The Daily News TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1904. TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTIVES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 89, 19 April 1904, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1904. TREATMENT OF CONSUMPTIVES

The treatment of consumptives was the subject of some remarks by Dr. Vallntine, Assistant Public Health Utllcer. to the members of tlioTarannki Hospital and Charitable Aid Hoard yesterday, i lis visit was in connection with the proposal to erect a sanatorium in this district for the reception of patients suffering from this dreaded disease. In dealing with the subject, which it is evident must have demanded a great deal of close study and attention, the doctor mentioned some figures which were both interesting and startling. He showed that during the year just, closed there were eight hundred and two 'deaths in the colony from tubercular 'disease, or five times as many as from all the other infectious diseases put together. This is undoubtedly more than there should have been in a country like this, where the conditions of life are so favourable. From its insular position and exceptional climate and the absence of extreme poverty and overcrowding, New Zealand should exhibit a much lower percentage of deaths from this disease, although it is readily admitted t"hat the mortality is not as great as Unit of old•r countries. On a. rough estimate there are between two. and three thousand consumptives in the colony, exclusive of the Maori race, and to accommodate these we have at present one Government sanatorium with provision for only thirtylive patients. The beds are all filled, and there are now ninety-two applicants for admission to the sanatorium, which was recently opened near Cambridge, and from which tunny sufferers have obtained speedy and remarkable relief. Until comparatively recent years, consumption was regarded as an, incurable disease, hut it is now known that it is one of the most curable. This had been brought about by the open-air treatment, which had its rise at Nordrach. in Ucrmany. There the patiwnts wun- put out into the (ipen-air, whether the disease had readied advanced stages or not. The Health Department lias in its possession photographs of the patients out in the snow,kept warm,of course, by means of wrapping and other artificial aids. This treatment has the effect of reducing the patients' temperature, reducing the night sweat, increasing the appetite, and generally improving their condition. liesides the curative value of these sanatoria there is the additional argument of their value in education, for those patients who have been treated in these institutions know the value of fresh air, and comeback to their friends not only knowing that, it is essential that they live ill well ventilated houses or tents, but they have ulso Ixvn drilled as' to the means of preventing the spread of the diseafse. It has been proved that consumption is n communicable disease, and can be communicated from the sick to the healthy. Although the complaint is communicable, it can easily be prevented from spreading by the simple precaution of disinfecting the sputum. All of this is impressed on the patients. A certain section of the puhlii will say, of course, that ns this is an infectious disease, the patients ought to be isolated. The answer is that there is no room for this, and until ample and suitable accommodation is provided no adequate steps can be taken towards limiting the spread of the. disease. Then again it must be remembered that in treating consumptive patients it is not possible to adopt the same measures us in ordinary infectious diseases, such as scarlatina or typhoid fever, in either of these latter diseases the patient is necessarily too ill to go about his 01 dinary duties, so isolation Is no hardship. A consumptive person, on the other hand, can work right to the last, and support his familv. so that it would indeed be a hardship to isolate such a patient. This is one of the great ditlicultics—the great dissimilarity between the methods of treatment for this and other diseases, und this precludes their being successfully treated In hospitals. A fellow sulTerer from this tubercular disvasc requires to sleep in the open-air, or at any rate to receive more open air than patients from other causes which may be equally or more infectious. tio far as this district is concerned a statement compiled by members of the medical profession shows that although the death-rale from this cause is the lowest in the colonyonly four in 10, OttO people 'us against thirteen in every 10,000 in another provincial district there are now sixty-lour cases in varying stages under medical treatment hitween llawera and Clifton counties. These ami other facts were laid before- the Hoard by Dr. Valintine m support of his application to thill body to grant its co-operation in his scheme for erecting an annex to the New Plymouth hospital, so that consumptives might be tri-alcd in the methods approved by medical science. An alternative proposal hus lici-n su!<niitied.in favour of erecting a sanatorium on the Kaitako ranges or on one of the slopes of .Mount I'lgmont. The latter scheme, of course, would involve u heavv outlay, and the cost of inainfawiing the institution would necessarily lie heavy, separated from lowa by leanv miles of road, resulting in heavy charges for fond and ' medicine and tile additional expense of a resident doctor. The idea of erecting a building in the hospital pounds is an excellent one. Consumption is daily becoming more an.l more widespread, and is claiming the fairest and best of our <ii.iii- | hood and womanhood. 11,.re is a pionosal by the adoption of wNcli it will be possible not only t 0 isolate the patients on whom this dread disease has laid its hold, but also ' t" give them relief and eveiiLiuulv to cure them. So enforced isolation this, with no termination hut death, but a course of treatment whii |> promises to quickly return the patients sound and well to their homes and friends. Ami this is not. the whole of its mission, merely to cure the alllicted, though that in itself were an undoubted blessing, but al-

so to prevent the spread, of the 'disease by instructing the inmates of the institution in the fundamental principles of sun' Ration and prevention of disease. Dr. Valintine is of opinion that the best plan to adopt would Ik> that which is in vogue in Kngllund, the raising of a national subscription for the purpose of erecting sanatoria in difficult focaliities, and recommends Talranaki to lead the way by providing a sanatorium (or the treatment oi local sufferers. As he briefly puis it, Dr. VaUentine suggests that an appeal should ; (>e made to the Taranaki puWlie for funds toward it lie institution, Ho be cKectt'd b,y them for trcjiitmenl of,'the people of .Taranaki. No encouragement would be. given to people in other districts to take advantage of the sanatorium. In fact, the Health Department would 'doubtless use its efforts to prevent such a thing. As far as the natural conditions of Taranaki are concerned it would appear that these are in every respect favourable to the erection of this institution for the cure and ultimate eradication of consumption. Though we have a fairly heavy rainfall, we are blessed with plenty of sun, plenty of good ail', and, above all, a porous soil that ifuickly dries. The concensus of opinion of the medical fraternity now dispels the idea that formerly obtained that altitude was an important, factor in connection wilh these, sanatoria, thu main elements of success being pure air and abundant, sunshine. Instances are quoted in which wonderful results have been obtained by the openair treatment. A leading doctor in Liverpool lias been in the habit of placing his consumptive patients on the balconies of a hospital, with most beneficial results, mid this in the midst of the most densely populated of English cities, the average being 113 people per acre. Again, Dr. Newsholme, of Brighton, England, lias taken advantage of the dis-use of the smallpox hospital there to put it into commission for the treatment of working men who are suffering from consumption. These men sleep in the open-air in annexes near the hospital, and are instructed in the necessity of disinfecting sputum, special handkerchiefs Ixing provided for tliem, and these being burned instead of washed and served out again. In the meantime, the men go about their ordinary daily duties, and Dr. Newsholme states that many of them are benefiting considerably from the treatment. There are instances, too, in Tfrranaki of the edioacy of the openair treatment at the Cambridge Sanatorium. Wo confidently appeal to the New Plymouth public to give this matter their hearty support, the erection of the building being urged as an absolute necessity by the medical gentlemen of the district, with one exception. They have approached Dr. Valintine on the subject, and many of them have expressed their intention of being present at the public • meeting to be called in connection with this matter. Tt is pointed out that consumptive patients ure not, except in very serious cases, admitted to our hospitals, and this is another reason why we should immediately affirm the principle of open-air. treatment, and subscribe towards the cost of the building. With a shilling subscription from every soul in the district much can be done, and we hope to see this matter earnestly taken up, and a liberal response by the lie to the appeal for funds in the cause of humanity.