Influence of nutrition in experimental infection

"What is one man's meat is another man's poison " (1) is demonstrated daily in every medical clinic. Although clinical observations as well as general im-pressions suggest that optimum nutrition commonly aids resistance, our knowl-edge of nutrition is still too fragmentary to give an adequate statement of "optimum nutrition " for persons living under markedly diverse conditions "from Greenland's icy mountains to India's coral strand, " and our knowledge of the factors involved in resistance seems even less complete. Even though we can suggest diets for various living conditions with a fair degree of success, the world is far from providing even an approximation of these diets to millions of the members of our family. Malthus is riding hard and fast with all four of the horsemen of the Apocalypse. It is recognized that what appears to be abundant health under apparently admirable living and dietary conditions, does not protect against the common diseases of childhood, measles, chickenpox, or mumps, nor against many diseases of adult life such as the common cold and influenza. Ill health and poor nutrition do, however, appear to increase the incidence of such diseases as rheumatic fever and tuberculosis. 1This review stems from a "Round Table " held at the annual meetings of the Societ