CHAPTER XXI 



HOW TO KEEP WELL WITHOUT DRUGS AND PATENT 



MEDICINES 



EVERY year millions of people suffer from tuberculosis, 

 pneumonia, typhoid fever, and diphtheria. Some recover 

 entirely and regain full health and strength; others recover 

 partially but are weakened for life; and still others die. Tuber- 

 culosis alone kills about 400 of our countrymen every day, and 

 in its deadly work consumes more money than is spent on all 

 the public schools of the country. Almost as many people are 

 killed by pneumonia, and it causes even more intense suffering. 

 Coughs, colds, and catarrh are considered homely and harmless 

 diseases, but severe attacks of them often cause great discom- 

 fort and weakness, and temporary loss of work. Dangerous dis- 

 eases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, typhoid fever, and 

 diphtheria, as well as simpler ailments, such as coughs and colds, 

 are due to special bacteria, which make their way into the body 

 and live upon its tissues. Different types of bacteria are re- 

 sponsible for different diseases. Certain bacteria destroy lung 

 tissue and cause pneumonia ; other bacteria develop in the small 

 intestine and produce typhoid fever; still other bacteria de- 

 velop mainly in the respiratory organs, such as nose, throat, and 

 pharynx, and cause influenza. 



Bacteria that produce disease, like bacteria that spoil food, 

 multiply rapidly, decompose the substances upon which they feed, 

 and throw off poisonous secretions. Like the bacteria that pro- 

 duce decay, they are everywhere, but there are simple effective 

 methods of protecting the body against disease, just as there are 

 simple effective methods of protecting food against decay. 



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