Consumption, its relation to man and his civilization, its prevention and cure / by John Bessner Huber.

  • Huber, John Bessner, 1864-
Date:
[1906], [©1906]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Consumption, its relation to man and his civilization, its prevention and cure / by John Bessner Huber. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    tions and surroundings. As in nearly every case a do(tlor has sug- gested the advisability of going West, the responsibility for this slate of affan-s rests squarely ui)on the shoulders of our profession. One of the tirst lessons I drew from my experience was that jiiost people who go West for their health are disappointed in the result partly for reasons which I have endeavored to make clear, and partly because more is expected of the climate than it can possibly pcTform under any conditions. The majority of the tuberculous invalids that are observed have long since passed tlie point at which they would be favorable cases for admission to the large institutions in the East, and it does seem absurd that cases deemed hopeless at home should at once be regarded as hopeful because they have been sent West. I am, moreover, convinced that during recent years Ave have overesti- mated the curability of tuberculosis, even under the most favorable conditions in a favorable cUmate, and, furthermore, that there is a great tendency to underestimate the length of time required to effect a cure. During the first eight months of my own invalidism I was a model patient, and laid the foundation for a subsequent recovery, which, however, was not achieved until four years had passed, although mine was an incipient case of the best or afebrile type. I was thus impressed with the fact that to get well at all is a large con- tract to fill, and requires a much greater expenditure of time tlian is ordinarily allotted to it. Cases are so variable and the constitutional equation upon which so much depends is so little known that it is never more than guessing to put a time limit upon tuberculosis. I have several instances in mind in which patients were sent West five or ten years ago to get well in six months and they are still coughing. The Lord only knows how many are dead who were assured of an early and brilliant recovery ! An interesting class of patients observed is exemplified by the person with ample means and the invalid habit. Though recovery has occurred, possibly years before, a certain delicacy of constitution and long-established custom have impelled a conviction that idleness is the only business compatible with living. With some this becomes a fixed idea which drives them South for the winter and North for the summer, ad infinitum. For my part, I cannot understand what good it does to get well when it requires the energies of a lifetime to keep well. Then there is the invalid with the climate habit. He is always interested in the place in which he does not happen to be. I knew one poor chap, visiting thirty-seven towns in two years, who followed that ignis fatuus, the proper climate for his case. When failure is progressive and the end is near, it is indeed sad to see such as he race