Importance of Preventive Medicine without side effects

The prehistoric man, motivated by feelings of sympathy and kindness, was always at the behest of his kindred, trying to provide relief, in times of sickness and suffering. Since his knowledge was limited, the primitive man attributed 1 Man And Medicine: Towards Health For All disease and in fact all human suffering and other calamities to the wrath of gods, the invasion of body by "evil spirits" and the malevolent influence of stars and planets. The concept of disease in which the ancient man believed is known as the "supernatural theory of disease". 

As a logical sequence, the medicine he practised consisted in appeasing gods by prayers, rituals and sacrifices, driving out "evil spirits" from the human body by witchcraft and other crude means and using charms and amulets to protect himself against the influence of eviI spirits. The administration of certain herbs or drugs whose effect is doubtful or nil but hopefully harmless may also be likened to a kind of magic ritual associated with the need to "do something". There is also evidence that prehistoric man improvised stone 'and flint instruments with which he performed circumcisions, amputations and trephining of skulls. It is thus obvious that medicine in the prehistoric times (about 5000 BC) was intermingled with superstition, religion, magic and witchcraft. 

Primitive medicine is timeless. If we look around the world, we find the rudiments of primitive medicine still persist in many parts of the world - in Asia, Africa, South America, Australia and the Pacific islands. The supernatural theory of disease in which the primitive man believed is as new as today. For example, in India, one may still hear of talk of curing snake bites by "mantras". Diseases such as leprosy are interpreted as being punishment for one's past sins in some cultures. Although primitive man may be extinct. his progeny - the so-called "traditional healers" are found everywhere.

 They live close to the people and their treatments are based on various combinations of religion, magic and empericism. Indian medicine (3) The medical systems that are truly Indian in origin and development are the Ayurveda and the Siddha systems. Ayurveda is practised throughout India, but the Siddha system is practised in the Tamil-speaking areas of South India. These systems differ very little both in theory and practice (4). Ayurveda by definition implies the "knowledge of life" or the knowledge bywhich life may be prolonged. Its origin is traced far back to the Vedic times, about 5000 BC. During this period, medieval history was associated with mythological figures, sages and seers. 

Noise and Vibration hazards on Industrial workers - How to avoid or prevent it?

  NOISE AND VIBRATION

 In use in industry today are many new machines that produce high levels of noise and vibration. Excessive noise can damage hearing and can cause pain. The use of protective devices- ear plugs and others-can help prevent discomfort and disability. Vibration, when excessive, can have much the same effect as motion sickness. Excessive vibration may damage the heart, lungs, abdominal organs, and brain. Injuries from overexposure to excessive vibration may not be immediately apparent. Many studies have been made to establish tolerable limits of noise and vibration, both to protect worker health and to make the industrial operation as efficient and productive as possible. There is clearly room for better methods of minimizing both noise and vibration. 

Much has been done in industry and much more remains to be done to make working conditions healthier and safer. Everyone concerned with the problem of occupational disorders-management, workers, doctors, government, and union officials-would do well to consider carefully these statements from the excellent book Medicine, edited by Hugh G. Garland, M.D.: No field of medicine ... offers greater scope for prevention than the industrial medical field. . . . The late Sir Thomas Legge . . . after much practical experience in the field of prevention enumerated the following now famous axioms:

1. Unless and until the employer has done everything-and every- thing means a good deal-the workman can do next to nothing to protect himself, although he is naturally willing enough to do his share.

2. If you can bring an influence to bear external to the workman (i.e., one over which he can exercise no control), you will be successful; and if you cannot or do not, you will never be wholly successful.

3. Practically all industrial lead poisoning is due to the inhalation of dust and fumes; and if you stop their inhalation you will stop the poisoning.

4. All workmen should be told something of the danger of the material with which they come into contact, and not be left to find it out for them- selves-sometimes at the cost of their lives. Although these axioms were based on experience in the lead industry, they have wide applicability.  

How Dampness, Abnormal Air pressures and Abnormal Temperatures affect Industrial owrkers health?

DAMPNESS

Tankmen, vatmen, coal miners, and washers are among those who have to work exposed to almost constant dampness. As a result, they may suffer from coughs, respiratory troubles, rheumatic dis- eases, and skin changes. Such workers should be as completely protected as possible by waterproof clothing, rubber boots and gloves. In addition, efforts should be made to control dampness by drain channels through which excess water can be carried away.

