Your beauty and preventive medicine

Media

Part of Woman's Home Journal

Title
Your beauty and preventive medicine
Creator
Goodrich, Charles H.
Language
English
Year
1938
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Fulltext
32 WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL Manila, January, 1938 Your BEAUTY and PREVENTIVE MEDICINE An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Do not wait for pains or symptoms! Have a Periodic Health Examination regularly! BEAUTY is that quality in nature or art that produces or gratifies aesthetic feelings and forms the basis of aesthetic judgements. Our ultra-modern theory announces that the three elements of human beauty are anatomical (material), physiological, and spiritual. In the realm of the material reside form, outline, proportion, and perfection and order of anatomical contents. Physiology is “The science of the workings of the healthy human body.” Therefore with material beauty must he combined beauty of expression in countenance, color, muscular action, and healthy specialized functions, all inspired, supervised and controlled by a healthy brain. Over all dominates the spirit, that exclusive individual expression of soul, which we call personality. Referring, therefore, only to the scientific aspects of this theory that beauty is dependent upon the material (or anatomical), upon physiology (or the workings of material parts, including brain), and upon personality (wherever and however originating), it becomes evident at once that these are all dependent in varying degrees upon Health. Health is that state in which the body performs all functions freely without mollification, pain, or disease. Preventive Medicine is that type of medical service which aims to safeguard us from disease, substituting a large degree of insurance against a larger degree of otherwise inevitable disease. The field of preventive medicine is so vast that we could use an entire session of days picturing it in words. Welfare in maternity by prenatal and post natal care belongs here. We have a few specific preventive vaccines or sera, as in smallpox, diphtheria, typhoid and paratyphoid, yellow fever, tetanus, scarlet fever. Universal use of the first three is necessary—of the others when indicated by region or’ exposure. The diseases which these can prevent can spoil beauty in many different ways. Small-pox leaves pits and sears not only on the face. Diphtheria can paralyze muscles —even the heart muscle and cause incurable kidney disease with loss of color, vitality and the power to move with giaceful vigor. Typhoid has too many possible sequalae to detail here—all preventable by use of preventive vaccine. Scarlet fever also leaves damaged hearts and kidneys in its wake— likewise yellow fever. In a longseries of cases the prevention of these diseases defends beautiful persons from ghastly hopeless alterations in form, color, grace, mental health and personality. If we plunged now into the consideration of the balance of preventive medicine we should only confuse you with myriads of details. Rather let us take a central position in this vast field, seat ourselves comfortably upon the broad pivot about which it all revolves, and while “viewing the landscape o’er” select a few examples which prove that the existence and the maintenance of human beauty is dependent upon normal construction and normal workings of the body and mind together. This pivot about which Preventive Medicine revolves is the Periodic Health Examination, a complete physical review annually or semi-annually, while the examinee is presumptively in good health. There may have been slight discomforts in the past few months or By Dr . Ch a r l e s H. Go o d r ic h (President, Medical Socieh/ of the State of New York) Mother symptoms of slight degree, disregarded because the individual is a “good sport” and hates to complain. As the examiner starts his inquiry he questions you, not only about symptoms you may remember but also about many symptoms of common occurrence with which you have not charged your mind, but which are easily recalled as he questions. All of your answers are accurately recorded. Then you are examined carefully from top to toes after being measured and weighed. Enlarged Thyroid You have acknowledged that your life is abnormally busy; that due to conscientious care of the children, your many social duties and zest for the enjoyment of life, you are a little tired; that you average six to seven hours of sleep, are more nervously irritable than formerly, although you try not to show it; and that you feel driven all the time. Also, although your appetite is good you have lost some weigh (for which you arc glad), but you perhaps perspire unreasonably and are a little short of breath on the stairs. Then the examination proves that your Ixxrutiful neck contains a slightly enlarged thyroid, your chest a rapid heart. A little tremor of the outstretched hands and other test evidences reveal a thyroid gland so overaclive as to be constantly urging you to unwise degrees of physical and mental activity. A proper regulation of your life by increased rest, diminished drive, proper diet equably distributed, a calmer view of life and duty and perhaps a little medicine, can restore your graceful curves, your color, vour easy breathing, and prevent the promised advance of an otherwise inevitable cataclysm ending in the necessity for surgery or a long intolerable dis ability which would destroy the beauty of which you had long been so proud. Such examinations with beneficent results are (oo few because not applied for — but we have seen them and rejoiced in the restoration of efficiency and beauty. Too often these patients do not appreciate what has been done by the discovery and their cooperation. One of them told her friends, “You know, I really think I had nothing the matter with me.” Then back to the old seething life — renewed trouble — operation — and yet too late for she had damaged her heart irretrivealdy by the long years of thyroid drive. Cancer Perhaps you are forty, hale and hearty, no symptoms even on alert questioning by the examiner. A small lump in one breast is discovered, the only blot in a perfect physical record. Through a small incision so placed as to make the scar invisible whenever you are in the most daring evening costume, the lump is