Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-09-14

The discovery of pellagra in Atlanta
has bestirred an interest second only to
the finding of the pole. 1t is not only
fayorite subject for medical symposiums,
it also enlivens the small talk of numer-
Gus neighborhoods and makes, on some
occasions. delightful gossip.
Have you heard the latest?" one
bridge player will ask her partner.
mo, what is it?"
why. they say Mrs. B has pellagra.
well. did you ever!'
In the midst of all this questioning a.
to the cause, symptoms. extent and cure
of pellagra, the state board Of health of
Georgia which is now accomplishing such
wide good for the general health in its
laboratories and offices in the basement
of the capitol, has issued a little treatise
as timely as IL is valuable. DR.. H. F..
Harris. secretary of the board and au-
thor of the treatise, is the first physician
in the United States who observed and
described pellagra. He is the American
Peary of this malady, you might say, or
the DIR. Cook, Of our pellagra. If you are
on DIR. Cooks side of the controversy.
COMES FROM CORN.
This most modern or Georgia's dis
eases, seemingly the most modern, is the
result of eating improperly cured Indian
corn, says DIR. Harris. By Indian corn
he means the grain from which the So
called meal is ground and corn bread is
made. Corn which is not thoroughly ri
pened or which is stored before 1t is
solutely dry may develop a poison in the
system and this it is that brings on the
disease Farmers are cautioned as to
the extreme importance of protecting
their corn from the weather and damp
ness.
A few months ago hundreds of people
we're asking themselves and their friends
IL they had the lazy bug" Nearly
everybody then felt one or more Of the
symptoms of that parasite. The board Of
health treatise very Interestingly de-
sccribes the symptoms OF penagra.
THAT TIRED FEELING.
To begin with, however, these symp-
toms vary so greatly that Lombroso, the
great Italian pathologist, has said, There
is no disease; there are only sick per-
sons" It is agreed, however, that pei
lagra generally begins with lack o.
energy due TO no apparent cause. There
is also more or less mental depression
Patients not uncommonly complain of ir-
regular pains in the head, in the spinal
column or in other parts OF the body.
The affected person may feef rnese symp-
IONS IOT S6NGEhl pTeCSulliS DuI-
ing the spring and early summer they
will gradually disappear so that toward
the end of July or August he will feel
fairly well again. Tins condition goes
on for a greater or less number Of years
and is followed by what Dr. Harris
terms the second stage of the disease
During the middle or the winter" he
writes, the patient loses his appetite,
though in some cases the opposite condi-
ton is present. There may also be in
tense thirst or a distaste for food pre-
pared from Indian corn. There occur not
uncommonly heartburn, pyrosis and pains
in different parts of the poGy. At this
period of the disease the tongue is coat
ed, the region of the stomach is swoller
and more or less tender.~
Laxative conditions are also apparent,
though sometimes the reverse is true.
THE SPECTACULAR FINISH.
It is the third or final stage of pella-
gra that is most spectacular. Pains come
in the head particularly in posterior por-
ticn, followed or preceded by a feeling
o. uncertainty and pressure, vertigo
noise in the ears. insomnia or in some
cases decided sleepiness, pains in the
back, weakness and uncertainty in the
movement of the limbs, a eensation as
though there were a lump In the throat
with more or less choking, mental irri-
Ia ability, loss of memory, inability to
think lack of desire for physical and
mental exertion and often PROFOUND mel
ancholia.
In this stage. too, an inflammation of
the skin sometimes amounting 70 an
eruption. is observed on the exposed sur
faces of the body. This is indeed the
symptom that gives the malady its
name. Pellagra is derived from two
italian words. 'pelle' and "agra," mean
ing literally raw skin
AS the disease progresses, the patient