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from the reactions and allergies so prevalent today amply justifies
a prediction that the next two decades will see the virtual disappearance
of communicable diseases as we now know them.
During this period, we will come to understand more fully the
principle by which our immune system works and thereby we
shall be able to use it to the benefit of individuals in ways which,
at present, we can only conjecture.
Whilst maintaining prevention of the environmental diseases, our
future efforts towards reducing morbidity are likely to be directed
not only to those overt "genetically determined" diseases and the
abiotrophies such as Huntington's chorea, familial polyposis,
acholuric jaundice, etc., but also to a number of the more common
complaints which now appear to be involved with genetic factors.
If diagnosis is made early enough, there is scope for treatment
in those diseases where gene mutation is implicated and a reduction
in the number of children born with such conditions is possible if
genetic counselling is encouraged. By applying special prophylactic
measures, prevention is possible in cases where there is a
genetic predisposition, i.e., diseases of mixed genetic and environmental
origin such as diabetes, duodenal ulcer, rheumatic fever
and schizophrenia which depend upon the cumulative effects of
many genes interacting with an environmental "trigger".
It is unfortunate but incontrovertible that health, be it individual
or communal, is seldom appreciated until it is lost. Only then is
the individual or community prepared to put some credence in
the truism that "prevention is better than cure". However, in the
euphoria engendered by the restoration of normal conditions, such
belief appears to vanish overnight and preventive medicine is again
afforded its usual unspectacular and unglamourised role.
This established role of local authority health departments, so
vital and so carefully nurtured and shaped over many years by
painstaking dedication, education and sheer application, could be
threatened by present incipient reorganisations both real and
rumoured. It would be a tragedy if such "expertise" and accumulated
knowledge were to be dissipated merely for transient administrative
convenience or change introduced for "change's sake".
Alcoholism
Alcohol aids digestion, is in many ways a food, is usually
pleasant to take and is accepted as a social beverage leading to
convivial association. Within this construction its use is harmless
but the regular employment of alcohol for the relief of tensions and
anxieties must be considered an abuse which may well result in
addiction.