ABNORMAL AIR PRESSURES

 Tunnel workers and divers do their jobs under unusually heavy air pressures. In going underground, tunnel workers travel in a chamber which descends slowly so there is a gradual increase in air pressure. If the descent is fast, the change in pressure is distressing. The first sensation is felt in the eardrums and can be relieved by swallowing. Extremely rapid decrease in pressure can produce the "bends" in which blood supply from different parts of the body is blocked off by small air bubbles. Decompression sickness is dangerous and can be fatal.

It may develop several hours after a diver has returned too rapidly to the surface. Treatment usually requires recompression and then gradual decompression. Rising rapidly to a high altitude, which means entering a lower air pressure situation, can be just as harmful. Ascent as well as descent should be gradual. Pilots who ascend too rapidly or take sudden dives may become dizzy, and the change in pressure may be violent enough to burst their eardrums. Commercial airliners are pressurized to avoid the effects of high altitudes.

ABNORMAL TEMPERATURES

Steelworkers, welders, furnace men, blacksmiths, and others may be exposed to very high temperatures which may lead to heatstroke, heat exhaustion, and cramps. Very low temperatures may cause frostbite, gangrene, or death. Insulation or air conditioning and protective clothing can help protect against temperature extremes and their effects. Additional salt, which can be taken in the form of tablets, is needed to make up for large amounts lost in perspiration. Relief periods-providing opportunity to return to normal temperature- are extremely important. Workers should be on the alert for symptoms and should ask for relief the moment any symptoms appear. They should also report any colds or other disturbances to the company doctor or their own physician. 

Smoking Cancer and Smoking kills

SMOKING AND CANCER

Smoking today stands indicted as a significant factor in many types of cancer, most notably cancer of the lung. Most researchers believe that there are multiple causes, rather than some single cause, for cancer. 

Many believe that certain human cancers will be proved to be due to viruses which already are known to produce some cancers in animals. No matter what the cause may be, the basic cancer process involves a change in DNA or RNA, chemicals that are part of the reproductive mechanism of cells.

As a result of the change, the cells no longer reproduce in orderly fashion but divide rapidly and, upon dividing, each cell may produce three or more new cells instead of the normal two. Whether a virus is the cause or chemical disturbances are involved, the effect is upon the cell reproductive system. 

And many contributory factors may open the way for cancer by disturbing the balance between viruses and cells or by upsetting chemical processes in cells. Thus, sun- light, soot, and other irritating substances are known to be factors in provoking skin cancer; radiation is known to be involved in leukemia; and cigarette smoke in lung cancer.

Lung cancer today is the leading cause of death from malignancy in the United States. Before World War I, 371 deaths in the United States were attributed to lung cancer. By 1940, there were 7,121; by 1950, 18,313; by 1960, 36,420; and recently the rate has reached 55,300 a year. The increase has been epidemic in its proportions. The association between smoking and lung cancer has been established by many studies. 

One of the largest involved a follow-up of more than one million men and women for a four year period. The study determined that the risk of dying from lung cancer for men aged 35 to 84 who smoke less than a pack a day is 6 times as great, and' for men smoking

Smoking more packs 16 times as great, as for nonsmokers. 

Smoking problems and healthcare

No HEALTH problem in our time has commanded more attention than smoking. The issuance of the official Surgeon General's Report in 1964 constituted a major scientific and medical event and began a public and medical concern that continues. Despite the concern, however, one third of the women and half the men in the United States still smoke cigarettes. 

Deaths from diseases associated with cigarette smoking continue. A large proportion of health resources and money must be devoted to trying to treat such diseases. But there are encouraging events. As many as 1.5 million people a year recently have been abandoning smoking.

Among them, fortunately, are young and middle-aged men who are at particularly high risk of premature death from lung cancer and coronary heart disease. Also hopeful is evidence from a Public 

Health Service survey indicating that while 29 percent of boys and 15 percent of girls at age 17 are regular smokers, this represents a significant reduction in the proportion of young people taking up smoking. And school systems across the country are emphasizing educational programs on smoking and health in the hope of creating a "smokeless generation."

The evidence about the dangers of cigarette smoking to health is now overwhelming. In the words of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service, smoking "is the greatest preventable cause of illness, disability and premature death in this country."

