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Show TUBERCUliOSIS BY J. W. NIXON, JR. One may contract the disease in many ways, by living with, or nursiug the consumptive without regard to self-protection, or by moving furniture or tapestries tape-stries to which the germs may have become be-come attached from the consumptive's room, by long hours of hard work in j factories, and by infection from flies which is one of the greatest disease spreading agents man has to deal with. After the parasitic germ has entered the body it has yet a hard struggle to ' express itself, if ever it does express j ! itself, it must find an individual with ; j weak lungs, a victim of vice, alcoholism ' lor some bodiiy weakness, otherwise it must remain latent until the necessary ; favoring conditions develop. ; House dust is usually laden with germs, therefore clean your rooms with the windows up from the bottom and down from the top. Use rugs instead ; jof carpets and abandon the feather duster. "To nail your window down is to put a nail in your coffin." Tuberculosis is a disease which can be cured. The tubercle bacillus is destroyed des-troyed by direct sunlight, boiling, or fire; and is prevented from development by some disinfectants. Dr. Pasteur said, "It is within the power of man to banish all germ disease from the earth." To secure this condition we will have to sense our social relationship much more than we do now. Still we are progressing progress-ing in that direction very rapidly. The task of limiting tuberculosis is very difficult, on account of its slow develop-! ment, which is the most usual conditions it may not come under the observation of a physirian until it is well advanced in its destruction. Even when the disease di-sease is in a severe stage, persons will not make it kpown for fear of the public finding out their true conditions. Probably Prob-ably no other disease ever caused so much mental suffering as did tuberculosis tuberculo-sis in the days when it was believed to be hereditary and that there was no cure for it. "We know that it is not inherited, that it is communicable, and therefore, preventbile, and that it can be arrested, especially if it is taken in early stages." (Outlook) This knowledge know-ledge should give the afflicted person courage to make it known as soon as it is possible for him to do so, and thus he can be cured and live a more useful and haDDv life. When an individual finds he is affected by the disease he should secure admission to one of the many sanitariums scattered throughout the country. If this is not possible he should go to the family doctor for treatment. treat-ment. In connection with medical aid, he should seek the open air of fores1, field and mountain, and he would soon become a strong and healthy man again. (To be continued next week.) |