Doctors do not know exactly what causes rheumatic fever, which is one of the worst killers of children, and sometimes leaves even its survivors with badly damaged hearts. But one researcher believes that he has spotted the killer's breeding grounds: poor and broken homes.
"The disease tends to breed in families where serious, long-standing social problems exist," Dr. Robert Jackson of the University of Iowa reported this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Students of rheumatic fever cannot fail to learn how important wholesome family life is to the welfare of children, and how devastating immoral practices, such as...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