 A conviction shared by medical and health agencies has been expressed by the New York State Commission of Health: "No other single factor kills so many Americans as cigarette smoking .... Bullets, germs and viruses are killers; but for Americans, cigarettes are more deadly than any of them. No single known lethal agent is as deadly as the cigarette." Smoking is a certain irony in the history of tobacco use. American Indians, early explorers discovered, smoked tobacco in pipes for ceremonial silicoses, and believed it had some medicinal values. 

CALORIE COUNT - Weight Control - What Food to take? How ?Much Food to take?

Weight Control  

 CALORIE COUNT 

How do you determine the proper calorie level per day for you? Your physician can help, taking into account your present weight, desired weight, state of health, and normal activities. He may suggest perhaps as few as 1,200 calories per day if you are an adult woman, 1,500 to 1,800 if you are an adult man. These levels are about half those of non-dieters. 

Within these limits, you can diet reasonably happily on a wide variety of foods and obtain all essential nutrients. Or your physician may suggest a reduction of intake level by as little as 300 or 400 calories. It is usually not considered wise to depend upon a reduction of less than 300 or 400, since one or two miscalculations or indulgences may mean no weight loss at all.

Remember that the objective is permanent weight loss, not a flashy quick cut down, promptly followed by a return of the excess pounds. So what if it takes several months or even a year to reach your ideal weight -as long as you will be using a tolerable diet, one you can sustain, retraining you’re eating habits so you can enjoy the new habits and the desired weight level for the rest of your life. 

Always remember that only one-half pound of weight loss per week means 26 pounds for the year, and 1 pound a week means over 50 pounds lost. In setting up your diet, your physician most likely will move in the direction of a little of everything, to assure balance and variety.

He will make certain you get something from each of the four basic food groups (see page 49). He will be thinking in terms not merely of reducing but of general health, of reducing without risk of malnutrition or risk of fomenting heart disease. 

As an example, sample menus for 1,200 calories a day diet might go like this: 

Breakfast: 1/2 small grapefruit; 1 poached egg; 1 slice of toast; 1 small pat of butter or margarine; coffee or tea. 

Lunch: A 3-ounce cooked serving of lean meat, poultry, or fish; 1 serving of vegetable; 1 serving of fruit; 1 slice of bread; 1 small pat of butter or margarine; 1 glass of skim milk. 

Dinner: A large broiled beef patty; 1/2 cup of asparagus; 1/2 to 1 cup of tossed green salad with vinegar dressing; 1 slice of bread; 1 small pat of butter or margarine; 1/2 cup of pineapple; 1 glass of skim milk. Snacks, if desired, may consist of bouillon or consommé, tomato juice, raw vegetables, coffee or tea, or food saved from meals. 

You may find it convenient to use a mini-pocketbook calorie counter available in pharmacies and food stores. 

For your general guidance, the table lists the calorie content of many commonly used foods   

Minerals Causes on our health

Investigations on Minerasls

Currently, scientists are investigating the influence on human health of many other trace elements, including chromium, manganese, cobalt, cadmium, copper, selenium, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, and fluorine. Some preliminary evidence suggests that a deficiency of chromium may play a part in diabetes and, on the other hand, an excess of cadmium may adversely affect blood pressure. 

Even arsenic may be needed by the human body in these trace amounts. Trace materials occur in water and in soils, find their way into foods, and may be present in relatively large amounts in some foods, relatively small amounts in others.

Existing knowledge is still inadequate; there is enough to suggest the importance of trace materials but far from enough yet to provide a reliable guide to how much of them the body needs, how much of them can be dangerous, and their concentrations in various foods. Earlier, the discovery of the role of vitamins in human health under- scored the need for a balanced diet that would provide the vitamins. Now the work with trace materials underscores the need even more. 

Administering Drugs with care - Preventive adverse and side effects

First read the label when you take the drug container from the medicine cabinet; read it again when you take the drug itself; and finally, read the label a third time when you put the container away. That last reading is an extra check to make certain you read the label properly the first two times. If you did happen to make a mistake, you have a chance to do something about it at once.

  

TRICKS FOR PROPER DOSAGE made by machines that produce attractive roundedness

 For the most part, are more attractive-looking and less expensive than those that were made individually by a druggist to a special prescription of a physician. The trouble with machine-made articles of medicine, as with mass- produced clothes, is that tailoring to each individual's needs cannot be built in. Thus, it's known that the amount of medicine required varies almost directly with the weight of a person.

