The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1911-08-16

pellagra being a form of leprosy,"
said DR.. Hendry but it is not any
thing like leprosy. 1t has moth
ing more to do with leprosy than
typhoid fever has to do with tooth
ache" DR.. Hendry said also that
pellagra has no connection with or
similarity to a certain form of
loathsome blood disease, as some
have thought, and that treatment
along that line had either had no
effect or had made the patient
worse. The public, he said, is COM
ing to be more at ease on the sub
ject of the disease.
DR.. F. d. Haston, of Array, gave
his experience with pellagra, which
had inclined him to believe that
bread, syrup and other products
made from impure corn or meal,
tend to induce the disease.
DR.. o. p. Nuckles, of Straight
Creek, declared pellagra to be a
nervous affection. He did not think
1t was caused by eating corn meal.
He gave a prescription he had used,
which he said held the symptoms in
allegiance, though they usually re-
turned.
DR.. E. S. Moss. of williamsburg,
Health Officer of Whitley county,
told of the development of pellagra
in his county. At first, he said the
cases were isolated, no two cases
occurring in the same family, but
now there are as many as four cas-
es in one family. This inclined him
to believe the disease to be conta-
gious. He said he had been appeal
ed to to keep children suffering
from pellagra out of school, but
under the existing law he had no
power to do so.
Dr. L. o. Smith. CT Williamsburg.
described the mental deterioration
of vistims he had observed.
DR.. r. L. Willis, superintendent
of the Eastern Kentucky Asylum at
Lexington. said pellagra had first
appeared there in the summer Of
1908. There have been about forty
four cases in the Lexington Asylum
and four or five have died. The
physicians and officials of the insti-
tuition, he said, have not been alarm
ed, but the public and, to some en-
tent, the nurses and attendants,
have been fearful OF contracting the
disease. ct have never believed
.pellagra to he CONTAGIOUS" he said.
81 have no definite conclusion as to
its cause or cure. It is not a skin
disease, but a constitutional trouble.
The skin trouble is simply a mani
.festation."
Dr.. f. II. Clarke, of Lexington,
former superintendent of the East
ern Kentucky Asylum for the In
sane, said that the malady was not
observed in the State institutions
until four years ago. He was not
able to account for the origin Of
the disease. All types of insanity
accompany pellagra, he said. The
skin eruption, he said, is the most
distinctive Characterization of the
disease, but is of little importance,
the more serious manifestations
being the impairment of the diges-
ton, stomatitis, diarrhoea, nervous
exhaustion and mental confusion.
In the South, DR.. Clarke said, more
than half of the cases of pellagra
are found in insane asylums.
"The diagnosis of the disease is
easy" said DR.. T. w. Gardiner, Of
the State Board of Control. I'VE
know nothing of it's pathology and
little of it's treatment"
DR.. Fl. p. Sights, superintendent
of the Western Kentucky Asylum,
at Hopkinsvile, told Of the devel-
opment of pellagra there since May,
1909. He was unable to assign a
cause. There have been seven
deaths from pellagra in the Hop
kinsville institution. he said.
Nine deaths in Kentucky from
pellagra have been reported to the
State Board of Health since Janu-
airy I.
49,
4 Precious Word.