WHITE BREAD RISKS.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 October 1924, Page 4

WHITE BREAD RISKS.

TORONTO, August 7. Al the annual conference of the Rri-lis-11 A\s n iatioii. wlii' h <q oiled here today and will (mitinue fur a week the following message was read from the 1 rime of Wales: “My knowledge of Canada assures me that your visit will lie warmly welcomed ami that nothing hut good can com" of sUi-h a gathciing. where the representatives of the most advance'l through! from the Old Conn try will meet in discus,ion with the cqiiallp keen ami a: live intellects of the Younger Land.

“My interest Inis lieen particularly anvslc* I liy one item l list is to c ome tin lor discussion namely. the educational iiaiiiiug of toys ttinl girls in this cDiitttry for life overseas. The call of the Empire for a wider clistrihntion of the home population, for men and women to c pen tip the- vast iincullivsted areas in the great Overseas Deimi ti inns, is more imperative to-day than at any time in its history." PR EVENT!.VO DISEASE. Majoi-Ooneral Sir David Bruce. who was assiciated with the Malta fever and tsetse-lly disease discoveries. nave lii.s presidential address oil the projiress of the prevention of disease. Medicine, In’ .said, instead of await inn attack. must assume the offensive; instead of waiting in dressing-station an l hospital lor the wounded to pour in .Science must he out destroying the enemy’s lines of communication, mui.it inns, and ]»oiso»i-«£:i.s factories. ‘Tt must no longer he said a man is .so sick lie has to wild for a doctor. 'I he practitioner of the future must frequently examine the man while he is apparently well,” to detect anything beginning to go wrung, and to teach proper living in the right environment. Public opinion must In*, taught that most diseases tire preventable, and tos.u.v. with King Edward A'JI., “If preventable, why not prevented ?” CONSI’MITRIX. •Starting with I’a.steur and Lister, Sir David told of tin* triumphs of inoculation and scrum for typhoid, tetanus, and diphtheria. The prevention of tuberculosis depends fundamentally on better environment and education in physiological living. ‘'The. bacillus is so widespread, so übiquitous in civilised communities, passing from one infected host to info.T another, that it would seem impossible under existing conditions to prevent its spread.” Ttiit only 10 oT every 100 men who tlie in Knglaml die of tuberculosis, showing that a large percentage of the population successfully resist the bacillus. Evidence goes to show that the presence of latent tubercle prevents a. second invasion.

Senegnlise, free from consumption in Africa, developed it rapidly and fatally in France. Thus the curious point arises—if one country could clear itself of the bacillus, an inhabitant would be running great risk in migrating to a neighbouring country. Sir David justified the use of tuberculin, but advised caution in assessing its claims. ITe urged, above all, a pure milk simple. CHILDREN”,S FEVERS.

After describing the victories over sleeping sickness, trench fever, typhus, and the like, be mentioned ft'ermnn experiments reported to be very successful in protecting children from .measles and scarlet fever by injecting n little so. rum from convalescents. This also protects rattle from lor,t-.ind month disease.

“Rut far more* hopeful than serum alone is the use of a vaccine to produce a lasting immunity, combined with an-ti-toxin to prevent the vaccine from producing unpleasant results—the toxin-unti-toxiii method.” ‘‘The 'Whiter your Bread. The Sooner you’re Dead.” Dealing with the lack of vitamins, Sir David said it is only when man begins artificially to polish bis rice, whiten bis Hour, and tin his beef and vegetables that trouble begins. While beri-bori is usually confined to tropical races, “the European white-bread eater is protected

only by tho varied diet he usually onjoys ’* EERI-BERI CONQUERED. Active service showed that beri-hcri developed in Mesopotamia on ti diet of tinned meat and white bread or biscuit. As the vitamin is contained in yeast cells, a small quantity in the form of marinito was added to the soldiers’ bully and biscuit and beri-beri vanished. Jfe dealt also with the vitamins in butter, eggs, beef fat, and fish oils, and with the euro of rickets by sunlight and ultra-violet rays. That children’s disease is due, he said, to sunless houses and diet deficient in vitamins. Prevention is a matter for tho sociologist, lie also noted that goitre may he prevented by minute doses of iodine. lie lamented that war, unemployment. and poverty hindered the prevention of disease, but declared wo had coine out of the dark ages into the light.