Treatment and Prevention of Consumption (Tuberculosis)
This insidious and deadly disease is caused by tiny plant growth derived from people or animals that already have tuberculosis. The saliva of a tuberculosis patient is teeming with such germs, and when it dries to dust, the germs can be stirred up and breathed in or mixed with food, for example milk, and thus enter the body. A dry tissue can also transmit the infection. But these germs, although continually carried into the lungs of almost everyone, do not grow in everyone. The healthy body can resist them, and it is only in the body that has little resistance, due to a low state of health, that they take root and thus begin to operate.
THE TREATMENT
• Unlimited fresh air and good nutritious food is the only cure if the patient can afford it. This means simply breathing in every breath of air as clean as possible. It is strongly recommended to sleep outside the house, with the right and left sides completely open, and with protection only from the rain, with plenty of clothing and, if necessary, hot water pots to supply the required heat, and every hour of the The day, as far as possible, should be spent outdoors, lying down or doing light exercise.
• The food to be taken must be nutritious and abundant. Plenty of milk, butter, and eggs should form the basis of the diet.
• The bed in which the consumptive patient lies should not be in a corner, but outside the wall, to allow cleaning and ventilation. Curtains and rugs are dust collectors; reduce the number of such items as much as possible. In the event of death by consumption, the room occupied by the deceased must not be used again until it has been completely disinfected. The floor and woodwork should be cleaned with damp dusters and then abraded with soap and water. If the walls are decorated, the wallpaper should be well moistened, peeled off and burned. If the walls have been whitewashed, it should be refreshed with limewater, containing a quarter pound of chlorinated lime per gallon of limewater. The patient’s bed cover, pillow case, blankets and sheets should be soaked in boiling water and then washed.
• Consumption is often associated with sores on the neck or other parts of the body, which are extremely difficult to heal. The sores should be soaked daily in warm weak acetic acid and covered with olive oil. If it is not cured by this simple means, then it will become much less severe.
• Rapid pulse and extreme fever, which accompany rapid and advanced wasting, can often be greatly relieved by applying cooling cloths to the heart. Sponging the entire body with vinegar or weak acetic acid will also greatly refresh the patient. It can be done under the covers, to avoid any possibility of chills. Cold cloths over the heart and chest, if they cause chills, may be accompanied by foot and leg dressings.
• The temperature of a consumptive patient should be recorded three times a day, and if it is above normal, the patient should remain in bed until it reduces. And when the temperature drops, light exercise will be very beneficial. And a gradual increase in walking should also be taken each day.