Pure Air and Correct Breathing—Their Value
By D. H. Kress
By D. H. Kress, M.D., Director of Washington (D.C.) Sanitarium For many years it was considered dangerous to expose the sick to out-of-door air, especially if they had some lung affection. The rooms as a rule were kept sealed. Consequently the mortality rate was very large. During the last few years attention has been called to the importance of pure air in the treatment of tuberculosis and pneumonia. As a result the mortality from these diseases has been greatly reduced. Much is said about the need of pure air for consumptives; but not enough is said in regard to the need of those who are in health to live in a pure atmosphere. Men, women, and children are often huddled together in churches, theaters, schoolrooms, bedrooms, street-cars, on steam-cars, etc.; and no adequate provision is made for the admission of pure air or for the removal of impurities. Colds, influenza, and other diseases are in this way communicated from one to others. The importance of air may be estimated by the fact that we can do without food for many days, but to attempt to do without air for only a few minutes results in death. Food we take but twice or three times a day, while breathing is continuous throughout the twenty-four hours. Air is one of Heaven’s choicest gifts to mankind, and should be valued in health as well as in time of sickness. If it is, there will be much less sickness. There is no more rapid or effective method of introducing poison into the system than through inhalation. If poisons are taken with the food, they pass through the liver before being permitted to enter the general circulation. The liver does its utmost to neutralize or eliminate them. When poison is inhaled, it passes directly into the general circulation and throughout the system. It is therefore of the utmost importance that the air we breathe should be free from impurities.