Most machine-made capsules and pills are made for a standard person of about 150 pounds so they are apt to contain just a bit too much for most women, a bit too little for most men. Doctors have learned how to adjust dosages even with the limitations of machine-made medicines. For example, consider pills of phenobarbital often prescribed for nervousness, tension, headaches with a psychogenic component. Phenobarbital is commonly available in 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 grain sizes. Suppose phenobarbital in 1/4 grain dosage is prescribed for a woman and it helps her tension but makes her just a bit too forgetful and drowsy to do her work properly.

The doctor tries 1/8 grain, but that doesn't help her tension enough. The solution lies in going back to the 1/4 grain dosage and proper use of a fingernail file. The patient is instructed to consider a tablet as a circle, and to gently file away one fourth of the circle, to get a tablet that is just halfway between 1/8 and 1/4 grain sizes. 

Usually, the patient "plays around" a bit and finds just the right tailor made size for her needs. When it comes to capsules-especially of sleeping medicines such as Nembutal, Seconal, and Amy talit's a help to learn how to take apart a capsule gently and pour out a portion to adjust the dosage to individual needs, then rejoin the capsule.

 Many people find a standard 1-1/2 grain capsule ineffective; on the other hand, when they take two capsules, they may experience hangovers. One full capsule and half of another may be the right dosage. 

Human body reactions to Medicines and Foods Vs Medicines

REACTIONS TO MEDICINES

It may seem unbelievable but there are more than 250 diseases that can be caused by the very medicines designed to treat and cure illness. You may well ask, "Why is this possible?" The reasons are not difficult to understand. Over the past twenty-five years or so, many hundreds of new com- pounds have been developed for treating and preventing disease. Many are powerful and complicated substances.

Their very effectiveness depends upon their great potency and complexity. In some instances, trouble has come unexpectedly because a powerful A Special Word about medicine taking new agents was not tested fully under every conceivable circumstance. Thus, for example, thalidomide seemed to be an excellent and harmless tranquilizing agent in most people, but when it was used by pregnant women it had terrible effects on their unborn children. Another reason for drug-induced illness is that human beings do have tendencies to develop allergic or sensitivity responses. These vary considerably, just as they do for foods. One person may eat eggs until the hens scream for mercy-and enjoy them with impunity; another person, allergic to them, cannot eat one without developing some upset.

And so with other foods

Because of sensitivity problems, a medicine that is highly beneficial for 95 percent of the population may cause trouble, even potentially serious trouble, for the remaining 5 percent. A good example is penicillin, clearly a lifesaving drug. It has, indeed, probably saved well over a million lives since its discovery. But it also has caused severe sensitivity re- actions in scores of thousands of people and has taken the lives of thousands.

As you may have noticed, physicians today inquire carefully about possible previous sensitivity reactions to penicillin before administering or prescribing it. Just as some people, after repeated exposure, become allergic to rag- weed pollen or to poison ivy, so some, after being helped once or even several times by an antibiotic, may develop allergic reactions to the com- pound. Usually the problem is mild-skin rash, hives, or slight fever- and disappears once the drug is stopped. Occasionally, however, there are anaphylactic, or shock like, reactions which are life-threatening, and these can be overcome only if heroic measures-adrenaline and other injections-are used in time.

Still considered the single most valuable antibiotic,penicillin is a major allergy producer because it has been so widely used. It is estimated that 10 percent of Americans have become sensitized to the drug. Still another reason for undesirable reactions is that no drug is 100 percent specific-hitting the bull's-eye, so to speak. In the course of countering the problem for which it is being used, it may produce other effects, and these have to be reckoned with. Consider, for example, the gastrointestinal upsets-cramps, diarrhea, sore mouth, rectal itch-which may occur after use of many antibiotics.

They can come about because of an upset in the natural germbalance in the body. Many harmless bacteria are always present in the gastrointestinal tract. Some, in fact, are essential to digestion; some manufacture vitamins. When a potent antibiotic is introduced to fight infection, it may also decimate this normal bacterial population. Moreover, these friendly bacteria serve another purpose in the body.

