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Health-giving conditions
My, how "expert" opinion can shift. No wonder the public is sometimes puzzled over just what kind of conditions are supposed to be health-giving. I'm leafing through a stack of magazine and newspaper clippings that illustrate a wide array of views on what fosters, or may infringe on, our health.
Here's an item that shows a dramatic reversal regarding tonsils. Used to be that people generally thought it was a good thing to have the tonsils out. Now medical authorities aren't so sure. In fact, many specialists consider the majority of tonsillectomies to be unnecessary, tending to subject children to needless risk. See The New York Times, January 16, 1980 .
And then there are endless accounts discussing the uses of various drugs—sleeping pills, tranquilizers, etc.—and the changing, shifting view of what effect these might have on a user. Iatrogenic illness (diseases caused by medical treatment and prescription drugs) has become significant. Of course there's the big fuss over whether cholesterol is harmful or not. On questions of nutrition it's hardly surprising that people really don't know whom to believe anymore. An article in The New York Times makes this observation: "Last February, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare issued a set of dietary guidelines. Two weeks ago those guidelines were disputed in part by the prestigious Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council. Several days later, the board's statements were in turn disputed by Government nutrition experts." The New York Times, June 11, 1980 .
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
July 13, 1981 issue
View Issue-
Conversation with a newcomer
GEORGE E. J. MAHON
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When we wake up
HELEN W. ECKEL
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Awakening thoughts
BEVERLY JEAN McCREARY
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Redemption from wrongdoing
ROBERT C. BRAMAN
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No need for worry beads
LOUIS ABRAHAMS
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Do you collect darkness?
MARY H. GILL
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Right now
PATRICIA RENNIE
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Unhoodwinked!
DOROTHY P. SEAGREN
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Important enough to forget
BEULAH M. ROEGGE
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Health-giving conditions
NATHAN A. TALBOT
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The challenge
Claire Hagenlocher Stubbe
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I am told that shortly after my birth an orthopedic...
KATHRYN DURHAM-FISHER
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While we were camping with some friends in Yosemite National Park,...
PAULINE FERN BURG
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My childhood was spent in a small town where there was no...
LOLA NEWCOMER WILLSON