The Washington herald., 1909-04-23
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

The successful treatment Of a child az
hictea With eretinlsna IN New York a few
weeks ago, brings TO light one OF the
brightest pages Of medical history. As
Dr.. OsIer says, there Is no type OF human
transformation more distressing to look
upon than q child suffering from cretin-
ism The stunted nature, the semi-bes-
tial aspect. the bIubbering lips. and re-
trousse nose, the lolling tongue and mud
dy. dry appearance Of the skin, added 70
the dwaTfed figure, all serve to make
the child suffering from cretrnism a real
''pariah OF nature" DR.. Osler adds that
no magic wand OF Prospero OF brave kiss
OF the daughter Of Hippocrates ever
wrought such a wonderful change as thy
roid works in cretinisn.
Cretinism is q disease OF children due
70 the absence Of the thyroid gland. This
is situated az the top OF the trachea. and
is the one which causes goiter. For IN
counted centuries the medical profession
did not know the function OF this gland.
Then It vas found that in removing
goiter by surgery the total elimination OF
the gland resulted in death, as q rule.
Children afflicted with cretinism were
found, upon post-mortem examinations.
TO have no thyroid gland In fourteen
OUT Of sixteen cases the gland was total
y absent, and n the other two wholly
diseased
IN 1880 several European physicians en-
deavored 10 graft the thyroid Of sheep
into the abdomen Of a natient whose thy
roid gland had been removed. and were
successful The next year the thyroid
OF the sheep was administered hypoder-
micalIy. and soon thereafter It was given
by the mouth. Since then the latter
method OF administration has been used.
After the treatment proved successful
with adults suffering from the absence
OF the thyroid gland, II was tried on
cTe1ins. OF young children From the
first II proved highly successful. restor-
ing hopeless cases to normal health The
medical works treating on the disease
are full Of Illustrations Of cases before
and after the administration OF the treat
ment- IN some cases eleven months suf
feed 10 transform the most horrible OF
human forms into IS pretty little girls
and bows both in mind and body, as
one would wish to see.
Dr. Osler took I'D the study OF cretinism
IN 1893. He then found eleven cases In
the United States. Later he found sixty.
He discovered that the disease was more
common in some parts OF Ontario and
Michigan than elsewhere. and that the
territory OF most frequency was coinci-
dent with the most frequent occurrence /
nh A1-
identified + more frequently. and have
learned not 10 cOnfOund il with idIocy-
The thyroid gland is one OF the mys-
teries Of the body. Exactly what its Of
fee IS no one has yet been able 20 de-
fine It appears that the gland gathers
up certain poisous from the blood, |
works them over, Transforming them into /
healthful fluid and then turns them
loose into the blood again through the /
ly7nphatics- Yet just how this is done /
or what the change effected IS. none OF 1
the men OF medicine ran say. Il Is no, 1
recorded that any OF them have discOv-
cred any essential difference IN the blood I
OF the cretin from that of the child in 1
health. nor between the grown-up who /
has had his thyroid gland excised and 4
the healthy man.
Even the drug thyroid is not under
stood. except a 5 20 its effects. The ply
sician knows that Il is made from pow
dered sleeps thyroid. but when il comes 1
TO providing a substitute he cannot offer
one which viii even imperfectly take its
place. It's use was the first practical ap-
pIlcation Of the doctrine OF internal Sc
cretiOn, and It still remains the most
striking example Of the conscious use.
-
none" One thing is pretty well settled.
though not so much as 10 become an ac-
cepted fact by the medical fraternity.
and that IS that iodine Is one Of the I'm
portant constituents Of thyroid
The dose Of thyroid for an infant IS
from half a grain 70 FIVE grains. admin
isJeTed twice day. The smaller dose
IS usually used at the beginning. and
gradually increased to the maximum. A
qUickening pulse usually tells OF too free
8 dosage. Yet Il seems practically harm
less when large doses are taken There
is a recorded csse where a child swsI-
lowed 100 ive-grain tablets without any
bad effects.
The elimination OF the thyroid gland
produces startling effects in human be-
ings and animals There is severe in
ternal disturbance. terminating IN convuI-
sions and tetany. II Is thought that
there has never been an instance where
the gland was taken from a aesh-eatinRl
animal that Z did not die Of Iockisw.
Putting such an animal on 2 vegetable
diet serves 10 prolong its life. Myxo-
demia IS the name for the disease in 1
adults Experiments made on monkeys
demonstrate that II Is caused inst as
much by surgical excelsior as BY disease. :
It occurs oftener in women rnan in men
the ratio being about six 10 one and
usually appears between forty and sixty
It may be hereditary on the maternal |
side. The hair falls out; the patient be- L
comes duh, Hstless. and inert. MeIan- [
cholia and dementia often set in before r
the disease IS recognized. and there have Z
been many instances Of suicide. Once .
II IS recognized, the treatment Of the :
disease Is easy. Proper administration
OF thyroid brings prompt relief. Within e
q month the friends Of the patient can Il
hardly realize the change. So long as
the treatment IS kept I'D the uufavor- Y
able symptoms VIII not return. but # e
has 20 be kept up all through life. d"
Il has been demonstrated that The fni Z
activity OF the thyroid gland is more i'm Il
portant in early life than IN later years Il
Its size and shape vary. and a part Of / d
It left intact viii do its work almost or d
quite as well as the whole gland In
ceT1nism the disease seldom is recog- o
nizable Up 10 the time a child is sir Il
months old IN nyxodemia the absence
Of the gland is not long in making itself =
known :.
Thyroid decOmposes more rapi5lv than n
muscular tissue and IN the ss-fso- -