Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1904-02-17
RADIUM IN MEDICINE.
The Possibly Wide Field I'm Which
Its Marvellous Agency
May Be Used.

The marvellous properties Of radium
have made it matter of wide interest
to almost every one, but to the medical
man its possible value as a therapeutic
agent renders it a subject of special i'm
portance. Already many Investigators
are turning their attention to the treat
! ment of various forms of disease by
means of radium, and many fields have
been proposed as promising ones for in
vestigation of it's action, writes DR..
Samuel G. Tracy, in the New York Med
ical Journal.
For instance, among the various dis
eases in which it has been tried may be
| mentioned certain malignant growths,
such as epithelioma and other super
fetal cancers, lupus, certain skin dis
eases, blindness from atrophy of the OPP
tic nerve, etc. Its effect upon micro
organisms and fermentation, as we'll as
its likely action upon the tissues and
fluids of the body, suggests that, if it
could be harmlessly introduced into the
system, vast field of positive useful
ness lies before it. To take its effect
upon heterogeneous first: AS we
have stated, it is admitted to have very
considerable inhibitory effect upon the
functional activity of various bacteria,
molds, ETC., and it is at any rate possible
that it may possess a like effect upon
protocol. This at once suggests value
such be practicable.
Now. the property possessed by
radium Of imparting it's activity to var;-
Gus fluids, e. g., normal saline solution,
seems to offer reasonable ground for
hope that, in this way it may be thera-
! POLITICALLY administered internally, and
the fight against bacterial disease be
waged directly in the tissues affected
through the agency of the blood and
lymph calculations and the various in
ternal secretions.
Another diseased condition in which
the induced radioactive salt solution is
| likely to prove of service is fermenta-
tive. gastro-intestinal indigestion, with
its long train of symptoms due to auto
intoxication. 1t is also hoped that the
''radium fluid" viii have favorable ef-
feet on malignant disease of the stom-
ach and intestine.
AS to local employment, that is al
ready under investigation. for radium
has met with more or less success in
many superficial diseased conditions
It's local use, however will be found far
more convenient if we can get the de-
sired results by the employment of the
| induced radioactive salt solution. BY
this method we can use it as local ap-
pl1catlon on congresses, in sprays,
gargles, inhalations. collyria, etc.
In it's use in surgical dressings, COM
| presses can be saturated with this
solution and applied over large areas
which could not be reached by the
radium rays
AS a spray it will be found useful in
catarrhal affections of nose, throat and
lungs, by coating the membranes with
a fine finn of radioactive matter. This
active matter is antiseptic and will re-
main in the tissues for several hours.
The radioactivity of this active matter
may be intensified by exposing the pa
tient to the ultraviolet rays, and by the
internal use of Quinine.
While all these possibilities of the use
of radium fluid may not be borne out by
actual clinical experience, nevertheless.
owing to the already known properties
OF radlum and induced radioactive sub
stances, it is certainly worth while to
try them-especially in pathological
conditions which are not amenable to
| other forms of treatment.