Health Chats - New Year's Resolutions

( Originally Published 1936 )

MY cranky old friend, Dr. Adrian Gibbs, has drawn up a series of New Year's resolutions about medical subjects, which I pass on for the benefit of those who are resolution-minded:

1. I resolve not to put off having my children vaccinated against smallpox, typhoid fever, and diphtheria any longer.

2. I resolve not to proffer any advice to my neighbors about the sickness in their households, because it is probable I do not understand all about it; also because it is not unlikely that the doctor who is taking care of the case has seen just as many cases of it as I have and understands what to do about it.

3. I resolve not to tell anybody who says he has a pain in the heart about my Uncle John who died suddenly on the street two days after he had his first pain in the heart. I resolve not to tell anybody about other similar and fatal occurrences in my family under similar circumstances.

4. I resolve to believe that a doctor is honest and competent when he says there is nothing the matter with me. I resolve to try to believe that a doctor who says there is nothing the matter with me is just as competent, or even more competent than one who finds some-thing about which he is very much worried and for which he can charge me a large sum for treatment.

5. I resolve not to wonder what my blood pressure is during the entire year and not to let it be taken unless for purposes of life insurance examination.

6. I resolve not to take any cathartics when I have an acute pain in the abdomen.

7. I resolve not to nag my children about little things that don't make any difference.

8. I resolve to eat enough but not too much, and to eat a variety of all sorts of foods—milk, bread, meat, vegetables, fruits, sweets and salt. I resolve to remember that how much you eat is just as important as what you eat.

9. I resolve that all my children shall get outdoors and exposure to sunshine, or at least sky-shine, every day this winter.