of erysi i - --., to influence very h " lupus ftuberculos . - 3 that' of sarcoma, i - v X a variety of cance :. . . Dr. V.'i'.liam B. C ( r . ,. . . " to practical accoi k f ' 'i the erysipelas g A ' ' ' ' i Bar.-oma. with no f . . . The healthy se v f - - - - -j currence of the V' f - " psoriasis than th l 1 - j chronic ir.fiamma . t. ! characterized by i r lustrous whitis j , v reddish, slightly f .- t j .fined base. v- 1 j There can be n f ' -' i pressure is adva i r i . ; J cumstances. Thi I .. . r - -J j resent an effort c ':- i - ism to meet cir ? . j j f vital organs. His v . t generally regarde i !' " " five phenomenon 1 .. I f .3 fered with. Whe y ; 5 is really needed f f . . .. j a patient remain ; ' . to present a nor: i " sure scale. There are circi c j ...: y sicians have actu ' - . conditions in ord X- . j t ' ' ' j eases. Thus Foi i.v . : 1 gas into the pie 'f ' 1 - --V-I tuberculosis in or . s; .4 vv- - sure, cavities in - ' it . - . J force evacuation V- 'i .v" . procedure has be v v v amount of success ! ' 'S V- the late Dr. Mux .' '. - V - S In the course t ! ' f of the lids, know r.. ' r,l I lids'), a complies -s ' i sometimes .occur '....-" formation of a ki! . ' - - -v.V'l tipper part of the ' ' vt . . terferer.ee with iei- dealt with at tin $.'. . '" violent infiammat . . tating drug calk Ekin, frequently fatal, which appears somewhat some-what like a carbuncle at first but then spreads rapidly. It is primarily an infectious infec-tious disease of cattle and sheep, but is occasionally transmitted to man through the handling of wool, the use of infected Ehaving brushes, etc. The course of this disease Is restrained by an associated in-' fection with the pus-forming bacteria. Attacks of erysipelas have been observed to influence very favorably the course of lupus tuberculosis of the skin) and also that' of sarcoma, which may be regarded as a variety of cancer of very malignant type. Dr. V.'i'.liam B. Coley has turned this fact to practical account by using the toxin of the erysipelas germ in the treatment of sarcoma, with notable results. The healthy seem more liable to the occurrence oc-currence of the skin disease known as psoriasis than the unhealthy. This is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin characterized by thick, adherent scales, of r lustrous whitish color, situated upon a reddish, slightly elevated and sharply destined de-stined base. There can be no doubt that a high blood pressure is advantageous in certain circumstances. cir-cumstances. Thus it may at times represent rep-resent an effort on the part of the organism organ-ism to meet circulatory requirements in vital organs. High blood pressure is Tery generaliy regarded to-cay as a conservative conserva-tive phenomenon not to be lightly interfered inter-fered with. Where a high blood pressure is really needed one would regret to see a patient remain so obstinately healthy as to present a normal reading of tho pressure pres-sure scale. There are circumstances in which physicians phy-sicians have actually induced pathological conditions in order to combat certain diseases. dis-eases. Thus Forlanini injected nitrogen gas into the pleural cavity in cases of tuberculosis in order to obliterate, by pressure, pres-sure, cavities in the diseased lungs and force evacuation of their contents. This procedure has been carried out with a fair amount of success by many others, notably the late Dr. Murphy of Chicago. In the course of the contagious disease of the lids, known as trachoma (granular lids), a complication known as pannus sometimes .occurs which results in the formation of a kind of membrane over the upper part of the eyeball, with marked interference in-terference with vision. -This has been dealt with at times by setting up a very violent inflammation by means of an irritating irri-tating drug called jequirity. Cure is occasionally oc-casionally attained by Miss Josephine Howard, Young, Husky, Never III a Day in Her Life, a Perfect Specimen of Physical Vigor, Caught Influenza, Developed Double Pneumonia and Died in Two Days. She Had the Disadvantage of Never Having Hav-ing Had a Severe Illness to Develop the Disease Resisting Resist-ing White Corpuscles of the Blood She Was Caught Unprepared Un-prepared and Succumbed. ordinarily regard as more or less unhealthy un-healthy are in some way protected against influenzal infec ion. Medical observers in Frainir.ciiam, Mass., have reported that during the ro-cept ro-cept epidemic of influenza about IS per cent of the entire population were attacked, at-tacked, while only 4 per cent of those suffering from tuberculosis contracted influenza. in-fluenza. Moreover, most of these subjects of tuberculosis had this disease in an arrested ar-rested form and were go:ng about and working, and therefore wore as much exposed ex-posed to infection as the remaining part of the population. Indeed, enly 2 per cent of the arrested cases were i.ttacked by inf.uenza. Recent Chicago statistics confirm the Framingham experience, and the fatality rate among the previously healthy was all out of proportion to that among the previously pre-viously sickly. 