YOU AND TUBERCULOSIS

Te Ao Hou, Spring 1953, Page 50

YOU AND TUBERCULOSIS In 1951 there were 475 new cases of tuberculosis of the chest, in 1949 there were 476 new cases, in 1947 there were 412. These are all new cases, and altogether we have nearly three thousand Maori people with ‘Tb. chests’ at the present time. From year to year the number has not altered very much. Last year 129 Maoris died from Tb. of the chest. This year it will probably be about the same number. How can you and your district health nurse help to stop Tb. amongst the Maori people? First—your home: Keep it clean and tidy, and have the windows open day and night. The germ that causes Tb. does not like fresh air and sunlight, and quickly dies when exposed to them. If you are lucky and have a nice new home this should be easy, although it is surprising how many new houses do not have their windows open very much. If you still have an old-fashioned whare, even if the floor is mud, you can still keep it clean and the mud floor firm and hard and covered with clean mats, with your boxes, shelves and cupboards lined with clean newspaper, and the door and window open whenever it is fine. If your floor is wood it is a good idea to sprinkle it with damp tea-leaves before sweeping it — especially after you have had a lot of visitors, and it has got pretty dirty and dusty — so that the dust will not fly around while you are sweeping. Remember, Tb. germs like dust and dirt. You are all very good at putting your beds out in the sun — it helps a lot, so keep it up. Now your food: Tb. germs are more likely to live in a weak body than in a strong, healthy one. So make your bodies strong and resistant to Tb. by eating good meals, with old-fashioned foods such as potatoes, kumeras, puha and vegetables, meat, eggs, fish, shellfish and sea-foods, and bread, instead of pies and fish and chips, biscuits and fizzy drinks. Keep these last ones for huis and parties, but the first-named foods should be your everyday diet. MILK: Don't forget it is one of the best body and bone building foods we have. Your children all get some at school, but you should give them some at home, too. Fresh cow's milk if you can get it, and if you live a long way from a fresh milk supply, then you should buy it in a tin. Dried full-cream milk or evaporated milk are best. Condensed milk is, I know, a favourite with you, but keep it for special occasions—it has so much sweetening in it that it is not so good as the other forms, which are pure milk with some or all of the water taken out. CLOTHING: In winter, warm woollen clothes; in summer, light cotton garments, NOT lots of light cotton ones put together to make more for the winter. That is really not a very warm way of clothing. One woollen shirt is much warmer than two or three cotton ones together. SLEEP: You need a good long sleep every night in a comfortable bed, and with not too many sharing a bed. A bed for each member of the house is best if you can manage it. This allows everyone to get as much fresh air as they need, without having to use up each other's air as it is breathed out. Grown-ups need at least 7 to 8 hours' sleep every night, and children more. A child of 10 needs about 11 hours, and one of 6 needs 14 hours every day. The whole time people are awake their bodies are working hard. They are seeing, hearing, thinking and doing things, but while they are asleep their bodies get a chance to pick up. There is no thinking, seeing, doing and hearing going on. The whole body can relax and re-fuel, ready for work the next day. Those are all the things you yourselves can do so that you and your children will have strong, healthy bodies that can fight off Tb. You have already heard about these things before, at school and over the radio, and you have, I am sure, read about them—it is up to you to do them.