More findings of the periodic overhaul

One point to remember when considering the findings is the level of sophistication of the tests. Compared with up-to-date medical check-ups the laboratory work would not have the technology available today, such as scans. However, it could be argued that in assessing nutritional status, such as the blood work done for vitamin levels and….., the Peckham biologists (doctors) were actually way ahead of even present day medicine. Doctors, even now, receive little training on nutrition and health, so will only look at vitamin and mineral levels where there is evidence of a linked disease condition or deficiency. The regular thyroid checks were unusual, though some argue that hypothyroidism still often goes unrecognised.

The first review of the findings of the periodic overhaul was written in 'Biologists in Search of Material' see publications. In 'The Peckham Experiment' see publicationsthe findings include results from a further two and a half years work. The following excerpts are taken from this book, beginning with an important distinction - one could say 'reminder' -about the context:

"Although this book is concerned with the study of Health and with the experimental investigation of the technique required for its cultivation - a procedure distinct in principle, aim and methods from the study and practice of Sickness - it would be incomplete without reference to results of a clinical nature that have emerged from these new methods. Periodic health overhaul of member-families has yielded ascertainable facts in the clinical field about which a definite statement can be made. When dealing with such material we pass into the realm of pathology, so that it becomes necessary to …consider the contents of the first two sections of this chapter from the point of view of traditional Medicine."

"This second review was of 1,206 families, comprising 4,002 individuals of all ages….In 41/2 years, of the 1,206 families examined - 877 families had one overhaul, 227 had two overhauls, 96 had three overhauls, and 6 had four overhauls, at intervals of a year to eighteen months. The overhaul in each case was a complete ojne, including laboratory investigation and personal examinatiojn of each member of the family, followed by a family consultation. As part of the routine of examination, all infants were seen weekly till taking table-food and later fortnightly until walking; monthly till between 3 and 4 years old, when the interval extended to three-monthly. During school years the children were usually seen at six-monthly intervals, but it must be recalled that all children using the Centre came within daily observation of the staff. (Website compiler's note - care of the family is written up elsewhere in the book.)

Besides this routine procedure, between the regular overhauls of each family these same individuals were also examined: -

"The first outstanding finding is that from a total of 3911 individuals of all ages, 3553 (90.85%) at first overhaul were found to have something the matter with them, i.e. some physiological defect, deficiency or aberration. (Website compiler -in a footnote the writers explain that this total excludes infants born during the families' membership as they would have been subject to the influence of the Centre.) As the district from which these families were drawn was chosen because it did not contain a social-problem group of the populace, but on the contrary one that was considered likely to yield a relatively healthy populace, this finding is an arresting one. It indicates that the field in which modern science could be applied with benefit is far greater than that at present visualised by the most advanced advocates of a rational medical service.

In view of the indications from many other sources of a greater prevalence of disorder than is usually recognised, this finding cannot be disregarded on the score of being a solitary and unique survey of its kind. In 1941 among the first batch of American recruits, 50% were rejected as being unfit for admission to the U. S. Army, and in the opinion of the authorities it was unlikely that more than 10% of the rejects could be made fit for service. (References included in original) This indicates that the disorders found were not of a merely transitory nature, and leads to the conclusion that our findings are not peculiar to Peckham, nor even to the British Isles. It is a general, not a local phenomenon that we have encountered. The interest of the findings on the U.S.A. Army recruits is that the 50% of rejects were all young men; that is to say they were of an age when the health of the individual is usually regarded as likely to reach a relatively high level. Amongst our own population the incidence of disorder in males at this age as compared with other ages can be seen from chart 1A (Vicky - I will send copies of this for inclusion.)

Let us examine more closely this 90% of our members with something wrong. Approached from the clinical point of view there is nothing remarkable about the disorders found. In spite of the fact that these individuals were going about their daily work their disorders are just those listed in any text-book of Medicine, the defects ranging from the most trivial to the most serious conditions. It is then not the seriousness V- ditto and throughout the rest of this chapter unless I make clear otherwise!) of his disorder that immobilises the individual, nor, as we shall see, that converts him into a 'patient'.

Approaching our members through health overhaul, we were faced not with'patients' but with the man in the street. Our experience therefore differed widely from that of the clinician. It was for this reason that as well as classifying the disorders from the clinical standpoint which is an objective one, we were able to make a second classification according to the reaction of the individual himself to his condition; i.e. a subjective one. This second method of classification has presented us with medical problems in an entirely new and interesting light.

Classified from the subjective point of view, the individuals over 5 years of age examined by us fall into three categories: -

If, of the total of 1,206 families examined in this our second review, 500 families are taken at random for comparison with the 500 families examined in "Biologists in Search of Material", we find in individuals of 5 years of age and over, the relative proportion in disease, in well-being, or without disorder to be very much the same.

findings continued