FAKE MEDICAL ADVICE FOR WOMEN
One young lady wrote me, "Recently I read that imperfectly developed
ovaries might be a reason why some women do not have children. I have
the symptoms which the article said indicated imperfect development.
Does this necessarily mean that I never can have a baby? I seem to be
healthy. I am twenty-one years old. I was to have been married in three
months but now I do not know what to do. 'My boy' loves children as I
do. It seems as though I cannot give him up, yet it surely is not
honorable to marry him if I find that I never will have a little one,
without telling him. Please tell me what to do."
The probabilities are that this girl's ovaries are perfectly normal and
that the article mentioned was an advertisement of some medical house
which, by misleading statements, endeavors to induce women to take their
treatment. There are many women who suffer a great deal mentally, and
this in turn reflects on their physical health because of just such
articles.
It has been said that we are a nation of dupes and the advertisements
carried in some of the papers would indicate the truth of this
statement. No manufacturer is going to advertise anything that does not
sell well and bring a considerable profit. Men are not so altruistic as
to be in business just for the good of humanity. The majority are in
business for the money to be obtained from it. Somehow, women are very
susceptible to the arts of these greedy manufacturers. A company
commences to make a patent medicine and then, in order to derive any
profits from the investment, large quantities of the preparation must be
sold. In order to accomplish this they must convince possible buyers of
their need of this particular treatment. The company employs an agent to
write an advertisement, perhaps in the shape of an article purporting to
be written by someone much interested in the human race. This
advertisement or article describes some disease which may be cured by
this one remedy. As there might not be enough people who know they have
this given disease to make a profit for the manufacturer, it becomes
his business to convince others that they have this disease. Therefore,
he proceeds to enumerate a great many symptoms which he says indicate
this disease. Perhaps they might! But they are just as likely to
indicate any one of half a dozen other things. He details enough
symptoms so that some are recognized by nearly every woman as relating
to her condition, so she jumps to the conclusion that she has that
certain disease and buys a bottle of the medicine.
If you will study the large medical advertisements that appeal
especially to women you will notice that they all have certain symptoms
enumerated. No matter if the remedy advertised is for the kidneys, the
bowels, or exclusively for women, the same symptoms are claimed to
indicate the need of that certain remedy. One of the symptoms most
commonly given is backache. Of course! For nearly every person has a
backache at some time. It may be due to a strain, to rheumatism of the
lumbar muscles (lumbago), to constipation, to a displacement, or to
numerous other conditions. No one can tell the cause who is not properly
prepared to do so and who is not fully acquainted with the physical
condition. The sewing machine runs hard and perhaps makes a noise. It
requires a mechanic who is familiar with the mechanism of the machine to
find the cause of the trouble. So it is with the human body. It requires
a mechanic who is familiar with the structure of the body to discover
the cause of the trouble. And yet people will continue to pour into
their bodies drugs, harmless and otherwise, that are manufactured by
some enterprising firm and then advertised by an expert who knows
nothing of disease except a few symptoms common to almost all diseases.
The patent medicine consumers seldom realize the nature of the medicine
they take. Because some man, desirous of selling his remedy, claims it
will be beneficial, they rush in and buy. To one who knows the true
nature of some of these remedies, many laughable instances are visible.
One man recently discovered that a temperance agitator was daily dosing
herself with a certain tonic which was known to contain a larger
percentage of alcohol than did the beverages she was denouncing so
ardently.
Patent medicines may benefit some, but in the majority of cases, the
consumer is like a man who boards the nearest street-car hoping it will
take him to his destination. It may! But it is just as likely to take
him in the opposite direction.
Some people become veritable drug fiends, slaves to certain drugs
without in the least realizing their condition. How many are slaves to
certain laxatives or headache powders! With them the daily dose of
"harmless" teas or waters or even of pills cannot be neglected. And yet
such a person would be indignant at the suggestion that she was the
victim of a drug habit. What are drugs, anyhow? The majority are simply
extracts of herbs and vegetables. And yet people imagine that they are
avoiding the use of drugs and medicines when they take "simple herb
remedies, prepared at home."
Another lure of the advertiser is to state that all letters are
"strictly confidential and answered by women only." Perhaps they are!
But he neglects to add that the women who answer these letters are
simply stenographers with no medical knowledge, employed to write
according to dictation, that the letters are all written according to
certain forms which have been dictated by the manager. A short time ago
a young woman wrote me regarding her condition. Among other things, she
said she had written to a certain woman whose name is much advertised by
a patent medicine concern and that this woman had written her advice
that had caused her to worry over her condition. Poor, deluded girl! How
was she to know that the woman in question had been dead many years and
that the business was carried on by her son and other men.
If you are ill do not be misled by these unscrupulous advertisers. Do
not waste your time and money on remedies that may be entirely unsuited
to your condition.