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Shingles* and Shirts |
| *Herpes zoster – an acute skin
disease By Rufus F. Chapin Treasurer of Rotary International |
| ASSUMING by a great stretch of
imagination that a person afflicted with shingles can be termed a
patient, one of the first things the "patient" learns is that the origin
of this dread disease is as much of a mystery to the medical profession
as the constituency of hash in a boarding‑house is to the lodger
consumer therof. The learned medico at the first jump informs the victim of the nature of his affliction and assures him that the disease is never fatal and that the patient is sure to survive if he can manage to live through it, at the same time telling him that the cause is not known nor yet a cure. Having just finished five months of shingling and neuriting it seemed to me that for the general benefit of mankind I should attempt to fathom the mystery of the cause of this dreaded scourge. Not being able to delve into the history of hundreds of cases or even scores of cases, I necessarily had to confine my research to one case ‑ my own. If I could find out the cause of my own case ‑ that would be just one more case than the medical profession has solved to date. It is generally believed that shingles arise from some injury to a nerve. In looking back over my life I could not recall ever injuring a nerve ‑ in fact, I don't think I ever even offended one. I have always treated nerves with courtesy and kind consideration for their feelings. I therefore abandoned the idea of nerve injury and looked to other causes. I scanned my life's history for habits of diet, exercise, hygiene, and regimen without turning up anything suspicious. Then one night like a flash the cause was revealed to me. I remembered that the day before I was stricken, I had purchased a dozen "lah‑de‑dah" shirts of hues and patterns just a trifle more moderne and futuristic than bankers usually wear. I remembered looking forward to appearing at the seat of big business thus arrayed and eagerly contemplating the devastation that would prevail among all the blonde stenographers in the shop, to say nothing of the brunettes and red‑heads. Then Nature stepped in. Says Nature: Quote: "Can this slaughter of the innocents be permitted? No! Nature must protect its own. Something must be done and done quick. This threatened disaster must be diverted. Blondes are getting scarce. Mother Nature must strike." Unquote. So came the dawn. And with the dawn in lieu of donning one of my recently purchased gorgeous shirts I found my manly bosom bespangled with an assortment of blisters in hues ranging from delicate baby‑pink to deep scarlet, the sizes varying from triple A, extra narrow, to 6 7/8. As each eruption was charged with 50,000 volts, no shirt no matter how great its power of self‑preservation could stand a contact. Thus did Nature avert a calamity that boded ill for femininity and thus did I discover the cause of shingles. SINCE that eventful dawn five painful months have rolled away, Did I stop at finding the cause for shingles? Nay, my work was unfinished. Not merely for my own sake but for the benefit of humanity I must find the cure. I pondered. I repondered. Just as such an apparently unrelated cause for shingles as the purchase of shirts had clicked true, so, thought I, the method of cure will be found to lie in some fact that has no obvious relation to the disease. One day in examining my check‑book I observed that the entries therein had changed from black to red which was somewhat distressing but it caused me to take stock of my savings as an offset to my expenses. You see I always consider a matter from all angles. Right away I realized that in five months I hadn't sent a single shirt or collar to the laundry. This fact had a most startling significance. Think of the hundreds of thousands of people indulging in shingles and neuritis and so unable to don shirts and collars! Think of the billions of shirts and collars that should be making regular weekly visits to the laundry but ain't. Think of the tremendous loss to the laundrymen in profits! Think of the consequent loss in wages and unemployment that befalls the Unions of Manglers-Wringers‑Ironers‑Sud Mixers‑and Helpers! The doctors who should have long ago discovered the cure for shingles and neuritis have loafed on the job. Let the laundrymen and laundry unions especially take up the search. In fact no search is necessary. Their course of action is clear and they have all the necessary equipment. Each Union has a Business agent and each B. A. has his tools of the trade. Let the laundrymen send out their sleuth‑hounds to find the shingle cases in their trade territory. Let the B. A. seize the afflicted ones, take them for a ride over to the laundry, and run 'em through the mangles, wringers, and ironers. Not only will the sufferer be permanently cured but he'll hail the treatment as a welcome relief. If the laundry, following the usual custom of steam laundries, happens to iron off an arm or a leg it will only delight the patient the more. It is with great satisfaction that I set down the results of my keen habits of observing for I feel confident that when it becomes known that I have at last found the cause or a cause and t he cure for shingles, my name will reverberate down the corridors of time for my contribution to suffering humanity. Incidentally it is quite pat that my name "Rufe" should lend itself so readily to reverberation. I'm quite sure that even the nerviest child could learn to reverberate "Rufe" especially if under Scotch tutelage. Contributors' Column RUFUS F. CHAPIN is a banker. He was the original banker of Rotary Club number one. He has, since 1912, been treasurer of Rotary International. But if he's not careful he's going to be known to the world as a humorist (like Banker Ellis Parker Butler). "Shingles and Shirts" is the latest from his fount of wit, and is one result of nearly six months' confinement at his home, 1222 N. State street, Chicago, where he has been ill with the malady of which he writes so learnedly - and feelingly. The Rotarian, March 1931 Chapin's disease eventually developed into something even more serious. He was still treasurer of RI when he suddenly died on June 12, 1945, while attending the 36th Annual Rotary Convention in Chicago. In his obituary “My Friend Chape”, Paul Harris wrote in the Rotarian, August 1945: […] Ten years ago Chape was stricken with a painful spinal malady which continued until his death. For all these years, he was practically confined to his house. He employed specialists from all parts of the United States, but none was able to relieve him. Often he sat unclothed except of the trousers of his pajamas because he could not bear to have his clothes touch his back. On the rare occasions when he went out, he wore a metal harness which kept his skirt from touching his back. Dr. Wolfgang Ziegler, who provided this article, received the possible diagnose of Chapin's disease from Prof. Plewig (Rotarian, RC München-Mitte). Based on the information from Chapin's article and Paul Harris' orbituary, Professor Plewig made the following diagnose: "The disease of Rufus Chapin was possibly an especially serious form of post-Zoster neuralgia. When affected with Zoster (formerly called Herpes zoster, though it has nothing to do with the Herpes virus), considerable complaints can manifest themselves before the outbreak of, during and even after the disease. Very few patients suffer from a persisting pain, which can be so marked, that even the contact with an eider feather can provoke painful sensations". Rotarian Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Gerd Plewig is the Director of the Dermatology and Allergology Clinic of the Ludwig- Maximilians-University Munich. |
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