「文明の創造、科学篇」　昭和27(1952)年

肋膜炎は、医学でも言われるごとく、肺を包んでいる膜と膜との間に水が溜るので、これが湿性肋膜炎と言い、膿が溜るのを化膿性肋膜炎と言い、何も溜らないのに腹と膜との間に間隙を生じ、触れ合って痛むのを乾性肋膜炎と言うのである。湿性の原因は、もちろん胸を強打したり、器械体操のごとき手を挙げて、力を入れる等が原因となって発（おこ）るのであるが、何の原因もなく偶然発る事もある。この病気である膜と膜との間隙に溜る水とはもちろん尿であって、医療は穿孔して水を除るが、この方法は割合奏効する事もある。しかしこれも癖になり、慢性となり易いが、そうなると水が膿化し化膿性肋膜炎に転化する。また初めから膿の溜るものもあるが、何れにせよ慢性になり易く、大抵は穿口〔孔〕してその穴から毎日排膿させるのである。しかしこうなると仲々治り難く、重傷となりほとんど死は免れないが、この化膿性は薬毒多有者が多い事はもちろんである。

湿性は最初高熱と胸の痛みで、深い呼吸をする程余計痛むが、反って水が多く溜ると無痛となるもので、これは膜の触れ合いがなくなるからである。また尿の出も悪くなるのはもちろんで、この病気の特異性は、眠い事と盗汗（ねあせ）であるが、この盗汗は非常によいので、これは溜った水が皮膚を透して出るのであるから、放任しておけば出るだけ出て治るものである。これを知らない医療は盗汗を悪いとして停めようとするから治らなくなるので、いかに誤っているかが判るであろう。また化膿性は膿が肺に浸潤して痰となって出るのであるから、これも自然にしておけばいいのである。乾性肋膜炎は滅多にない病気で医診は肋間神経痛とよく間違えるようであるが、これも簡単に治るものである。よく肋膜炎から肺結核になる人も多いが、これは肋膜の水や膿が肺へ浸潤し、安静その他の誤った手当のため、肺の中で固まってしまうそのためであるから、最初から何ら手当もせず放任しておけば結核にはならないのである。

次に腹膜炎(別名腹水病)は、肋膜と同様腹膜と今一つの膜との間に水が溜って、すこぶる膨大になるものである。ところが医療は穿孔排水方法を採るが、これが非常に悪く排水すると一旦はよくなるが、必ず再び水が溜る。するとまた除る、また溜るというように癖になるが、困った事には溜る期間が段々短縮され、量もその度毎に増えて行くので、何回にも及ぶと益々膨大、臨月の腹よりも大きくなるもので、こうなるとまず助かる見込みはないのである。この原因は萎縮腎であるから、萎縮腎を治さない限り全治しないのはもちろんである。

また化膿性腹膜は、薬毒が膿となって臍を中心に、その周囲に溜結するのであるから、腹水のごとき膨満はなく、反って普通より腹部は低いくらいである。これは押すと固いところが所々にあって、圧痛があるからよく分る。しかし慢性は軽微の痛みと下痢であって、非常に長くかかり、治るのに数年掛る者もある。ところが医療は薬で治そうとして服薬をさせるから、実は毒素を追加する事になるので、治るものでも治らない事になってしまう。そうして恐ろしいのは彼の急性腹膜炎である。この病気は急激に高熱と共に激痛が伴い、ほとんど我慢が出来ない程で、患者は海老（えび）のごとく身を縮めて唸るばかりである。医療は切開手術を行うが、これは成績がはなはだ悪く、近頃は余り行わないようである。これも本療法によれば一週間ないし二週間以内で完全に治癒するのである。これは旺盛な浄化であるから青年期に多いのはもちろんである。

そうしてこの化膿性腹膜という病気は、人により重い軽いはあるが、全然ない人はまずないといってよかろう。ここで注意すべきは、よく禅や腹式呼吸、その他の意味で腹に力を入れる人は、そこに毒素が溜結し、腹膜炎が発り易いから注意すべきである。

Main Disease: (2) Pleurisy and Peritonitis

Creation of Civilization, written by Mokichi Okada in 1952

Let me explain Pleurisy. As medical science also explains that is the condition which a person has something between the membranes covering the lung. Then it is called wet pleurisy if he has fluid between them and purulent pleurisy if having pus. If nothing is there but membranes separate, makes a gap, touch each other and cause pain, it is called dry pleurisy. As for wet pleurisy, it is naturally caused if a person receives a hard blow on the chest, puts strength into it while rising his arms as doing gymnastics or so. It also happens by accident without cause. When a person suffers from wet pleurisy, he has fluid between membranes as I said. This fluid is of course urine. When medical treatment is undergone, the fluid is drained through a perforation. It might work to a certain extent.