Modern Medicines is One of Major Successes, But it Also Includes Disasters

A SPECIAL WORD ABOUT MEDICINE TAKING 

THE HISTORY of modern medicines is one of major successes, but it also includes disasters. Tremendous benefits have followed the discovery of insulin for diabetes, agents for controlling high blood pressure, antibiotics and other anti-bacterial that kill or impede the growth of bacteria, cortisone and other steroid compounds that combat inflammation, tranquilizers and antidepressants for nervous and mentaldisorders, and drugs that slow the wild growth of some cancer cells. But there have been tragedies traceable to indiscriminate use and abuse of such powerful agents and of others. For one thing, no medication yet developed is fool proof-universally useful for even the condition for which it was developed, free of undesirable effects.

Virtually every drug, just as virtually every food, may produce unpleasant effects for at least a few individuals, and so it must be used with care. We hope in this chapter to provide a useful guide to medicine taking, one that will be helpful to you both in more effective treatment of any health problems that arise and also in preventing many problems. 

PRESCRIBING FOR YOURSELF 

A recent survey of a small but typical group of households carried out by a major university research institute found that the number of medications on hand varied from 3 to 88, with a mean of 30. Of the 2,539 medications observed, only 445 were prescription drugs. Each month in the United States, 750 out of every 1,000 adults 16 years of age and over experience a cold, headache, or other illness or  injury for which only 250 will consult a physician.

Thus, people control their own care in terms of whether and when to seek medical aid and when to prescribe for themselves. Virtually everyone on occasion does his own prescribing-and that can be a practical matter. Certainly every minor ache or pain does not require that a doctor be called. Nobody wishes to become a habitual patient. The medicines-variously known as "patent," "proprietary," and "over-the-counter" or "OTC"-which you can purchase in drugstores without a doctor's prescription are generally milder and have fairly broad safety margins. 

Symptoms of Cancer - How to detect Cancer? Answer these questions

CANCER SIGNALS

Some signs and symptoms are commonly associated with cancer. They include: Any lump or thickening in the breast or elsewhere Any sore that does not heal Any persistent change in bowel or bladder habits Persistenthoarseness or coughing Persistent indigestion or difficulty in swallowing Any change in a wart or mole Any sudden weight loss Actually, none of the foregoing constitutes proof of cancer-only that cancer is a possibility which should be investigated without delay.

No sign or symptom-either severe or mild but persistent or recurring -should be neglected, it bears repeating here, on the grounds that it may not mean anything or that the doctor may say it's "just nerves." The preventively minded physician whom you see regularly for your checkups will welcome being consulted about such signals, will not pass them off lightly as "just nerves," will check thoroughly, and, if it should be just a matter of "nerves," will help you do something about the "nerves.

YOUR OWN HEALTH INVENTORY

In addition to regular periodic checkups by your physician and your alertness for danger signals, there is an additional line of defense, an extra safeguard, you can put to use in maintaining health. It consists of a simple inventory of your health, a checklist of statements. Taking the inventory at home will require only a few minutes once a month.

Mark your calendar now to remind you to refer to this chapter and the following statements on some convenient date each month, perhaps the first or fifteenth. If you cannot say "True" to anyone of the statements that follow, you should see your doctor as soon as possible. If you have a perfect "True" score, it is quite likely that your health is being maintained satisfactorily, and you need not see your physician again until your next scheduled examination.

1.            I have noticed no sore on skin, lips, or tongue that doesn't seem to heal.

2.            I am not aware of shortness of breath when walking on level ground or when performing any type of activity that never before made me short of breath.

3.            I am not bothered by indigestion, nausea, appetite loss, abdominal pain or cramps, or the recent sudden appearance of constipation or diarrhea.

4.            I have noticed no blood in bowel movements or urine.

 5.           I am not steadily losing or gaining weight and I am satisfied that my weight is suitable for me.

6.            I do not feel myself becoming nervous, irritable, or depressed. I have had no crying spells and no feelings of overwhelming sadness, worthlessness, mental apathy. I have no persistent feeling that any- body is against me. I do not feel a nervous breakdown coming on.

