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not blind us to the fact that tuberculosis is still lethal and that any
sign of complacency would be most culpable. Moreover, we need
to pay much more attention to those predisposed to tuberculosis
such as diabetics, alcoholics, and long-term corti-costeroid patients
as well as to certain close communities including old people's
welfare homes, reception centres and lodging houses.
It is disquieting to observe a recent rise in asthma deaths. This
is a troublesome and distressing illness, often of obscure origin,
of which there are some half a million sufferers, young persons
appearing to be the hardest hit. In England and Wales 15% of
all children are handicapped in some way of which asthma is one
of the most common forms. There are a number of causes of
"bronchial spasm", the principal abnormality of asthma, ranging
from emotional and physical tension to allergy and infection. The
reasons for bronchial spasm are not fully understood but in many
instances there is an inherited tendency towards the condition.
Studies in Holland have shown that some people become allergic
to a mite which feeds on dead skin scales and lives in the dust of
bedrooms and mattresses. Recently, a powder which has to be
inhaled deeply into the lungs, although not a cure, has proved very
effective in preventing the onset of an asthmatic attack but
insufficient time has elapsed for a full medical assessment to be
made. Where the aetiology is known, prevention is achieved by
avoiding conditions giving rise to the symptoms.
Rheumatic Diseases
For the nation, it is only too clear that rheumatic diseases constitute
a major medical, social and economic problem and very
few arthritics need to be reminded of the toll extracted by these
complaints in terms of human suffering and misery. General
practitioners consider that more than 10% of all their work is
concerned with this group of diseases. Official statistics, based
mainly on medical certification and therefore not strictly a true
assessment of the problem, reveal that almost ¾ million new spells
of incapacity are certified annually in accordance with the National
Health Service Act which give rise to a loss of 35 million working
days and £165 million in wages each year.
Basically, rheumatic diseases are considered to be of two types,
namely, those where the disease is essentially the result of inflammatory
conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing
spondylitis and those in which the essential ingredient is degeneration
as exemplified in osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc disease.
A figure giving the real incidence of rheumatic conditions is
probably unattainable. Over 7 million individuals in the country
believe that they are victims of some form of rheumatic