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Show Your Doctor Says ... Tht fullou mf it ont of a utits of attic lit uritlrn h mtmhtii of iht L'tah Stall Ktldual A isolation and published in toopttation with tour Ax a ntuipaptf. Ihtu attain art 11MU to appiat tutty othtr uttk thioughout iht ytat in an tffott la ottttf acquaint yon with p'obltmi of hralth. and dtiifntj It improvt Iht utll-hunt; utll-hunt; of Iht pi-fit of I 'tall. Acute Rheumatic Fever Acute rheumatic tevt r is primal ilx a di-v.i-c ol cliilillicHid ami yunu n.lull IiimhI It is usuallv nut seen in vei v Vic.injj i li 1 1(! In od , mid lias lately been the siilijeit ol much research anil stuiK It is now know n that there is a stroni; relationship between certain types ol hlicitociKial :eriii jnlei lions and rlieu malic fi ver Three H rceiit ol all tiep tnioiial inlecl ion are followed by the loinplii.itiiin of rheumatic lever. (Iciu'iully. rheumatic fever lullnvvs a stii ptociMial sore throat by alMiut two or three weeks. 1 he easiest reciuni.cu manifestations are tender, swollen larne i ints and evidence of heart trouble inuiitl by the dot tor s examination. Another An-other evidence of rheumatic fever is St. Vitus' Dance, or chorea. Cases that are not clear-cut are difficult to diagnose and t he diagnosis is achieved by putting many evidences of disease together in a pattern. This can only be done by physician. Whereas several years ago rheumatic f.'ver was often never diagnosed and many crippled hearts resulted, nowadays nowa-days there is a problem of over-diagnosis in many cases, and children being needlessly put to bed for several weeks with their activity being curtailed unjustly. un-justly. Tht public commonly makes a diagnosis, or assunus rheumatic fever to tie present, because of questionable low -grade fevers and vaRiie leg aches. The error is compounded when a blood sedimentation test is found to be elevated. ele-vated. These symptoms alone are not sufficient to diunmc rheumatic fever being pi "sent. Admittedly, there are a certain number cases that develop heart disease w ithout Wing recognized, but usually this means lack of medical care liming a.id following a streptococcal streptococ-cal infetli'in. There is no specific test available at the present time that Is diagnostic di-agnostic of rheumatic fever. The number of rases of rheumatic fever each year seems to be decreasing. This is tell to be due to the newer knowledge and prevention measures that we now have available. With recovery re-covery from the initial attack ol iheu-matic iheu-matic fever, the patient has an mi -r-cent chain e that he will recover with no delectable heart damage or such a slight degree of damage that his physical physi-cal activity will not I restricted in any wsv. It is' the patient with repeated at-lai at-lai ks of rheumatic (ever who is left with ilieseveielv damaged heart. Tie.ilment of rheumatic fever i-. Mill being sublet ted to research and anal-is. anal-is. heil rest is an uiicbs'l 'iigeil therapy. ther-apy. However, there is now evidence that ill I he past led lt'-t has been used I. ii longer periods than are necessary. S.tlit vlale tli tigs and aspirin aie also used under proper medical siiei v Moii. The latest tieatmeiit is the use of the newer hoi mollis such as Cortisone and the one known as ACTH. '1 h- best treatment, or the best combination ot treatments, is still being studied throughout the world. More inmoiiant than the treatment of ihcuinalic (ever, which is only par tially successful in some cases, is the prevention of the disease, which is verv successful. The mist important measure meas-ure is the prevention of streptococcal disease. This i achieved through the daily administration of oral penicillin or sulfadiazine in small doses. Anothei type of slowly absorbed penicillin is given in monthly injections. Anv patient pa-tient with definite rheumatic fuel should continue this preventative therapy ther-apy lor a numlier of years. Contraiy to some liehcfs. the type of streptoioccal germ that causes rheumatic fever i.ircb becomes K-nicilhn resistant. Prevention of subsequent attai ks i ' i lit uiti.it it fever is the most impoit.tn. thing that can lie done to prevent bean disease. Prevention of the initial atl.n V. of rheumatic lever is accomplished b at least ten davs ol penicillin therapv lor any streptococcal mlcction. Pu-mmi tu in oi subsequent altatksol rheunialu fever is accomplished through the d.ulv administration ol icnicillin or sill.idi:i me under the guidance of a phjiuaii |