CHAPTER XXXVII 

 ORGANIZATION OF ACTIVITIES FOR PROTECTING HEALTH 



Questions. 1. What organizations influence my health? 2. Why 

 should we pay taxes for the support of hospitals ? 3. What is the ad- 

 vantage of going to a hospital when we are sick ? What is the disad- 

 vantage ? 4. Why must druggists have state hcenses ? Why must 

 nurses have state licenses ? 5. Why do doctors sometimes call in other 

 doctors for consultation? 6. Why cannot the doctor furnish the medi- 

 cines needed instead of sending to the druggist ? 7. What are synthetic 

 drugs ? 8. What is the need for laboratories in the health department ? 



294. Calling the doctor. Most people never think of consult- 

 ing the doctor until they are already sick, just as some people 

 do not lock the garage until after the car has been stolen. 

 Modern science and modern organization teach us that there 

 are ways of preventing trouble which in the long run are more 

 economical and satisfactory than curing trouble after it comes. 



The doctor examines the patient ; he finds out what pains 

 or discomforts he has ; he looks at the skin, the throat, the 

 tongue, the eyes ; he counts the pulse and takes the tempera- 

 ture ; he listens to the heart and to the lungs ; he inquires as to 

 stools and urine ; he tries to get some information about the 

 patient's diet, and about any recent strain, fatigue, chilling, or 

 worry. Sometimes the appearance of the skin or of the throat 

 suggests an infectious disease, and he takes a sample of the 

 sputum or a swabbing from the throat for a bacteriological 

 study ; or he may take away a sample of the urine to be tested 

 in the laboratory. 



All these inquiries, including the laboratory examinations, 

 are for the purpose of making a diagnosis, or a decision as to 

 what ails the patient. This is not always an easy matter. A 

 variety of causes may give rise to the same symptoms— indi- 

 gestion or headache, fever or sore throat, a dry skin or a moist 



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