The medical profession, the national insurance act, and the state of poor law dispensaries in Ireland : being the first part of the Carmichael Prize essay, 1913 / by H. Nelson Hardy.

  • Hardy, H. Nelson (Horatio Nelson)
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The medical profession, the national insurance act, and the state of poor law dispensaries in Ireland : being the first part of the Carmichael Prize essay, 1913 / by H. Nelson Hardy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    observers may lead to the discovery of the long-sought cure. Against this it might be urged that skilled observations of this kind have been persistently made in all civilized countries during the last half century, and that it is not at the bedside that the chief advance has been made. The work of Koch and his followers, which has added so greatly to our knowledge of the disease and of its treatment, was done in the laboratory, and not in the wards; and it is to laboratory research, properly endowed and directed, that we must look for further enlightenment. Sanatoriums and chest hospitals apply the knowledge provided by the schools of research, but they can do little more. Scientific research and experimentation on animals susceptible to the infection have taught us that the natural forces in the human body can overcome the growth of certain microscopic organisms, such as the tubercle bacillus, if those natural forces are maintained in their fullest working order ; but in order to maintain this high standard of health, the patient who has become the host of the tubercle bacillus must live an ideally hygienic life, and this, in most cases, he can only do if he gives up his whole time to it. By entering a sanatorium he places himself under scientific direction, and leads the kind of life that may be prescribed for him. Sanatorium treatment implies compulsory hygiene. The patient is forced to do the things that he ought to do, and to leave undone the things that he ought not to do. If his natural powers of recovery are then unequal to the contest with his microscopic enemy, the sanatorium treatment can do no more for him. The disease progresses, more slowly, perhaps, but still progresses. Hence the necessity, so often urged and so seldom acted upon, of adopting the treatment at the earliest possible moment. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF TUBERCULOSIS DISPENSARIES. From papers read at the British Medical Association meeting in Birmingham last year, it is evident that those who have studied the question practically regard the establishment of dispensaries lor the treatment of tuberculosis as quite as necessary as, or even more necessary than, that of sanatoriums. Dr. Philip, of Edinburgh, who has had very great experience in the matter, maintains that the great purpose of these dispensaries is that there should be no case of the disease, even in its earliest stages, undetected or uncared for. He thinks it is best, in the interests
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