HERBAL CURE FOR TUBERCULOSIS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 289, 1 August 1932, Page 2

HERBAL CURE FOR TUBERCULOSIS

1 / Umckaloabo, A Piaitt Found ha South Africa, Has Given Soipe Convincing Results

iN SPITE of the real progress made in the prevention and " treatmeht of tubereulosis, the disease still remains unI vanquished. For yeara physicians, surgeons, ba.c-

teriologists, cnemists, ana uuLuuio^a haye been xnaking researches to diseover a specific cure. Is the discovery of ^iich a cure bound to be made by a memher of- these learned professions? Physicians wo'uld be the best judges of anything that is claimed to effect cures; but it is by no means certain that medical men only are capable of discovering something pf medical value in this connectioh, writes Dr Adrien Sechehaye, in t-he "Empire Review." )The qualities and worth of many valuable drugs have been discovered by* cHance by the untrained, and oh this ground it is unwise to ignore claims that haye the least degree of evidence to support them, The natives of Peru were. probably the first to ascertain in their own persons the value of cinchona bark. The value o£ the poppy was knoyyn many centuries before its active principle — morphia— was discovered. and the active principle of cinchona bark — quinine — is of comparatjve recent discovery. Even now, botanipal and ehemical scieuce cannot lay claim to having reaclied finality. ' Trppical and other regions of the British Empire possess botanic.al treasures whose properties from ihe standpoint of medical value are as yet little known. A plant of the natural order pf Polygonacete found ip Sourh Africa and cn the Gold Ceast is known by the name of Umckaloabo. Its roots yield a greyisb powder which, when treated, gives an extract containing the active principle or principles of the root. This extract Gontains a tannin, the chemical composition of which shows distinct differences from all other known tannins. It probably possesses some active principle which is no alkaloid, but seems rather to be a glycoside. )I have found that the liquid extract, administered by the mouth, constitutes a. simple treatment for tubereulosis involving no risk. In therapeutical or even larger doses it is nontoxic; occasionally, at the outset, it produces symptoms of gastric origin, such as nausea or vertigo, but these afterward disappear. It has been tried in many cases of tubereulosis with excellent results. Its usefulness was discovered in 1897 by Mr Ohas. H, Stevens, a layman. He was the subject Of tubereulosis of the lungs and was advised to go to9 South Africa. This he did, and, while in Basutoland, was induced by a native medicine -man to try a preparation made from this plant, and qnickly gained health and strength, and was ultimately cured. During the war he Was passed as Al, learned to fly,

crashed, then had one of his leg bones "plated" by Sir William Arbuthnot Lane with three steel plates screwed by 17 steel screws, within a year he was flying again in Pxance and was promoted to Major. Since his own cure, Major Stevens has supplied doctors and sufferers; from' tubereulosis' with the extract. Ihave been employing it in Switzerland for 12 years, and have treated® and cured several hundred cases with it. It is now many years since I dis-; covered that Umckaloabo caused fever to subside in tubereulosis subjeets without e,xercising the slightest anti pyretic influence in other maladies. To those having Koch's bacillus in. tlieir system, it stops pain without having any analgesic properties, checks the night-sweats without being anhidrotic, stimulates the appetite , of bacillary subjeets in a manner often surprisiDg, -although it is neither bitter nor eupeptic; soothes and stops the cough ancl expectoration without being sedative or antiseptic, and acts as a stimulant and restorative in debilitated and ansemic subjeets. It is soothing and proniotes sleep in certain consumptives, but it is nei.her antispasmodic nor hypnogenetic, and dispels the symptoms of inflammation in cases of renal or vesical tubereulosis, without, however, exliibiting soothing balsamic or antiseptic properties. These facts can only be explained by acknowledging the specific action of Umckaloabo in relation to tuberculinic toxins. I will even say that, apart from vaccines and sera, I know no otber remedy tbe specific action of which is so distinct ly marked, complete, and exclusive. Umckaloabo exercises an obvious and very. special action on the symptoms caused by tuberculinic toxins; thus the night sweats, anorexia, fatigue, and other snbjective symptoms, insomnia, pain, and, in most cases, fever disappear at the'onset. The cough, expectoration, and hsemoptysis, however, are modified only gradually — it might be said secondarily — as are also the auscultatory symptoms. From these facts one may conclude that the action of Umckaloabo consists chiefly in the neutralisatlon or the destruction of the tuberculinic toxins, Although Umckaloabo does not destroy Koch's bacillus in vitro, that is no proof of its inefficacy against this bacillus. As evei'yone knows, the reaction in vivo may be totally different from the reaction in vitro. Familiar facts coniirm this view, and, in addition, I may cite Levaditi's experiments on the effect of atoxyl on spirilla and trypanosomes. This preparation becomes germicidal in vitro only after the addition of a morsel of fresh liver. It may also be mentioned that even Loeffler's bacillus can be cultivated in vitro in anti-diphtheric serum. Thus the serum does not kill the germs in vitro. In certain cases, although experience teaehes us to diseotmt a positive

resuit, umcKaioaoo enects no «nprovement, tMs being evMently due to some inexplicable resistance. ^This drug is no exception to the general experience that every remedy sometimes meets with failure, but one must not be over-hasty in declaring that the remedy is without effect; in some cases the rdsults are slow, or appear only after Strong doses. I consider that the treatment should be continued uninterruptedly for at least six tQ eight weeks, with .progressive doses, before coming to a negative conclusion. Doctors who have merely tested it on their patients by 15 days' or three weeks' treatment, witn minimum or intermittent doses, cannot be capable of expressing an opinion on this therapeutic metbod. I would emphasise the benefit !to patients of substituting an intern'&l treatment for surgical operations,. in order to effect cures with less risks. I do not refer to operative risks but ko the dangers involved in the persistence of a bacterial centre, where the bacilli may regain their virulence and become active again at the first opportunity. The patient still remains a tubercular subject, even after the operation. ^ As regards the quality nf the results ol)tainecl, it is interesting to pass in review those •pa+ients particular'lv mentioned in a book I wrote in 1928. Of tbe 17 surgical cases, 16 cases have remained permanently cured; only one patient several years after I had lost siglit of her, was attacktd by renal tubereulosis, of whicli she ciied. As to tbe 84 cases of pleuro-puhuon- v ary tubereulosis which I mentioned rg being cured, 31 are at present in gocd health. As rega"ds the other three, the facts are as t'ollow: One wonian died, as a septuagenarian, of a cancer of the breast without any bacillary lesion. A child, who has uoi resunu'd the Umckaloabo treatment, sufi'ers, it appears, from repeated attacks (jf bronchitis. The th-ird. a young glrl, with infillration of the base of ihe lung, discontinued the cure and suffered a serious relapse; she underwent a pneumothorax operation which, if I am not mistalren, is still being repeated. Of tbe six patients specifically mentioned, under treatment, three, having discontinued their treatment, found themselves growing worse and eventually died. As to the other three, one is very well and fully occupeid as a sick nurse, while two have to continue taking the remedy to keep them fit. Thus I have found that of 16 surgical and 35 pleuro-pulmonary cases, i.e., 51 patients who- have remained faithful to Umckaloabo, one has died of cancer, 48 remain cured, and two keep themselves fit by continuing the treatment. It seems, therefore, that the treatment effects cures of an unusual permanence, probably due to the fact that this simple treatment can be continued over a long period and can easily be resumed at the least sign of a relapse. It is most desirable that a clinical examination of Umckaloabo should be officially nndertaken by the medical authorities of the British Empire. It has been used for 34 years, and I think I have produced sufficient evidence to show its efficacy in the treatment of tubercut9Sf«. ^