CURING THE INSANE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 987, 4 May 1911, Page 4

CURING THE INSANE.

Remarkable instances of the cure of insanity are given by Dr. George M. Robertson, physician superintendent of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum for the Insane, in his annual report, published in the Scotsman.

“Among the recoveries during 1910,” says Dr. Robertson, “a series of three cases of a most instructive kind shows the progress that science is slowly but surely making. Two at least of these cases would have been deemed incurable 20 years ago.

“The first patient suffered from the insanity of myxoedema, a disease due to the detective secretion of a gland in the neck called the thyroid. Owing to the absence of this secretion from her blood, in a few weeks’ time the whole body increased in bulk and the movements became slow, the expression of face changed completely, and even the tone of voice altered in character. She became childish in mind, expressed silly delusions, and heard imaginary voices.

“The patient was given tablets prepared from the thyroid gland of the sheep, and in a week she was transformed from a misshapen, stupid object into a bright and pleasant-faced woman —her natural sell, and quite unrecognisable as the creature of a week before.

“A few centuries ago these kaleidoscopic changes would have been put down to magic, the spell of an offended wizard transforming her body and soul and a countercharm restoring her original shape and personality. To-day every medical man knows the secret, and people have ceased to be astonished at such things. Nevertheless it was a miracle of science.”

The second case of insanity was due to an excess of the secretion of the thyroid in the blood. “This tends to produce great nervousness and excitability and many other symptoms, such as palpitation. There is a theory, not yet established, that excess of thyroid secretion is neutralised by a substance in the blood. In this case, according to the theory, there was not sufficient of this substance to neutralise the great excess, so she was supplied for this purpose with serum from a goat whose thyroid gland had been removed. In this serum none of this special substance had been used up, there being no secretion present, and apparently as the result of this treatment the patient recovered.” Dr. Robertson adds: “Afeature of the research work recently done in our laboratories is the wave of optimism it has produced.”