'Xegroes are much more freqtiently afflicted by tuberculosis than are whites, and It is therefore not surprising that in Washington and St. Louis Influenza pre- Col. H. M. House, President Wilson's Personal Counsel, Who Is of Advanced Years and Delicate Health and Yet He Has Had Influenza with Pneumonia Involvement Twice and Rapidly Recovered. His Previous Attacks, Although Apparently Weakening His General Health, Have Served as a Protection Against a Fatal Attack. And Jim Stewart, the Well-Known Boxer and Athlete This Man in the Pink of Perfect Physical Physi-cal Condition Was Stricken by the Same Germs Which Attacked Col. House. Col. House Fought Them Off Twice; Young Stewart .Died at the First Attack. By Arthur C. Jacobson, M. Associate" Editor of the Medical Times. vaiiea to a lar less exifiiL amuus n. - u-groes u-groes than among the whites. ( American army medical officers have frequently said that in the camps the Northern boy lived while the Southern boy died, and that the city boy lived whil. the country boy died. The explanation would seem to He in the fact that the one was more frequently tubercularized than the other. This greater susceptibility of the healthy Is true for all types of acute infection. Thus in typhoid epidemics it has been observed that the big. strong, healthy individual indi-vidual falls the readiest victim to fatal disease. dis-ease. We may say that a kind of vaccination atralnst acute respiratory disease results from chronic respiratory disease, and Dr. j Armstrong, already quoted, thinks that ' practical advantage will yet be taken of this fact, as by some form of artificial immunization. It is now in order to amplify and extend our argument as to the advantage of being f .cvs-o ; ,-!? O-j033jo! w&SSSs Cf"0-tr p- ti Kg tjs) Motion Picture Film Showing the Phagocites, the White Corpuseles of the Blood, Surrounding and Attacking an Invading Disease Microbe and Finally Breaking Up and Devouring the Hostile Germ. this heroic measure. The same result has been achieved by inocu- . lation of the lids with pus taken from a case of mild purulent ophthalmia oph-thalmia (inflammatio ' of the eye). Fochier, a FrencB physician, introduced a method of treating grave septic conditions by causing what he called a fixation abscess. ab-scess. Spirit of turpentine turpen-tine is injected into the outside of the thigh and in a few days an' abscess forms, which the physician evacuates before rupture. Cures of desperate cases have been claimed in behalf of this method. The ex- pianation appears to be that which has eiven thft SCIENTISTS are still very much in the dark about the recent world-wide epidemic of influenza but some surprising sur-prising things developed which have attracted at-tracted wide attention. And perhaps the jne.most curious discovery was the fact '.hat robust, vigorously healthy victims of ie "flu" often went quickly to their - rraves, while feeble patients took the disease dis-ease lightly and survived. The influenza epidemic .has taught us in unquestionable truth, that which a medical writer calls "the disadvantage of being heaithy." Here are some Tery curious facts: In a large London hospital for disease 5f the throat and lungs the patients in the beds escaped the influenza almost unscathed un-scathed while the big. healthy nurses were severely stricken and many died. In our American Army camps the boys who were in the pink of physical condition were attacked with special virulence and the death rate was very high, yet only 4 ' per cent of the tuberculosis patients were attacked In a district where we have star tistlcs. Here we have the strange anomaly that men with perfect lungs could not withstand with-stand the attack of the pneumonia bacillus, bacil-lus, while those whose lungs were scarred, damaged and patched wjth tuberculosis lesions either failed to develop pneumonia pneu-monia at all or had it very mildly. And this is not the first time medical science has been confronted with the strange phenomenon that perfect health Is sometimes a disadvantage. Iu typhoid epidemics It has been noted that the big, strong, healthy individual falls the readiest readi-est victim to the fatal disease. The explanation of this is that he who has been most diseased !e the most resistant re-sistant to disease, since his survival, even though his experiences have left many evidences of damage, means that he has icquired various kinds of immunity which dls "healthy" contemporaries lack. If to be healthy Is to be resistant to infectious in-fectious disease we have a paradox pre-lented pre-lented by the vigorous individual who pos-f pos-f leases but little resistance to the menace of disease, and the individual who by virtue vir-tue of the very fact that he has suffered greatly from disease has acquired exceptional excep-tional resistance. The defensive mechanisms of the body may be described roughly as leukocytosis, by which the bleod drafts- additional "policemen" "po-licemen" in the shape of white blood-corpuscles; phagocytosis, by which destruction destruc-tion of invading bacteria is effected ' through white corpuscles specially delegated dele-gated to cope with the enemy; bacteriolysis, bacterioly-sis, by which dissolution of germs is brought about by substances possessing ferment-like qualities, these