7.            I do not feel unduly fatigued after little effort, mental or physical. I have no feeling of being rundown.

8.            I have no pallor; my skin color has not changed.  

9.            I have no cough that has persisted longer than a month. I have coughed up no blood.

 10.         I have had no persistent hoarseness.

11.          My hearing remains as good as it has ever been.

12.          My eyesight, too, remains good; I have had no dimming or fogging of vision.

13.          I have no persistent headaches.

14.          I have felt no chest discomfort without obvious cause.

15.          I have had no prolonged aches in back, limbs, or joints.

 16.         There has been no swelling of my feet or ankles.

 17.         I have noticed no urinary changes.

18.          I sleep well. I have no tendency to wake up during the night and have difficulty falling asleep again.

 19.         I have no new persistent pain or any other new symptoms.

20.          I am not worried about the possibility of having a venereal disease. Special for women:

21.          I have noticed no vaginal bleeding at unexpected times.

22.          I have felt no lump in my breast, and I have not been worried about the possibility of cancer or tumor there or in any other part of my body.

23.          I am not troubled with hot flashes. Special for men:

21.          My urination has not been abnormal in any way recently-particularly in terms of difficulty in starting, stopping, dribbling, and pain.

22.          I am not ruptured and have no thoughts that I may be.

23.          I do not believe that I may have picked up some disease overseas during the war which may now be coming to the surface.

Important Note: If you cannot say "True" to one or more of the preceding statements, it does not necessarily mean that you have a serious problem. There may, indeed, be a clue to something serious-and because it is likely to be an early clue, the problem is very likely to be amenable to effective treatment. On the other hand, the problem may be mild, possibly even temporary. But let your physician make the diagnosis for you. He will almost certainly agree that it is good preventive medicine, in the best interests of your continued good health, for him to check up on the lead provided when you cannot say "True" to a statement. – 

How taking body temperature helps to prevent certain diseases?

FEVER

Fever most commonly signals infection or inflammation somewhere in the body. The temperature is likely to be highest during a bacterial or severe viral infection. With a mild infection such as a cold, temperature elevation may be slight and fleeting. When fever is high, there is usually no hesitancy about calling the physician. But there may be other occasions when the physician should be consulted.

First

A few facts about taking temperature

Aspirin and aspirin-containing medications bring down elevated temperature and tend to keep it down for as long as four hours. So for accurate determinations, temperature should be taken before use of such medications or four or five hours afterward. Remember, too, that if temperature is taken immediately after smoking, it may be higher than normal; and conversely, if taken by mouth just after a cold drink, it may be lower than normal. Before taking temperature, rinse the thermometer in cool water and shake it until the mercury falls below the 95-degree mark. If you use an oralthermometer, hold it under the tongue, with mouth shut, for at least three minutes.

A rectal thermometer, after lubrication, should be inserted up to the 98.6-degree line while the patient lies on his side. It should remain in place for three to five minutes. For the average person, mouth temperature normally is 98.6 degrees, and rectal tends to be about one degree higher. When fever is mild-under 100 degrees orally or 101 rectally-and the only other symptom is nasal congestion, a slight cough, or a scratchy throat, there is no urgency about calling the physician. But take the temperature every three or four hours and note the severity of symptoms. If symptoms become worse or if the temperature moves up to 101 orally or 102 rectally, then notify your physician. Always when fever is present it is important to note the accompanying.

How AUTOMATED MULTI-PHASE SCREENING helps to check diseases in health care

One of the relatively recent developments that is almost certain to bring striking changes in the practice of medicine, adding further to the emphasis on and practicality of preventive medicine, is automated multi- phase screening. The idea is to link electronic detection devices, large numbers of chemical tests, and computer science together to screen or check, at low cost, large numbers of apparently healthy people, looking for the most subtle signs of early disease and even of pre-disease states, doing far more routine testing than physicians have time for, providing them with the results of the tests, and giving them more opportunity to counsel patients and practice preventive medicine.

In a periodic checkup that may run two to three hours, a patient moves from one station to another for checks of hearing, visual acuity, respiration rate, lung capacity. An electrocardiogram is made; a measurement of pressure within the eye is quickly made for detection of glaucoma, a major cause of blindness. A chest x-ray is taken and, in the case of women, a three-dimensional breast photograph (mammography). Pulse and blood pressuremeasurements are included. The patient answers a self-administered questionnaire on health history. And blood and urine samples are taken and automatically checked for indications of infection, gout, diabetes, and other diseases and also for a variety of biochemical values that may give some indications of pre disease changes. A computer summarizes the findings and produces a printed record for the patient's personal physician to evaluate. Automated multiphase screening is moving rapidly out of the experimental phase. Much of the pioneering work in its development was done by physicians at the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan in northern California with some financial assistance from the U.S.Public Health Service

The Public Health Service has awarded funds to set up pilot programs in Milwaukee, New Orleans, Brooklyn, and Providence-some affiliated with health centers in poverty areas, others with universities, and still others with city health departments. Already, some large industries are planning automated multiphase screening facilities as part of their occupational health programs. And there are plans for forming medically directed private companies which would provide automated screening service for patients referred by physicians.

