Hawaii Holomua, Volume I, Number 84, 27 December 1893 — Development of Consumption. [ARTICLE]

Development of Consumption.

Doctor Peter, in a eiinieal lect ire recently deliveretl at the 1 uiversity of Pennsy!v.inia, took occasion to uote the iudueoce of sunounding npon the develop- | me..t of consnmption in certam ' iudividuals. Some persons h:»ve an undoubted tendencv to thi< * dis ise, whieh teudencv thev J have inherited frora one or the l <>ther parent. lf both pareuts j have suffered from the disease j ihe tendeucy is more pronouncetl. j It most not be suj>posed that ! everyone iuheriting a eonaamp- ; tive teudency succumbs to it. lt ! Ii> luriug the ye.trs preceding j maturity that the d.tnger of poor j unhygien c snrroundings is : greatest; ‘*but if such persons eau be kept strong until their fortns have developed. thev mav b *come the very strongest t>f the strong. The couditions are f ivourable for the tlevelopment of consunption onlf when “the systera gets ‘run dowu then follows a eohl, a cat trrh, the hueilli of tuborcaIosis heeome Iodged in the iuucous membrane, invade the tissues, and spread. Sj>eaking of tbe inHuenee of dustv oecupations and of the dust whieh is inhaled from the streets and in travelling conveyances, the sjieaker said. “There is no one here who has not had tuberclebacilli enter lus air-passagea. but there must be s6iue resisting power whieh has made it imposaib!e for the organisms to gain entrauce into the system, aud whieh has j»reventeil them from spreading.” When tbe surroundings of an individnal are unbygienic, tbe occupatiou nn congenial and depressing, or sucb as to preveut sufficient sleep, the hualth ofteu bccomes impaired. Then the strongest constitution may otfer but little resistance to t'ie ingress of consumption. It is safe to say that everv c tse of consnraption is first ingrafted nn ler just such circumstances. “Let a person task his strength; let a growing child heeomo weedy, lank, and below weight, and the system relaxed, and there is developed a field where tubercnlosis, if implanted, will spread. ’ Persons in wliose farailies this disease has a\isted should recognise the fact that there may be a constitutional laek of resistance in themselves. Fatigue and excess of all kinds should be avoided. As mueh of life as is possib!e should be spent in the opea air, and the rules of heaith, whieh are applicable to all alike, shoukl be carefully observed. ————■