TREATMENT OF T.B.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5235, 6 February 1928, Page 1

TREATMENT OF T.B.

o ADDRESS BY DR. McLEAN. DISEASE NOT HIGHLY INFECTIOUS Dr. G. McLean, of Pukeora Sanatorium, gave an address at Hastings on the’ treatment of tuberculosis. Dr. McLean strongly disagreed with the practice of’ removing a patient from his industry (only in special easels) to pjut him to do something else. Such a change would be the cause of stress. It was wrong for anyonte to give loose advice in regard to a patient. He said that patients were often advised to go otn farms. On many farms they worked too hard and broke down in a very short time. . Tuberculosis was not a highly infectious disease, and was not easily caught from others unless in close contact. Infants up to two) years of age were peculiarly susceptible to T.B. Demonstrat'ons in Vienna showed that 50 per cent, of children had passed through an infection, but did ■not sjhow symptoms, and fully 90 per ■cent, were latent, or carried hidden seeds of T. 8., which often sprang into life once a person broke down in iiejaltti. A dissatisfied life, i.e., burning the candle at both ends, and over activity in various branches of sport, often ended in breakdowns, giving the latent germ its opportunity. KINDNESS F.ROM OTHERS. “The man with T.B. is not a leper,” said the doctor, “but just one of us who has broken down in 'health. It is time that people changed their views towards the consumptive and did not regard (him as undesirable in our midst. Much good can bei done by a friendly approach, because; it must be remembered that, in 'his trouble, the patient is often not Quite normal.’ Friendly relationships mean much to) him in his fight for health. He rightly feels that he has a right to be able, to earn his own living, and not to be regarded ;as an undesirableHe is not a criminal, and naturally resents any form of. oppression imposed by an ignorant public. We must remember that we are all units in the forces at work to disperse such ignorance. Dr. McLean then showed a number of X-ray photographs which demonstrated the dangers of over-activity or indiscriminate living. In reply to a Question Dr. McLean said that T.B. was not an hereditary disease.. “It is no more (hereditary than the wearing, of spectacles. I may say that a child born of T.B. parents l usually has lesser resisting powers to the disease than others.” On the question of immunity the doctor said that much work iv ! as being dorte. He was of the opinion that breakdowns in life were the results of a. rei-infection from within. There was adequate accommodation at Pukeora for . all sufferers) in the North Island desiring admission.