However, this treatment might be accustomed and the disease easily becomes chronic. If that is the case, the fluid becomes pus and then the symptom changes into purulent pleurisy. A person might suffer from purulent pleurisy from the beginning. In any case, the disease becomes chronic and in most cases, pus should be discharged from a perforation every day. When things become like this, the patient can be hardly cured. He becomes severely ill and will die in most cases. Many patients who suffer from purulent pleurisy naturally have a lot of toxic medicine.

Then wet pleurisy causes high fever and chest pain first. As a person breathes more deeply, he feels severe pain. He rather feels no pain when a lot of fluid between membranes as they no longer touch each other. Wet pleurisy naturally causes a weaker urine stream, too. This disease is characterised by sleepiness and night sweat. This sweat is good as the fluid comes out through the skin. While you leave it, all fluids come out and you will be cured. On the contrary, the night sweat is regarded to be bad by medical science as they don’t know the true meaning of sweating. They try to stop the patient from sweating so that he becomes incurable. Therefore, you would understand how wrong medical science does.

When a person suffers from purulent pleurisy, pus once infiltrates into the lung and then comes out as sputum. Like wet pleurisy, just leave it. A person rarely suffers from dry pleurisy, which is often misdiagnosed with intercostal neuralgia in medical science. This is also easily cured. Patients with pleurisy often suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis. It is because the fluid or pus in the pleura infiltrates into the lung and solidifies there under the wrong medical treatment such as a rest method or so. If it is left without any treatment from the beginning, the patient will never suffer from tuberculosis.

Let us move on to peritonitis (which is also called ascites). Just like pleurisy, a person has fluid between the peritoneum and another membrane and this fluid increases in volume. When medical treatment is undergone, the fluid is drained through a perforation. This is very bad. The symptom once seems to become better but the patient never fails to have fluid soon again. Then the fluid is drained once again but the patient repeatedly has fluid and so on, which finally causes chronic peritonitis. Worse still, the interval of draining and collecting fluid becomes shorter and the fluid gains in quantity. If that frequently happens, the fluid increases more and more, and the patient’s abdomen finally becomes bigger than the belly of a pregnant woman who is near her time. If it happens, the patient will have almost no chance to survive. This is caused by nephrosclerosis. Therefore, it will be not completely cured as long as nephrosclerosis is cured.

As for purulent peritonitis, toxic medicine changes into pus, accumulates and solidifies around and with the focus on his navel. Unlike ascites, a patient’s abdomen doesn’t become bigger or is contrarily rather smaller than usual. It is easily predicted. When a person pushes around his navel, there must be some solid parts of tenderness in places. However, it is not the case of chronic purulent peritonitis. When a person suffers from this disease, he has minor pain and diarrhoea. It takes time to cure. For example, a patient might take a few years to be cured. When medical treatment is undergone, the patient has to take medicine to try to cure disease. Since the patient has additional toxins under this treatment, his disease becomes incurable even though it could be cured. The next is acute peritonitis, which is a serious disease. When a person suffers from this disease, he rapidly gets high fever along with severe pain that he can hardly stand. He can do nothing but moan with the pain while curling up in a ball. A surgical operation used to be undergone as medical treatment. However, it recently seems not to be so often done as it is found to make things worse. On the contrary, this disease will be completely cured in a few weeks by our treatment. Since acute peritonitis is a vigorous purification, a large number of people in their adolescences naturally suffer from this disease.

As for purulent peritonitis, most people would suffer from it although the severity of symptoms differs from person to person. One’s symptom is mild and the other one is not. Here I would like to notice people who practice Zen Buddhism, belly breathing or something holding in one’s stomach. Since toxins accumulates and solidified around the abdomen by doing so, peritonitis easily occurs.

Translated by N.H.

You can read the other teachings in English on Johrei.