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(n) Finsen Light Treatment.—In 1921 the Council entered into an agreement
with the London Hospital for the treatment of persons suffering from Lupus in the
Finsen Light Department of the hospital. A fee of 5s. is paid for each attendance.
Twenty-six attendances were made during the year.
(o) Artificial Pneumothorax.—This treatment consists of collapsing the diseased
lung and so putting it at rest. This is done by introducing gas or air through a
needle into the pleural cavity on the affected side. The air so introduced becomes
absorbed, and has to be replaced at varying intervals. These refills have to be
maintained over a period varying from two to five years.
In 1921 the Council agreed to pay the Brompton Hospital for this work. Patients
are recommended by the Tuberculosis Officer and a fee of 10s. 6d. per refill is made
to the Hospital.
Since 1921 twenty-five cases have been treated by this method with very
satisfactory results. Of this number fifteen are alive and fit for work, six have
died, three have been lost sight of, and one is alive but unfit for work. It is,
however, unsatisfactory to find that so few patients have received the benefit to
be expected from this form of treatment. It is true that only a proportion of
patients, viz., in the main those with one-sided disease, are suitable for this treatment
; but, notwithstanding this fact, it would seem that an insufficient number
of patients are being treated in this way when one considers the total number of
admissions to institutions.
The essential and most important factor in the treatment of tuberculosis is
rest for the lung, and this must be given in a sanatorium or by means of the induction
of an artificial pneumothorax, and it would seem desirable, especially in cases
where the patient is a breadwinner, to use this treatment earlier and so get the
patient back to work. If this is done additional facilities for re-fills will be necessary.
(p) Tuberculosis Care Committee.—When it is realised that tuberculosis is a
disease not of months but of years, it will be seen that the occurrence of a case of
tuberculosis in any family, especially in that of an industrial worker, throws an
almost intolerable strain upon the household. In the early stages of most tuberculosis
schemes of Local Authorities attention was concentrated mainly on the
treatment aspect, less so on the preventive aspect, and very little or not at all on
the necessity for making provision for meeting these economic problems which
arise of necessity in practically every family where tuberculosis has developed.
This difficulty has now been recognised, but as yet Local Authorities have no power
to deal with it. It has become necessary therefore to call on voluntary effort,
and as a result in most places Voluntary Committees have been formed under the
aegis of the Local Authority. How wide the scope of this side of the work is will
be realised if we consider what happens when a member of a family is found to have
tuberculosis and has been recommended for institutional treatment, and ask
ourselves:—