Medical Advances of Yesteryear

"Every month Good Housekeeping records practical progress made in medical science"
and the May 1952 had some good information!

Breast Cancer -
has a definite hereditary tendency according to a study made in New York's Presbyterian Hospital.  The condition is about three times more common among the daughters of women with breast cancer than among the rest of  the population.  The cancer develops approximately 10 years earlier in the daughter than the mother.


Peptic Ulcers -
in a psychosomatic study of 25 women with peptic ulcers, a profound personality disturbance was found in EVERY case.  Almost every patient had lost her mother early in life, had been rejected by her mother, or had had an abnormally intense conflict with her mother.  She had therefore turned to her father, and later to her husband, for emotional security.  In each case, the symptoms of ulcer developed after the patient was rejected by her father and husband.

DDT -
(although it has been proven toxic now) DDT has not been responsible for any large scale illness as a result of its use in eliminating flies from dairies.

Early Air Bags -
Dentists warn that a child who sits or STANDS in the front seat of an automobile is in the most dangerous place in the car.  He may easily fracture his teeth by hitting the dashboard after a sudden stop.  Some automobile manufacturers are installing crash pads on dashboards to keep people in the front seat from being hurt by violent contact with dashboard knobs.  If a child's teeth should be injured - they should immediately be held in place by splints, in order to assure satisfactory recovery.

And last but not least some good news....there have been fewer cases of syphilis and gonorrhea than years past!