finds out the facts
A doctor asked me the other day a question. What ailment do women in Britain suffer from more than any other ? The answer, which I did not know till that moment, was like a pebble being thrown into the pool of my mind. "Rheumatism," he told me. "In some form or other."
This gave me so much pause for thought that I had to ask him to tell me some more. "Well," he said, "If I tell you that it has been estimated that ten per cent of all the work undertaken by the medical profession is concentrated on the diagnosis and treatment of some form of rheumatism, you will appreciate the magnitude of the problem." Which of course I was then able to do.
What disturbed me most I think the fact that disturbed me most about this insiduous scourge (it comes second in the list of male complaints too) was not the amount lost in wages. (Official figures put this at over £32., million pounds a year). No, it was the astonishing fact that over twenty seven million working days a year are lost. Just think of it. Does it surprise you as much as it did me ? Twenty seven million working days lost. Lost forever.
What hope is there for sufferers If this is the size of the problem, I thought, what hope is there for these thousands of unhappy people ? Although I am not a rheumatic sufferer myself, not surprisingly my curiosity was aroused concerning the possible remedies. It was then that I became aware of a product which for some time now has become increasingly wellknown and greatly used in the treatment of rheumatic pain Fynnon Salt.
The genius of a Welsh chemist
I had often seen the tins on a chemist's shelf, but I had never stopped before to wonder why they were there. Did you know it was first made by a chemist in two living at. Llanelly in South Wales. Success
This chemist had become very impressed by the large number of people who were being successfully treated by spa waters. (For instance, there was a famous one nearby at Llandrindod Wells.) In consequence, he began to ponder over the possibility of providing the same kind of benefit for rheumatic sufferers at the cost of a shilling or two. In this way, those who could not afford the expense of a trip to a spa would be able to use the same salts in their home. Secretly, he set to work on an intensive analysis of spa waters to find out exactly what they contained, and with this analysis as his basis to produce a salt of his own creation, which he labelled `Fynnon', little realizing what lasting success lay ahead.
The people I shall meet The more one learns, the more one wants to learn. Indeed, I have become so rheumatism-minded that I am now going to Move on a step and meet some of the people whose own mobility has been menaced by this increased handicap to a happy and useful life. From their own lips I shall hear what it has been like to suffer, and then at last to find relief.
From me to you
As a commentator on the contemporary scene, I am always wary of accepting second-hand accounts. Therefore, I promise you that as I travel round the country in the months ahead, it will only be first-hand reports that I shall pass on to you. I hope you may find these both realistic and helpful.