Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1912-12-25
PELLAGRA DISEASE
SPREADS RAPIDLY
IN THE SOUTH
First Study Of Commission Re-
suits in Alarming Conclu-
sions; Cause Not Very Well
Understood.

Ncw York, December 2i--Aftcr
four ana a half months spent In
studying Pcllagrd in south Carolina.
the members of the Thompson Mac
Fddden Pellagra commission nave re-
turned To- their headquarters IN the
New York Post Graduate hospital
The data bearing on the opid"miuluEy
of In" disease which MAS gathered uy
the commission IL the most complete
ever obtained but the mystery envcl-
uplng the origin Of the ailmcnt has
not been dispellcd II will take
months to get the details obtained In
To such shape that anything like a
logical conclusion may De drawn
pointing to the ctiOlOgy Of the malady,
and the probability liz that even then
the cause CGn not positively he deter
mined without further exhaustive in
vcstlgatlnn.
The commission has only expended
half NJ the fund Of $4,000 donated by
Colonel Robert VI. Thompson OF this
city and John MacFadden OF Phlladel-
phia. For this reason II second expc-
dition win BE sent to- the same local
ity next spring for the purpose OF
studying the problem In one of It's
many other aspects.
These general facts were obtained:
II Is certain that exclusive OF the
cases that have proved fatal there
are at present 10000 persons In the
south afflicted with pcllagra, The
symptoms OF the disease are becoming
less severe, out the number Of cases
are not decreasing. The allmcnt
which formerly was almost exclusive
~ confined to the poorer classes, prob
ably on account of their generally I'M
fortunate surroundings In spreading
moro and more among those who arc
prosperous
One County studied
The commissions ncld hcadquar-
t"rs were In Sphrtanburg county,
= g., not. however, because the dis
case Is moro prevalent there than
clSeN here, In the south, hut because
1t was selected AZ u convenient local
ity in which 10 carry on the investiga-
tlnn. 4 careful inquiry disclosed the
fact that whereas l62 cases Of pei
lagra had been reported Oy the medi-
cat authorities In this county, there
were actually between 800 and 400
persons suffering from the disease II
II ~ the belief of the commission that
the ailmcnt ls similarly distributed
over u very large area Of the south,
There are "a large number Of mills
In Spartnnburg county. and the ma
iority oi the patients were found to
he mlllwOrkcrS chiefly for the rca-
son that more persons are employed
In milling than In other industries
The members OF tho commission had
been led to expect that a minute In
quiry into the lives and habits OF the
millhands would meet with resent
mcnt or even determined opposition.
on the contrary they were received
with courtesy wherever their lnqulr-
les led them, and IN only few in
stances was there "a display of retl-
Ccnce All OF those afflicted, or likely
to become afflicted, realized the Inn
portance Of the investigation and the
serious menace to their health unless
the pellagra problem was solved with
In comparatively brief period.
Until the last two or three years
tho belief has been practically unan-
imuus In medical circles that pellagra
resulted from the inEestiOn Of dam
aged corn or an inferior grade OF corn.
The disease has prevailed IN Italy for
centuries, and all OF the Investigations
carried on by italian scientists have
been based on the nalze theory OF It's
origin. Many of the commissioners
OF health and "A large number OF cx-
perienced physicians In the south who
have pellagrous patients under their
care are apparently irrcvOcably com
mltted to this theory
The best trained investigators.
however, notably Prof. Bamcon, APP
paTentiy have upset this theory and
have proved almost individually that
pellagTa In an insect-borne disease,
and that probably corn does not enter
into the problem ut all.
That the residents OF Spartanburg
county are taking a lively interest In
the solution OF the pellagra problem 10
manifested by the fact that II 10 pro-
posed TO build a hospital In the city
OF SpartanburR for the study and
treatment OF the disease. A meeting
Of local physicians was held there last
week, and took preliminary steps for
the erection OF the building. DR.. oar
TisOn OF the commission discussed the
pelIagTa situation with these physi-
clans.
A committee was appointed, con-
sIsting OF three mill residents, memT
Der OF the legislature and one physf-
clan, to d1yise ways end means for
raising the necessary money and Sc
IectlnE az SIte for the hospital DR..
Garrison told these men that the Slt-
uatlOn In the south was serious. The
mill owners on tho committee said
49, shav ,ynstld anuIelhtta 4 cent "A