How to Live: Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern ScienceFisher, Irving
Science
How to Live: Rules for Healthful Living Based on Modern Science
Fisher, Irving
Hygiene
Dr. Rosenau says: "Every boy and girl, before reaching the age of
puberty should have a knowledge of sex, and every man and woman before
the marriageable age should be informed on the subject of reproduction
and the dangers of venereal diseases. Superficial information is not
true education. On the other hand, it is a mistake to dwell unduly upon
the subject, for in many instances the imagination and passion of youth
are inflamed by simply calling attention to the subject."
The Life Extension Institute can furnish special pamphlets covering
this important topic.
The loss of citizens to the State from the sterilizing influence of
gonorrhea upon the productive energy of the family, and the blighting
destructive effect of syphilis upon the offspring offer extremely
serious problems for preventive work.
Section IV--Teeth and Gums
There is one source of poisoning and infection so universal as to need
special mention. This is infection through the mouth. Considered from
the standpoint of efficiency, the modern mouth is out of adjustment with
modern conditions--or, perhaps we should say, modern conditions are out
of adjustment with it. Notwithstanding the numerous bacteria that
flourish within its portals, mouth secretions and the mucous membranes
do not seem to have the protecting power which is often manifest in
other regions of the body and which protects an animal in a state of
nature. Wild animals are not subject to caries or dental decay, as are
man and domesticated animals.
[Sidenote: Mouth-dangers]
There are two forms of mouth-danger that should be clearly
differentiated. Dental caries, or decay, is at first largely a chemical
process and affects the tooth proper. Pyorrhea, or Riggs's disease,
affects the tissues surrounding the root of the tooth, and is
accompanied with infection by pus bacteria, and possibly also by animal
parasites, termed endameba. Scrupulous cleanliness of the mouth largely
prevents both of these maladies.
[Sidenote: Dental Decay]
In caries, or dental decay, plaques or films of mucin from the saliva
form on the tooth-surfaces and enclose bacteria and particles of
carbohydrate food, which undergo fermentation with the formation of
lactic acid, which dissolves the lime salts on the surface of the teeth,
leaving only the organic matter. This organic matter is then attacked by
bacteria. Putrefaction sets in, and you have a cavity. This cavity is,
of course, a menace, as it harbors various forms of bacteria, which may
infect the general system through the root canals, or the digestive
system by being swallowed with the food, and also gives rise to
abscesses at the root-tips.
[Sidenote: Pyorrhea]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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