Automated screening facilities may not be available in your community yet. Ask your doctor about them. Tell him you are interested. If the facilities are not available, you will be doing a public service by encouraging your doctor to push for their establishment in the near future.

YOUR ROLE

You AS the patient in preventive medicine have a role to play that goes far beyond cooperating in regular checkups. You can build and maintain your health, taking advantage of the latest knowledge in such areas as nutrition, weight control, physical activity, rest and relaxation (to be covered in later sections of this posts). You can be alert, too, between checkups for any danger signals.

How does a preventively minded physician function? Follow 1000 posts in the series

You can expect that in working with you he will get to know you thoroughly-past medical history, family medical history, job, working habits, living habits-so he can weigh any possibility that you-as a member of a specific group based on heredity, environment, age, sex, color, personal habits-may face certain specific health hazards.

In his regular periodic examinations, he will follow your health progress in general and will be alert for the slightest early indication of anything wrong in any area of special risk for you. He may, in fact, from time to time use special tests to make certain all is going well in a special risk area.

During your visits, he will be concerned, of course, with any physical complaints and also with any mental or emotional problems (job, marital, and others), since these can affect health.

He will be interested in any changes in your habits and their possible effects, for good or ill, on your health. From time to time, he may have suggestions for an alteration, perhaps minor, of diet, exercisepattern, sleep, relaxation, etc.

As he regularly checks you, alert for earliest indications, even pre-indications, of possible trouble, he will be prepared to intervene without delay. Rather than wait, say, for obvious symptoms of diabetes to develop-especially if you belong to the group with greater than average probability of developing the disease-he will intervene to try to correct, if they appear, the very first changes that could possibly lead to diabetes.

As medicine has been practiced generally to now, it has been the patient who, in effect, has turned up after making a self-diagnosis. It has been the patient who has decided, "I think I am or may be sick or becoming sick," and then has sought help.

How it will be the preventively minded physician who increasingly will be able to tell the patient, "You are about to become sick and we are going to take a few measures in advance so you won't actually develop the sickness." 

How to prevent Kidney failure? 1000 posts preventive medicare

Preventive medicare avoid side effects. To days medicines cannot be trusted completely that they are free from side effects. To avoid side effects, we need to take due care to prevent any diesease before it reaches us. Take control of your body and follow the suggestions in these posts and you can aovid the complications. Follow our all 1000 posts following to safeguard your body and mind. 

Promising work is being done in detecting people with pre-diabetes-those who have no symptoms of diabetes but do have changes in body chemistry that may forecast eventual onset of overt diabetes. Early results of treating such patients with anti-diabetic agents are regarded by some investigators as promising, suggesting it may be possible to prevent the development of diabetes and such complications as visual disturbances, circulatory disturbances, and increased risk of coronary heart disease.

As we have noted earlier, kidney machines can be lifesavers for patients with kidney failure-but it would be far 'better to prevent the failure. And there is growing hope now that in many cases failure maybe prevented by attention to asymptomatic bacteria. Asymptomatic bacteriuria simply means the presence of sizable numbers' of bacteria in the urine without causing symptoms. The condition may occur at any age and in either sex but is especially frequent in females, affecting 1.2 percent of schoolgirls and 6 percent of pregnantwomen. There is evidence that if left untreated bacteriuria may eventually cause the kidney disease pyelonephritis, which in turn may result in kidney failure.

Bacteriuria can be treated effectively once detected and newer tests now make its detection simpler and more practical. Today, as the next post will show, many testing procedures are available to make it possible for the physician increasingly to anticipate and prevent diseases rather than wait for it to appear. 

