CURE FOR CONSUMPTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 18, 15 July 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

CURE FOR CONSUMPTION.

HIGH HOPES BASED ON NEW TREATMENT. PATIENTS MADE WELL WHILE ATTENDING WORK.

High hopes are based by distinguished lights of the medical world upon a new treatment that has been discovered for tuberculosis. The new treatment, which Jias been made public in Paris, owes its inception to the researches and discoveries of a Budapest physician, Dr v de Szendeffy. The treatment takes the form of a preparation of iodine, which is injected into the patient. The composition of the injection is, according to the Times, as follows: Peptonised iodine, .75 centigrammes; menthol, M centigrammes; radium barium chloride, the] tenth of a drop in a solution of ether.

Details of Dr. de Szendeffy's method were given in a paper read before the Paris Society for Combatting Consumption. The injections consist of one cubic centimetre of the above solution. The treatment is followed consecutively for 30 days, and resumed after a lapse of 10 days. Each injection roughly costs a shilling, and the whole treatment would cost perhaps £5 in injections. Unlike ordinary iodine injections, these are painless, but their effect is extraordinary. Dr. de Szendeffy treated some 1500 patients with astonishing and almost uniform success in all but the advanced cases, which were also much relieved. Dr. Bernheim, chief of the Paris Society above referred to, with his colleague, Dr. Dieupart, and various colleagues in and outside Paris, have now employeu this, treatment for more than a year, and considcr that 80 per cent, of the patients have been practically cured. The improvement begins after the first ten days, with more appetite and decrease of all the symptoms characteristic of tiie disease. After the first month the patient regains courage, and the cure continues rapidly. Dr. Bernheim considers that the active agent is the radium salt, which attacks the pulmonary lesions, and causes them to heal. He does not, however, state this yet as a positive fact, but merely as-an opinion to be proved. Even advanced cases were much relieved, but he advises the treatment to be begun as early as possible, when he believes there is every -reason to expect a complete and permanent cure. Dr. Bernheim and Dr. Louis Dieupart would prefer no absolutely hopeless cases to be undertaken, but only those where the patient still presents a certain power of resistance. In the ordinary first and second stages they believe in a rapid and almost certain cure. Dr. de Szendeffy has already spent more than £SOOO on his experiments, and has sent hundreds of pounds' worth of radium to Paris for tests in support of his theories. Dr Bernheim described to a Standard interviewer several recent cases—such, for instance, as double tuberculosis lupus on each cheek. One side was treated with menthol radium and quickly cured, whilst the other side remained malignant. His colleague, Dr. Herve, had a woman sent to his hospital with tubercular laryngitis so acute that she could hardly speak or swallow . Dr. Bernheim prescribed artificial nourishment, and a double series of injections. At the end of a week the patient was able to eat, and after two months can talk and swalow quite freely, and is in a fair way of losing all trace of fiie malady, although her ease was apparently hopeless.

EXPERIMENTS WITH lODINE. '

The healing power of iodine is noto-' rious, and had long manifested itself in the treatment of tuberculosis. There were concomitant effects, however, which rendered the employment of this agent almost impracticable, such as the nearly intolerable pain which followed the injections and the specific symptoms of "iodism" in the patient. The new preparation of radio-active menthol iodine is open to none of these drawbacks. The experiments on animals, particularly gui-nea-pigs, gave the result of complete immunisation after the injection of tuberculosis bacilli, which otherwise; proved fatal. When experiment's upon humansubjects were carefully initiated the results were entirely and surprisingly successful. One cubic centimetre, was injected daily 30 times in succession. In no ease djd the system manifest any tolerance of the injection, as was constantly the ease in the treatment by iodine. In pulmonary uiljereulosis there was a distinet innirovenienfc after ten injections. Hlood-suiwing eeasedi asdid'all the other distressing accompaniments of phthisis, such as night sweats, emaciation, absence of appetite and weakness. The improvement continues while, patients follow their usual occupations, many of the patients being- from the woiking classes.

THE USE OF'INJECTIONS. The first attempts to treat tuberoVilous conditions by the injection into the body of remedies destructive to the bacillus were those of the late Professor Koch, who, in 1800 introduced the preparation which he called "tuberculin." It unfortunately liappanjed that the announcements made with regard to tlie efficacy of this preparation were some:what premature; and, in the.early experiments, it was administered in large* doses than subsequent experience was. found to justify, with the result that it fell greatly into disrepute. Further experiment proved, however, the value of Koch's idea. Sir Almroth Wright discovered what is known as the ►''Opsonicindex," and aided by this knowledge the treatment by injections of tuberculin has made much progress. As far as can be judged from the reports already received, the action of the "radio-active menthol iodine" will be different from that of the killed "cultures" employed by Sir Almroth Wright, and the drug will itself poison and kill the bacili in the circulation instead of merely stimulating the blood to do so. If this be so, the principle concerned seems to be that underlying the value of "606" in venereal disease.

SCEPTICAL HOSPITAL PHYSICIAN. A senior physician to one of the principal cheat hospitals in London expressed himself to an interviewer as very sceptical of the new treatment. His views were fully endorsed by one of the leading pharmaceutical chemists of London, Referring to the composition of the new preparation, he said:— "Radium barium chloride is unknown. 'But there is a barium chloride 'method' of separating radium from uranium ores, and possibly a radium salt so extracted' may be thus referred to. A radium salt so extracted can be obtained at a price of 15s per gramme, but anything which can be really relied upon would cost quite £2O for a. milligramme." On the other hand, another expert stated that the treatment of pulmonary and other tuberculosis by the administration of a preparation of radio-active menthol iodine is quite well known in this country.