ENAMEL AND APPENDICITIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 2013, 9 August 1919, Page 2

ENAMEL AND APPENDICITIS.

THE theory that enamehvare is a direct cause of appendicitis is discussed by Dr. F. \V. Gordon, writing in the Now Zealand Medical Journal. He gives a resume of an article written by himself 15 years ago, in which he stated, inter alia; —“Enamel is a glass. It was gradually introduced into domestic use about 25 or 30 years ago, about the time when appendicitis was beginning to (muse some stir in medical circles by its increasing frequency. From that time this increase has gone on at an appalling rate, and has been coincident with the general use of enamehvare for domestic purposes. It is clear that some new and widespread cause for appendicitis has come inlo our Jives within the last generation, that affects all classes —rich and poor, and all ages, men, women, and children. It is reasonable to assume that a considerable amount of the wear and tear of enamel eroded by stirring with metal spoons, in the shape of microscopic chips, or even larger pieces, becomes mixed with the food, and is swallowed. Badly-made enamelware would probably be especially brittle. It is easy to imagine these microscopic bits of glass cutting their way through a blind tube like the appendix and allowing equally microscopic germs to invade the peritoneal surface, setting up trouble around the organ —apart from a chip of a broken tooth, a spicule of bone or bit of oystershell. I judge enamehvare to be the main cause of appendicitis, and it answers all the possibilities mentioned above,” Dr. Gordon expressed a hope that after Dr. Collins’ delinite statement, the subject will be investigated on a large scale, and so give a chance of ridding the world of a terrible scourge. -