Before we adjourned I spoke briefly and I placed emphasis on physical disablement. In the debate so far, and usually in these debates, we hear little of physical disablement. The Minister told us that there were 11,000 deaths from heart disease in 1962. I suppose that is a natural disease to some extent as we must die sometime and die of something. I assume heart disease is one of the diseases we suffer from when in decay but I think it is unnatural to suffer from heart disease in middle age.
We are told also there were 4,897 deaths from cancer and 697 from lung cancer in 1962. We are told this disease is something that cannot easily be cured because we do not know what it is. We are told that it is not a germ and cannot be killed. We had 426 deaths from tuberculosis which shows that the problem is almost solved. There were 27 maternal deaths. Then we come to bronchitis and from what I know of it—I have a touch of it myself —smoking aggravates it. Before I gave up smoking 16 years ago, when I did smoke I coughed violently and I had colds regularly and had to go to the doctor regularly. When I gave up smoking, I scarcely coughed any more and, to a large extent, my bronchitis ceased. From my experience, I say smoking aggravates bronchitis.
I have a special interest in this problem of physical disability. Perhaps the reason is that I had quite a bit of trouble myself. I have been in and out of hospitals. I have been with all the experts, or alleged experts, and with all the quacks and I have some idea of the subject. Perhaps the reason it is not spoken of here is, as I have learned, that the medical profession do not study specifically muscular disease in their curriculum. They get a brief outline of the subject but, other than that, they are not trained to diagnose muscular disease or diseases of the nervous system as it affects the muscles, or allied complaints.
In the past, I have gone to numerous doctors and they were not able to express an opinion. I did not know until later that, in fact, they were ignorant of this subject. They did not tell me they were ignorant of it but they were. It is since then that I have learned that physical medicine is a specific subject. It is not part of the curriculum for the M.B. degree but I understand that having got that degree, many doctors make a special study of physical medicine. In other words, it is a separate subject. Unless a doctor decides to go in for this special subject, he remains ignorant of this problem of physical disability. I have learned that there is not a handful of doctors in this country who have specialised in physical medicine. I am told that.
I know some of these people. I spoke to a medical doctor today, a friend of mine. He admitted that they just got a brief outline of physical complaints of a muscular nature, that they do not study it and, in fact, are not able to diagnose the complaints. He said that certain doctors take up physical medicine after they get their degree but that there is not a handful of them in this country. I am asking the Minister to take an interest in this subject. I am asking him to inquire as to whether it is true that there are not many doctors of physical medicine; whether it is true that this is something outside the curriculum and whether he will aid those people who wish to study physical medicine.
There are various forms of physical disability. A person might perhaps have spinal curvature. Anyone with any sense knows that if anyone has spinal curvature, it can impinge on certain nerves. Every limb of the body is controlled from the spine by nerves. If our nerves are impinged upon, it means that the specific muscle associated with a nerve wastes and that particular muscle or that particular limb can become useless and the person become crippled. Not only that, it is quite self-evident to anyone with any sense that if some limb becomes wasted because of some defect of the nerve, then its opposite number will also become affected. I tried to explain here when I spoke last that the muscles in the human body are like the braces on pants. One side balances the other. If you tighten one brace against the other, you know how awkwardly your pants will sit on you, do you not? Commonsense will tell you that there would be a terrific strain on the part that was short and in no time the buttons on part of your pants would pull out.
I want to point out that the muscular system is like that. If part of the muscular system becomes wasted, its opposite number also becomes affected.
In a nutshell, there are various forms of muscular disablement. It can be due to spinal curvature. It can, maybe, be an occupational disease. Some people use one part of the body exceptionally more than the other. That, eventually, would cause what one could describe as occupational disease of the muscles. One part is overworked and its opposite is overstrained. If you overstrain a muscle, it sets in muscle nerve spasms and a person will eventually become crippled.
Altogether apart from that, there is such a thing as arthritis. We all know about and read about arthritis. To a large extent, this also is due to some form of unbalanced condition of the body. Arthritis affects from 15,000 to 20,000 persons in this country. I am satisfied from my inquiries that there must be from 30,000 to 40,000 people in this country suffering from a physical disability of one kind or another— let it be an unbalanced condition, spinal curvature, muscular atrophy, arthritis, call it what you like, they are all allied diseases. My point is that the medical profession are ignorant on this subject to a large extent and cannot diagnose these ailments and therefore cannot help. I have that from doctors. They admit it. I appeal to the Minister to take an interest in this. In the past, when you had people such as those osteopathy people who manipulated the spine, the medical profession refused to recognise them. They are recognised in America and a number of medical doctors have taken up the subject of osteopathy and are accepted because they are MB's. They are recognised doctors who have taken up the subject.
Apart from osteopathy, there is such a thing as muscle disease as apart from any spinal defects. It is pitiful to see the thousands of people suffering, not able to walk, not able to get out of bed, and for whom there is no help. In fact, a doctor told me today that he knows hundreds who are practically bedridden with arthritis or muscular disease of one sort or another and that nothing can be done for them. They will not be accepted into a municipal hospital because they have no blue card and, anyway, hospitals look on those cases as semi-permanent cases and do not want them. They want someone on whom they can do a job and who can then leave the hospital. They do not want cases who could be there for months or years.
I am told that because the families of some of these people, or the people themselves, are alleged to have means they will not be treated in a voluntary hospital or it becomes uneconomic for them to get treatment because this is a form of disease that takes endless treatment. It is not like any other disease where a job can be done on it in two months. You can be affected by arthritis or an allied disease and it could involve years of treatment once or twice a week and nobody could afford that.
Again, because there are not many doctors of physical medicine and because there are not many clinics, those people are overworked. I was told lately by a doctor of physical medicine that he was overworked. He said he could give treatment only once a week to patients who should be getting it two or three times a week. He says he cannot touch cases in the home.
This is a very serious matter. I appeal to the Minister to take an interest in it. Unless somebody such as the Minister takes an interest in it, people will be allowed to suffer. We know all about mental diseases, tuberculosis, and so on. Those people are unfortunate but they get every help. I am asking the Minister to remember that there are from 20,000 to 30,000 people in this country suffering from serious physical disablement of one sort or another. I do not believe five per cent are getting proper treatment because the doctors, the clinics or the facilities generally are not there. I could speak on other subjects but I will not. I want what I said to sink into the Minister's mind. I know he will consider it. I know what I am talking about. I have had experience of this for 40 years and I am appealing to the Minister to do something about it.