DISEASE SCENARIOS in body care, and how to cure or prevent it? 1000 posts following

Bacterial diseases and preventive medical care

In Preventive medical care new discoveries and inventions make great changes in the human life.
Another important development has been the discovery that death is really a slow intruder, that diseases do not suddenly spring up full-blown but often have long scenarios. In the Korean War, autopsies of young American soldiers revealed that in 54 percent of these youths, many of whom had only very recently attained manhood, coronary heart disease was already starting. We see- of the disease germinate in the early years and the ultimate heart attack is the end result of a long process in time, then here is a problem that can be combatted, for there is time to combat it. And there is evidence of what factors are involved, there are mere to fight; to retard, and perhaps even to prevent it from getting started Some of the most impressive preventive work recently has been the result of advances in the understanding of body chemistry-and of chemical abnormalities that may be inborn. It has now become possible to detect early in life, even almost immediately after birth, such inborn errors as phenylketonuria and galactosemia.

Detection of diseases

They involve inability to properly handle certain specific food elements, and simply by avoiding such elements it has become possible to prevent development of mental retardation, growth failure, and other serious problems. Understanding of the chemistry of disease is expanding rapidly, and there is growing confidence that the principles of early detection and treatment of diseases due to inborn chemical errors can be extended to many common chronic diseases. That 'can make it possible for the doctor in his practice to have to deal less-with severe complications triggered while a disease smoulders under the surface before calling attention to itself with obvious symptoms, and he can be concerned instead with The early detection of the still symptom-free but predisposed patient and correction of the basic problem before complications have a chance to Develop..

Already, for example, promising work is being done in detecting people with prediabetes-those who have no symptoms of diabetes but do have changes in body chemistry that may forecast eventual onset of overt diabetes. Early results of treating such patients with antidiabetic agents are regarded by some investigators as promising, suggesting it may be possible to prevent the development of diabetes and such complications as visual disturbances, circulatory disturbances, and increased risk of coronary heart disease. As we have noted earlier, kidney machines can be lifesavers for pa- tients with kidney failure-but it would be far 'better to prevent the failure. And there is growing hope now that in many cases failure may be prevented by attention to asymptomatic bacteria.

Bacteria detection

Asymptomatic bacteria simply means the presence of sizable numbers' of bacteria in the urine without causing symptoms. The condition may occur at any age and in either sex but is especially frequent in females, affecting 1.2 percent of schoolgirls and 6 percent of pregnant women. There is ovi- dence that if left untreated bacteria may eventually cause the kidney disease pyelonephritis, which in turn may result in kidney failure. Bacteria can be treated effectively once detected, and newer tests now make its detection simpler and more practical. Today, as the next chapter will show, many testing procedures are available to make it possible for the physician increasingly to anticipate and prevent disca rather than wait for it to appear.

CALCULATING RISKS and nature care on Our body care, diseases and conditions-1000 posts following

CALCULATING RISKS of Diseases and conditions

First, it became evident not only that people vary in susceptibility to disease but that increased risk depends upon many factors and that it is possible to calculate risks. Breast cancer, for example, occurs in 5 percent of white women over black in the United States-and so, on the average, there is a 1 in 20 But a woman with a positive family history of breast cancer-one mother or sister or aunt developed the disease-has triple the risk on her women. (Let us say, at once, that if this increased hazard be- of hereditary influences stood by itself it' would be only a more But it stands with increasingly sensitive and detecting her at earlier and earlier-and therefore more curable-stages, and scores the wisdom of special emphasis on breast cancer detection such a woman.
Other factors, racial and social, help to identify special proneness’s. Japanese have a high risk of stomach cancer but relatively low risk breast cancer; the Chinese and Malaysians have a high risk of nose throat cancer. In unskilled American workers and their wives, the incidence of cancer of the stomach and uterine cervix is three to four times higher than among people in the professional fields. On the other hand cancer of the breast and leukemia are substantially more common in the higher economic classes. there are occupational factors to be considered.

For example, urinary bladder cancer has an increased incidence among dye workers, in that industry programs have annual tests of urine. Medicine also has been establishing other characteristics associated with high risk of specific diseases as a means of permitting preventive medical care to be used. For coronary heart disease, which may lead to the heart attack, the characteristics include excessive levels of certain fats II the blood, high blood pressure, high pulse rate, cigarette smoking, physlcal inactivity, and premature cessation of ovarian activity in a woman. The incidence of the disease, in men aged 40 to 59 for example, (from 9 per 1,000 when one of these factors is present to 77 per 1,000 when any three of them are present.