Show Daily Health r j 1 Service fl By DR l FISHBEIN The greatest thing that can be done bout rheumatism is to prevent it itA t. t A leading British physician who has bas spent more than 40 years in the study tudy of ot rheumatism says ays The protection pro S of the rheumatic child and thereby the prevention of subsequent heart beart disease is the most moot important aspect of this work and at the same time the most encouraging The fact is js that the exact cause of rheumatic disease disease is not yet known kno For more than 35 years it has been urged that the majority of cases were due to a bacterial organism but noone no noone nol one yet et has hll proved exactly the nature nature na ture of the organism As has been s said ld already th the significant sig sig- sig f facts established by the studies stud stud- lea ies of the last quarter century relate to the knowledge of rheumatic con conditions in childhood and to the Understanding understanding un Un- that prevention must bea be beJu Ju a constant aim through early life A great deal of the heart disease from which human beings suffer is due to previous rheumatic infection Many investigators are convinced that there is a family predisposition to rheumatic condi conditions With a soil suitable t to invasion by bacteria and with a climate that tends to encourage age BEC the growth of th these e bacteria in I the human bod body the likelihood of rheumatism is apparent Long ago it was was' pointed out that rheumatism e o occurs curs more often in childr children n who live in the country It is more frequent at low water levels than n at high water levels It should be pointed out that colds and end infections of the throat also are more more frequent under such conditions Hous Houses with thin walls built in damp places and surrounded by trees are about the worst type of resIdence res res- res ce for far th the rheumatic person Damp rooms are a menace Those that are warm and lighted by direct sunlight incline to be the most health health- ful jul loni It It long has been acknowledged that z seriously ri infected tonsils afford a pl place c wh where re germs can get into the body Because of or the extent to which rheumatic condl conditions ons menace the world 1 today leading a. a as a cause of disability in all civilized nations great organizations are undertaking atu icis of these conditions on both national J and international b bases ses It is only by mass study of this serIous serious se se- rious problem that success eventually tan un an be achieved |