removed. While you are asleep and sweetly dreaming an expert pathologist makes a microscopic examination and pronounces it a benign or non-malignant growth but of such a nature that later it would probably become malignant. The surgeon neatly closes the wound—and lo! you Manila,, January, 1938 WOMAN’S HOME JOURNAL 33 have prevented cancer and your beauty and peace of mind maintained. What if you had never presented yourself for this examination and eight or ten years later had consulted your physician. “How long have you had this lump?” “Only about six months.” “Why did you not come before?” “It was nothing — there was no pain.” Do not wait for pain! Do not even wait for lumps! Have a Periodic Health Examination regularly! Even such late cases are often saved with the sacrifice of the breast — but remember that the painless lump anywhere deserves expert examination. Twelve years ago in a well-known Hospital a general order was issued that in every examination of a woman the breast must be carefully included. In the first seventeen hundred cases twenty-one uhsuspeeted growths were discovered all of which were removed. Seven proved to be cancer and seven lives were saved by early removal — before the patients realized they were there! More than seven were unquestionably saved by the removal of the fourteen then benign growths. Obesity A happy round lady presents herself to the periodic examiner. Yes, she loves to eat! She is very active! She enjoys everything! Her friends say she is the life of the party! Yes, she loves sweets, cakes, candy, ice-cream and butter, and mayonnaise, Russian dressing and pastry. That is best of all! She weighs one hundred and eighty pounds, at least thirty pounds more than is average for her age and height. The examiner perceives that she is a swollen beauty beginning to fade. A proper diet is prescribed with earnest exhoi-tations. She returns once or twice a month for weight record and more exhortations. Each time she “feels better, walks better and glories in her liehtness.” In a year she loses her thirty pounds — her beauty restored, and concludes: “Ho wt I ever carried that other ton around I do not know! And I did not feel as fine as I pretended.” Another plump one — sad and tired and sleepy but perfectly well! Tests show that her thyroid activity is below normal. She lacks that normal driving force that someone has said “Makes the world go around.” She is fed with a little thyroid gland extract every day— loses her excess weight, her weariness and her somnolence, and is cheerful again. Had fat lady number one taken thyroid upon advice of her friends she would have ruined herself for she was travelling too fast already! Had No. 2 dieted on advice of friends she would have grown more sad and tired. Nutritional variations demand the skill and judgment of expert examiners! Diabetes Here is Mrs. Plumpity Number Three! She is also tired and a little out of breath. This is her first periodic examination! She has no other symptoms except that for the last year has had a larger appetite than usual and considerable thirst, briefly relieved by drinking water. She has been fond of sweets but they seem to give her a bad breath now. She has always been overweight and a splendid eater! Examination shows that she has worn out the islands in the Pancreas which govern the usefulness of sugar and starches. Diabetes! Perhaps early? If so, regulated diet and reduction in weight can control it. If later, it can be controlled by insulin. Her beauty may be restored in a measure, but she could have avoided it all by health examinations started • years ago — for obesity is a fifty percent cause of diabetes — and her islands might have been able to manage a moderated diet for many years to come. Thus these three with resembling contours of excess are quite different in present conditions. Number one might easily become number three in time. Number three might have shared the luck of number one some years ago if—. All profit by Periodic Health Examinations. Tuberculosis Now comes a bachelor maid in the late twenties, long, lean, agile with haunting eyes and a worried look. She reduced long since on bananas and skimmed milk prescribed by a friend Now toast and clear coffe for breakfast, two leaves of lettuce and clear coffee for lunch, and a little dinner with coffee preceded by a cocktail or two. Oh, Yes! She smokes a pack BE SURE of quality in your milk supply—buy To feet Carnation quality Look for the Carnation label Two sizes of tins at all dealers FREE PREMIUMS! Carnation Labels may be exchanged for free premiums any time before Dec. 31, 1938, at Pacific Commercial Company’s premium dept., in Manila (1-25 Escolta), in Cebu and in Iloilo. Write for the Carnation free Catalog. Evaporated Milk YOUR milk supply is a matter of importance to your family’s health and welfare. Carnation Evaporated Milk Brings you quality in every tin. Behind the Carnation label are America’s finest dairy herds. A trained corps of Carnation field men guard Carnation quality at its source—insist on clean cows, clean milking, proner cooling and swift transportation to the evaporating plant. The Carnation process at the condenseries, supervised by experts according to highest standards of scientific knowledge and hygienic care, is further insurance of quality. The result is the finest milk that money can buy—Carnation Evaporated Milk —for use in cooking, for baby's bottle, for creaming coffee and cereals. of cigarettes each day—to keep down appetite and weight. Never ill—Oh no! She loves cards, dancing, reading discussions and social, ltfe in general. Plays golf a little in summer but enjoys cards and dancing at the country club better than golf which tires her. Her shouder droop as she stands or sits. She is vivacious—and oh I so proud of her slenderizing success! Her appetite is well under control. In fact she has almost lost it. Loss of color would be evident to all but for rouge. Curves are lost—only angles left—and although she denies it she seems tired when she relaxes to tell her story. These losses of appetite, color, curves, and vigor excite the examiners inquisiteveness. Skin test positive! X’Ray films of her chest show early tuberculosis. If it is early enough, rest, plentiful food, fresh air and sunshine, corrected posture and later exercises will res tore her health and beauty.