Many a man bemoans his fate when bed-ridden and tortured by pain, and yet we cannot fail to recognize, upon further consideration, that such suffering often serves but to pave the way for recovery. Very frequently the advent of slight pain is the earliest indication that something in our organism is amiss, and promptly leads us to think of measures for the prevention of further trouble. A sickness can often be controlled at the outset upon using proper measures, and thus entirely averted. Severe pains not infrequently mean the saving of life, since they compel indolent or careless persons to seek the physician’s help while there is still time. How few persons, indeed, would consult the doctors and discontinue excessive eating, were they not forced to do so by their aches and pains.

Not a few diseases are to be classed as serious and dangerous to life owing to the fact that, of themselves, they do not give rise to discomfort, and lull their victims into a false sense of security. Many a diabetic would live longer, were he reminded by tormenting pains of the necessity of careful treatment and restriction in his diet. Thus even pain is of service to mankind.

Other annoying symptoms of disease must also be regarded as expressions of nature’s efforts towards self-cure. When a person makes use of an article of food that has undergone deterioration, nature often endeavors to remove it by an evacuation of the intestinal canal. Again, no harm is done when a glutton at length upsets his stomach, loses his appetite, and allows the ill-used organ to rest. And he is being let off cheaply, if his over-burdened stomach procures its own relief by vomiting. When a person has an attack of gout and sweats profusely, noxious substances are likewise eliminated thereby. When the illness is over, however, one feels not infrequently all the more fresh and rested after convalescence, whence the ancient Greeks not incorrectly said: “Το παθὸς ἱάτρος έστι.”

Indeed that sickness is oftentimes directly beneficial in its effects is a matter of frequent observation. If, for example, a markedly obese person becomes diabetic—in such cases the disease appears in a mild form, as a rule,—his chances of long life are thereby not infrequently improved. I observed this in the case of an American lady who weighed 162 kilogrammes (357 pounds). The mild form of diabetes which this lady developed was certainly not to her detriment, for whilst she could lose weight as a result and live for a long period, her situation would have been far different had the obesity progressed still further.

We have already endeavored to show that fever is in reality an expression of efforts of the body at self-healing, as we likewise maintained with reference to skin affections. So, too, the syphilitic patient who exhibits diffuse skin-eruptions, as well as other localized manifestations in the peripheral tissues, has a better outlook with respect to the dreadful nervous consequences of this disease than one who never exhibits the outer signs of the infection.

We perceive, therefore, that that which we call disease is nought else but nature’s attempt to attain health—a kind of defensive reaction against harmful substances. The disease proper has often already been present for some time; it already exists at the very instant in which the invading foe makes its entrance into the body. Between this time and the moment when the reaction of the body,—that is, what we are in the habit of calling the disease,—appears, a considerable period may frequently elapse; oftentimes it may even extend through several years, as in leprosy or in the sleeping sickness. It would thus be entirely rational to interfere at a time when the enemy has not yet penetrated into the body. Unfortunately the signs which might acquaint us with its presence have not at that time found distinctive expression. Vague symptoms such as mild headache, want of appetite, lassitude, low spirits, etc., may alone exist, and yet it is necessary that even these should be watched for. Already in this period it would be advisable to seek the physician’s aid, and if many be deterred therefrom because of the expense involved, it should be recalled that oftentimes fifty visits cannot procure the result which might have been obtained by a few preventive measures. Thus the very mildest symptoms of illness are not to be disregarded,—a fact with which children in particular must be impressed. Older persons and teachers should likewise be made familiar with this precept. What a multitude of human lives could be saved in this way!

But in order to recognize the slightest indications of an approaching illness, deviations from the normal state of health would have to be closely studied. The science which apprises us of the functions of normal organs would have to be given more extensive recognition, and physiology would have to become the basis of the physician’s every thought and method of treatment. The system prevailing among the Chinese, who in many ways surpass us in logic, and who pay the doctor only so long as they are in health, is thus not so unreasonable. The best plan of all would be for each family to have its own house-physician, whom it could consult regularly, especially if there be children; for such a person alone is capable of recognizing the earliest deviations from the normal. The prevention of disease would have to constitute the basis of all our therapeutic endeavors.

In order to become of real assistance to Nature, however, the physician must be continually following in the wake of her efforts to secure health. If the defensive reaction brought about by Nature against toxic materials is too feeble, he must assist her by proper remedies. Thus when the use of spoiled food is followed by diarrhœa, he must not arrest the latter; otherwise he would, indeed, be locking the wolf in with the sheep. On the contrary, he must imitate Nature and accordingly administer a purgative. Again, if on taking cold or during a gouty attack a person falls into a profuse sweat, it would certainly be illogical to administer a remedy to counteract this beneficent influence; another means of producing perspiration should rather be availed of, as, for example, the salicylates. If, on the other hand, the reaction is too strongly marked, as, for instance, in a young girl with very active thyroid gland, who in consequence of typhoid exhibits a dangerous rise of temperature or hyperpyrexia, then the physician must put on the brakes and save her life by appropriate antipyretic measures.

In view of the above deductions, it is not unjustifiable to believe that the symptoms of disease, i.e., what we designate as disease, together with many other supposed ills, in reality contribute toward the preservation of mankind.