The Washington herald., 1912-07-14

1t is the newest discovery In medi-
cine. and one of the most important ever
made. The cure 1t promises tat all
events. in very many cases) should be-
stow an immense boon upon mankind
Incidentally it solves a mystery which
las long seemed past finding out-name-
ly, the secret of the cause Of rheuma-
tism, one of the most common and most
distressing of human maladies.
'Vaccines'' for the cure of the afiiction
are appearing on the market. bearing the
labels OF one or two large drug-making
concerns. They are preparations OF
germs-the very microbes. that is TO
say-which cause rheumatism. Put up
in tiny bottles. each containing one dose.
they are administered to the patient by
hypodermic injection.
Rheumatism is a germ disease-a spe-
cific bacterial infection. 1t may even be
contagious This is the discovery in
question. Such a notion until recently.
Cf course, was hardly dreamed Of But
the fact has been so far proved that
scme of the microbes concerned-for
there are a number-have been identi-
fed.
Rheumatism has been attributed to a
great variety Of causes, but within re-
cent years physicians have generally
agreed that 1t was due to an excess Of
uric acid in the blood. For this reason
II is that sufferers have usually been
forbidden TO eat meat, which has ten
dency tc promote the secretion Of uric
acid.
No Basis for Theory.
1t is now found that there was not the
slightest basis for such a theory. Indeed,
deprivation of meat is likely to be inju-
rious to rheumatic patients, because it
upsets the proper balance OF their diet.
rheumatism is a germ infection. But
II is an infection of a secondary kind;
that is to say. consequent upon some
other trouble. For instance, a person is
attacked by. tonslitis The malady
passes. but some of the tonsilitis mi
crobes have meanwhile found their way
into one more OF the joints of the body.
They multiply there. feeding upon the
tissues. and make trouble. The result
Is rheumatism.
Those useless organs. the tonsils. are,
II appears. a very common source CT
rheumatic infections. 1t often happens
that children are attacked by rheumatic
fever. and the disease drags along for
months. In such a case the physician
should lose no time in making an ex-
animation OF the tons!ls. and II they are
not in a perfectly healthy condition,
cut them out. 1t is not sufficient to
amputate them in the ordinary way:
they must be extirpated.
Decayed teeth may be cause Of rheu-
matism. A badly decayed mouth is a
germ factory. and the microbes II pro-
duces are largely organisms OF infective
kinds, which may find their way to
other parts of the body. Very many
people suffer from a trouble of the gums
which, when sufficiently advanced. causes
the teeth to fall out. 1t is attributable
to certain bacteria. which may. under
suitable conditions. be productive Of
rheumatic disorders.
Effects of Diseases.
An attack OF grip may in the same
way. though secondary infection. give
rise to rheumatism. 1t is at least sus-
pected that bronchitis. scarlet fever. ty-
phoid fever, or erysipelas may do the
same thing. Likewise pneumonia. Thus
it appears that the mischief may origi-
nate in a great variety of ways: and
in the light Of this new knowledge there
is no rea son for surprise that II should
have been for so long a time a puzzle
TO physicians.
The disease is the oldest known in the
history of the human race Its records
are found not in books. but in bones
The bones of Egyption mummies dating
back as far as 1900 B. C. show deforma-
tions Enthusiastically due to rheumatism
Likewise it is with skeletons dug up
from ancient Roman graves in Britain.
and from the ashes of Pompeit Now
for the first time We really know some
thing about il. and, the cause being
understood. there is an excellent pros
pect of cure.
In a great majority of instances the
infection seems TO be due TO "strepto-
cocoa tribe of bacteria which. COM
prising a number of species. cause blood
poisoning and suppurating ailments. They
are always found in decsyed teeth. and.
when they attack the tonsils, give rise
TO the serious and highly contagious mall
adv called tonsiIitis. They get their
name from the fact that they are spher-
ical in shape and hang together in chains.
much like strings of beads.
The new vaccines for rheumatism are
preparations Of these chain-microbes.
made by breeding them in beef soup. and
then killing them by raising the fluid to
boiling point. The soup. containing their
dead bodies by billions, is the vaccine.
This is exactly the same principle as
that on which the well-known anti-ty-
phoid vaccine is made. and the method
of its use is the same-that is to say.
by hypodermic injection. The bacteria
in the soup can do no harm, because
they are all dead. But they contain
specific poison. which causes the cells
Of the body to manufacture at shortest
possible notice large quantities of an
anti-poison. for defensive purposes This
anti-poison is deadly to any microbes
of the same species that may be living
in the Joints or other parts of the anat-
omy.
Arc shotgun Prescriptions.
Here, then, in a nutshell. is the whole
theory involved in the new treatment for
rheumatism. But. obviously, in order that
II shall be successful in any given case,
the germs used for the vaccine must be
of the same kind as those which have
produced the rheumatic infection The
rheumatism vaccincs thus far turned out
are merely shotgun prescriptions" so TO
speak. containing several species OF
'streptococcL"
The administration of such vaccines is.
therefore. more or less of a gamble. They
may cure or they may not. depending
upon the character OF the Infection But
already physicians are getting ready TO
utilize a method which does away with
uncertainty in the matter Where. let US
SAY, a knuckle or knee-joint is swollen
and more or less disabled by rheumatism
il is unusually an affair of no great DIM
Guilty to make a slight incision and OBJ
tain from il bit of tissue from which
10 derive a bacterial culture" This cul-
ture should reveal the guilty germs (Which
are readily identified, and a vaccine can
be- made from them.
Pneumonia germs have been obtained in
this way from a rheumatic elbow. How
did they get there7 Easily enough. In the
~,1L 10,