substances being elaborated by the body cells in response re-sponse to the special challenge of the invaders; in-vaders; and the elaboration of anti-toxins, by which the poisonous products of bacterial bac-terial growth are neutralized. Now, while it is a fact that the immunity developed atrainst particular disease is specific for that diease, it is wholly reasonable rea-sonable to suppose that one who has suc-, suc-, cessfylly resisted many diseases must possess experienced and seasoned tissues and battalions of educated corpuscles, as they have been called, which would not act altogether stupidly even in tho presence pres-ence of an unfamiliar foe: and it is quite conceivable that where an extraordinary variety of these specially trained veternn policemen patrol the blood stream some sort of a combination defense would be put up by these forces. How else can be explained some of the remarkable facts which have been observed ob-served in connection with the recent epidemic epi-demic of Influenza? It was observed in Cape Town, South Africa, that influenza patients with a previous pre-vious history of chronic catarrhal conditions condi-tions of the lungs bore the disease better than people who had never suffered from respiratory ailments of ehronic character. In -certain English tuberculosis hospitals the influenza wave left almost all the occupants oc-cupants of beds unscathed, while their healthy attendants, medical and otherwise, other-wise, were stricken down. Dr. D. B. Armstrong, writing in a recent issue of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal emphasizes the fact that inilu-enza inilu-enza attacks with special virulence and causes a high mortality among those in the prime of life, in the be;t physical condition, con-dition, and most free from previous disease. dis-ease. He believes that those whom wa rV unneaitny. vertam aspects or our present pres-ent knowledge permit us to elaborate somewhat upon this theme. Brugelman declares that as long as one has asthma he is immune to tuberculosis, and S. West is of the opinion that the subjects of tuberculosis very rarely suffer from asthma, and that if an asthmatic patient does contract tuberculosis, an event which is by no means common, the asthma usually disappears. F. A. Hoffman says that when asthma and tuberculosis combine, each gives up a part of its peculiarities. The asthma gives; up its characteristic paroxysmal character, the attacks becoming weak and indistinct; the tuberculosis gives up its progressive character, assuming a chronic and fibroid type. Hoffman also considers a lung which is tho seat of emphysema to be distinctly Copyright, 1919, by Star Company. unfavorable soil for the development of tuberculosis. Emphysema is a disease characterized by abnormal distention of the lungs with air. Fishberg states that when a emphysematous patient does contract con-tract tuberculosis the latter disease, as a rule, pursues an exceedingly mild course and is very difficult to diagnose. Emphysema Emphy-sema has been frequently encountered in patients with healed tuberculosis, and has been noted in the unaffected lung or parts of the lung in patients with active tuberculosis, tubercu-losis, just as though Nature were endeavoring, endeavor-ing, through this means, to stay the progress prog-ress of the tuberculosis. Emphysema is thought to protect against tuberculosis in three ways. The wasting of the tissues induced by it is unfavorable for the growth of the bacilli; the inspiratory inspira-tory current is slow and inadequate, and Ureat EriUia Kights Reserved does r.ot bring bacilli deeply into the lung; and the congestion which is present in most of these cases prevents the development develop-ment of tuberculosis because of the presence pres-ence of many white blood corpuscles (phagocytosis). Enlargement ' of the heart associated with valvular disease protects against the development of tuberculosis. As long ago as 1S44 Kokitansky asserted that diseases of the heart and blood vessels producing congestion of the lungs prevented tuberculosis. tuber-culosis. Fagge and Traube established that a form of valvular disease kuown as mitral stenosis is almost a complete bar to tuberculosis. Autopsies upon thousands of eases in which valvular disease existed during life reveal but few instances of lesions due to tuberculosis, and both clinically clin-ically and post-mortem it is but rarely method its name: the infectious organisms in the blood migrate toward the artificial lesion and become "fixed" in the abscess. That such migration toward tho fixation actually takes place has been proved by Cole and Duvergey. The classical example, of course, of inducing in-ducing one disease in order to offset another an-other is ordinary vaccination. In this case we induce a general disease, cow-pox, in order to defeat smallpox. We have cited the foregoing instances of how disease may be utilized to combat disease in order to show that it may yet bo possible to imitate on a wide scale the methods of Nature herself, that most resourceful re-sourceful of all physicians, who seems whimsically to hint, with a humor of fine Hibernian flavor, that in order to be really healthy you must be unhealthy. |