42
April 1, 1991
American Medical Association
North Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60610
Dear Friends,
The record of my activities is very much out of date so
this is to bring you up to date of what I am doing. I'm not
practicing at the moment, I've taken time off, a year anyhow
to write a book. My interest is prevention. I am concerned
with the increase in illness, at least the cost is going up a
lot and this is puzzling. I was born a long time ago at the
time of the great killers, diphtheria, tuberculosis, polio,
diabetes, etc.
Great advances have been made but there are still
challenges.
In about 1937 I was practicing in Estevan, Saskatchewan.
I worked for two doctors who owned their own hospital. One day a woman came in with streptococcus meningitis. Her spinal fluid was very positive. The case looked hopeless.
She was living on a farm with her in-laws. Her brother had
just died of a strep throat a few days earlier. Apparently
she had acquired the same bacteria.
That week we had received samples of a new medicine.
One was called Prontosil, the other Protocel. One in a
tablet and the other a red liquid. The makers said it was
good for treating streptococcal infection. We gave her the
samples we had and it was a miracle. Her high fever which
was quite high came down to normal and she acted quite happy and well. Later the name of the medicine was changed to Sulfanilamide. We did not know if the medicine was supposed to be given for a longer period. As we were about to send her home her condition came back again. We called a neighboring city and they had not received any samples. We rushed an auto to Regina, the capitol city a hundred miles away. Today a hundred miles does not mean much but on gravel roads it was quite a trip.
Anyway, we got enough medicine to cure the patient. If
her brother had waited a few days to get sick, we could have
saved him too apparently. Later on when I was a resident at
the Manhattan Eye, Nose and Throat Hospital in New York City, a boy came in with an acute mastoid and streptococcal
meningitis. We could find no record in the literature where anyone had recovered from streptococcal meningitis. I did a
mastoidectomy and gave him Sulfanilamide until he turned blue and then we gave him a blood transfusion and anyway he recovered. He was a teenager. Irish. He had no idea how
lucky he had been. As more miracle drugs were discovered and developed, I became very optomistic for the future of the health of people.
However, in recent years I have become disappointed.
People have become careless. They buy health insurance but that doesn't make them healthy. When I walk the streets or visit a supermarket, I see a lot of sickly people. At the
check-out counters I often note sickly looking people with a
shopping cart full of mostly junk food.
What of the future? Like the late Dr. Albert Schweitzer
I am a short term pessimist and a long term optimist.
Presently the food resources of the planet are being steadily
damaged. In much of the planet there is a population
increase which appears out of control. Nature, however may
have the last laugh. World population may stop increasing.
The planet presently is not supporting the people here and
now.
It is as if we were all living on a gigantic ice flow
that is slowly melting while the numbers of people on the
flow is increasing. Along with this the quality of our food
supplies is mostly deteriorating. Too much reliance on
chemical fertilizers and pesticides. I've written articles
about this but I am pessimistic about it.
In my practice, time permitting, I tried to give some
advice to each patient about how they might improve their
health and happiness.
With new people I try to get a glimpse into their basic
nature which I sometimes call their gear ratio. And some
clues to their lifestyle.
I ask people what games they played and for instance I
found baseball players are more likely to breakdown than some other sports types and especially first baseman. A first
baseman is tall and quick but big people should be careful
about being too quick. I inquired what subjects they liked
in school, were they good at math for instance. If they are
good at math and also good at baseball, that was a dangerous combination. One day a very beautiful young women came to my ofice. She was as beautiful as a movie actress,and very quick and intelligent.
She worked for Hewlett-Packard and played on their
baseball team. Her husband came from a peasant family in
Europe. I told her that she had the gift and if she didn't
live more in harmony with her basic nature, she would not
have children but would have miscarriages. She said I've
been married three years and have had four miscarriages.
I told her to bring in her husband. He was a rather
mediocre type. His peasant mother wanted he and his wife to have plenty of children right away. I spent a long time
trying to explain to him the problem with his wife. I don't
think I reached him. I still feel sad about this young
couple. I am even sadder that it happens too often.
One day I had a patient, a beautiful teenage girl. She
was talented. She was really good at everything.
I told her not to let her mother dress her up too fancy.
I said you could look good in a sack. Don't let the school
teachers know how smart you are. She said, "I'm on to that,
my older sister is really not as smart as I am in various
things but they have made her life miserable because they say she's talented so they just harasss her all the time.
Whenever I see that light in their eye I act dumb". It is
sad that she has to act this way to defend herself. I have
told hundreds of school children how they should study at
school.
I said, "do not be competitive against other people. It
is only slaves that compete against their friends for the
master's favor. Free people cooperate with their friends
against the common enemy which today appears to be
ignorance". I would tell the students that schools are a
political thing. But they have facilities, marvelous
facilities for learning.
I made up a story about the swamp and the castle.
Imagine a castle full of treasures of knowledge and modern
facilities and people who can help you learn. If someone
helps you. Show your appreciation. Few teachers get enough admiration. Be cautious about sports. The coaches will often treat the students as things. They speak of football
material. The front office uses the words "college
material". In business they speak of the buying public or
the labor supply. Play some sports but do it for fun. I
favor tennis and you can still play after you graduate.
Enjoy the friendship of other students. Try to make
friends with other students who have the joy of learning.
Avoid being jealous of ones that are smarter than you are.
Finally, take the treasures back home through the swamp.
