XLVII Modern Trends in Otolaryngology with Special Emphasis on Allergy

Abstract

Twenty-five years ago otolaryngology was a simple well defined specialty concerned in the main with a limited number of pathological entities, requiring only a few standardized therapeutic procedures.Infection was credited as being the agent which produced the majority of all ear, nose, and throat symptoms and the recognized treatment in most cases was surgery.The discovery of the sulfa drugs and the antibiotics produced such a profound effect upon our specialty, that the control of infection has now become a medical rather than a surgical procedure.Today radical operations on the sinuses aimed at elimination of infection are comparatively rare and mastoid operations for acute mastoiditis are practically unknown.Even before the discovery of the anti-infection agents, great changes were already taking place in otolaryngologic thinging.Enthusiasm for radical surgery of the nose and sinuses had begun to wane, partly because results did not always warrant such radicalism and partly because the public refused to submit to such treatment.Since the discovery of the antibiotics, many other advances in our knowledge in regard to the etiology of ear, nose, and throat symptoms have discredited our earlier belief that infection is the all important factor.Nutritional Deficiencies. Deficiencies in vitamins, minerals and other nutritional factors were shown by Selfridge;' Shurly,2 jarvis,"