Tonsilitis

Tonsilar surgery is one of the little fads indulged in by the profession. In lieu of knowledge of how properly to advise parents to feed their children so as to avoid building the so-called disease tonsilitis--or teach them how to care for the children so that these little enlargements will be absorbed when once established, the profession removes these enlargements, leaving behind the cause, to work out dire consequences in the future in various forms of pathologies.

Cause.--Children of the scrofulous or tubercular diathesis--in other words, those with an inherited tendency to take on inflammation of the lymphatic glands and tuberculosis--are more subject to sore throat, tonsilitis, croup, or catarrh of the air-passages than other children.

These children, from wrong feeding, develop a sensitiveness to protein--protein sensitization. They have frequent gastric (stomach) crises. A little overindulgence on sweets, butter, sugar and cream, rich foods, ice-cream, and cake, with the usual starch and milk, will develop such symptoms as colds, catarrh, cough, vomiting, bad breath, fever, slight or severe tonsilitis, diarrhea, or constipation. These crises pass off in a few days; but the throat continues red, the cough comes and goes, nervousness and restlessness in sleep are common, and the breath is bad most of the time. These symptoms may be very light and infrequent in some children, while others will be very sick--develop gastric crises (bilious spells?)--three or four times a year. From the lightest to the most severe, there is tonsilar involvement. When not acute, it is subacute. The enlargement of the glands comes and goes. Sometimes the glands fill the throat, and in a week or two or three, under proper care, they are almost normal. Following a severe crisis, the inflammation runs so high, and gastro-intestinal putrescence is so intense, that the mucous membrane of the tonsils ulcerates. For the enlarged tonsils the surgeon says most emphatically: "The rotten tonsils must come out, or they will cause rheumatism or heart disease, or kill by infecting the whole system." The innocent man does not know that those two tonsilar guardsmen have "fought, bled, and died," defending the system from septic gas absorption continuously eructating from a "rotten" stomach. At this state of catarrhal evolution the pulmonary (lung) lymphatic glands are also busy taking up and detoxifying the infectious gases being thrown out through the lungs, and, unless successful, they too will rot. Then nomenclature declares that pulmonary tuberculosis has developed.

Tonsils are guardsmen. The larger they are, the more work they have done in absorbing and detoxifying the infection being evolved from rotten food in the stomach and bowels.

From the above it should be obvious that tonsilitis, and the diseases of the air-passages, are not primary diseases. These derangements are effects. The cause is overeating and vicious eating, resulting in converting the intestinal canal into a seething gehenna, in which decomposition dieth not and fever (infection) is not quenched.

To cut out the tonsils in no way acts on cause. The operation has no virtue, except that the fee for operating feeds the self-deluded profession, and fools the people into believing that they are doing something for their children.

The operation leaves parents as stupidly ignorant as before, and the children susceptible to the development of eruptive fevers, which are indigenous to this chronic gastro-intestinal status. This stomach derangement will never be normal until parents learn the correct care of their children.

From the army of maltreated children are recruited victims for the army of the Great White Plague (pulmonary tuberculosis) every year. When catarrhal evolution does not end in this way, gouty subjects evolve rheumatism, as well as heart and bone derangements; yes, also rickets.

Treatment.--First of all be it known by those interested: Never feed starch and protein in the same meal. The old familiar phrase that has been used time out of mind by the profession, "diseases peculiar to children," will be a thing of the past when mothers learn that said diseases are due almost absolutely and entirely to this error in diet. Of course, prominent physicians--those supposed to be authorities--will declare that this idea of not combining starch and protein is "piffle"; but, inasmuch as it is quite generally acknowledged that the cause of disease is not known, it ill becomes those who do not know the cause to dispute anything that may be advanced concerning the cause.

A child that is having gastric crises--acute gastritis, or inflammation of the stomach--every two or three months, and from this cause feeding up a little tonsilitis, pharyngitis or laryngitis, must be fed very little for a week or two to overcome the gastric symptoms.

A child that is suffering from gastritis and tonsilitis should be put to bed, and be given no food until the symptoms have subsided. If anything is given at all, it should be only a little fifty-fifty, orange juice and water until decidedly better, then give, for breakfast, orange; for lunch, as much fifty-fifty, milk and water, as desired; in the evening, the same. The second day, orange juice for breakfast; puree of some vegetable, and a glass of fifty-fifty, milk and water, at noon; in the evening, milk straight. The third day, toast eaten properly, followed with fruit for breakfast; cooked vegetables and milk at noon; milk and fruit for the evening meal. If all is going well, the child can be put on the full diet according to instructions for its proper age.

During the stomach crisis the bowels should be moved by enemas until cleared out of any accumulation, after which no enemas should be used unless the bowels refuse to move for two days; then it will be necessary to use the enema again. Avoid, if possible, the enema habit.

In severe cases, with a temperature running to 103 degrees F. or more, hot applications to the abdomen, heat to the feet, and thorough bowel-cleansing, with positively no food until normal. Then feed as instructed above.