Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1915-03-31


Charge Of Pellagra Investigations;
{. II. Waring, Assistant Surgeon,
and David G. Willets, Technical
AssistaH. United States Public
Health Sarvice.)
Since the publication Of the com
mnuicatioD IN the Cause and Pre-
vcntion d, Pellagra (Goldberger,
Public Hruich Reports, Sept. 11th.
1919 large number of inquiries
have been received asking for de-
tailed directions as to the treatment
and prevention Of the disease. AS it
has been tnpracticable to reply to
these rs lily as appears desirable,
IL Was decided to prepare and pub
lish brief summary of our conclu-
Siuns as 10 the nature OF pellagra,
and with these as a basis to outline
the treatment and means Of preven-
ton.
On takug; up the study Of pellagra
one Of tn. first and most insistent
questions Dhat confronted US was
chat oi IL. communicating Our
Studies hnge led us to conclude CD
that pelleC'a is not communicable
(neither iifeCtious nor contagious)
disease, 1T that it is essentially of
dietary o., in; (2) that it is depend
enr on some yet undetermined fault
i'm u GIel IN which the animal or le-
guniuou& protein component is dis
| prOpOrtlUu.tely small and the non
| ie&umnCNa vegetable component dis
| prUpurtiuHatel large; and CD that
| no pclla2"a. develops in those who
consume a mixed, well-halanced and
varied dict, such, for example, as
nat fuTHi. led by the government to
the enIia'"l men of the army, navy
and marra corps.
Treatment.
Dict ! lie experience Of reliable
observers rras over and over again
| shown tl3u we have no specific me-
dicina! trcatment for pellagra. Al
The Same me, we find that even the
earliest s'u,lents Of the disease make
ur mention Of the value Of nutritious
.oOd. The early Observers were leo
20 feed lhcir patients because they
found tl3t, as a general thing, the
disease occurred then, as it does
low, mainly in the poor and the
hily nOWri he'd. 1t was not and is
| hcr f~
IN ndjviC lals suffering from pei
ia2a who to ulI outward appear
oucy, ave perfectly we'll noUrishcj
Sucn Observations. naturally enough
an~o rise to douDts ana to sEepti
,....- - any Essential causdtite re-
Il1tiIn Tween undernourishment
i3ud r"l'aara. Indeed, such obser-
l. ,3t.n,, justify the inference that
.uCih"Ha Is not a disease of malnu.
Itri..H'. p;ovided that by undernour-
I.ishmr. oc malnutrition we mean
In. m re han is ordinarily under.
s'oud as some degree Of starvation
| m, comparatively recent studies
ruut have definitely established beri.
Ihcr n a deficiency" disease, a dis
lease O. "uldernourishment' or star.
a..ou n .. sense hardly dreamed OF
In".o!e have given a new and added
lnIWi lncn to the more recent stu
dies .f nutrition and have opened a
practically virgin field to the stu
| drn- of eDidemiology and therapy.
|, a. lOW we consider pellagra as a
|r,ull oi nutrition ("undernourish.
JDent or 'starvation") in this new
a.d special sense Chat is, as in some
H.. 1alo Sous to beriberi or sour
lt't. We at once get new and more
rE"N ha'ic tolerance for the re
p0r-a D. beneficial results not onl,
ir"n ne use Of "nourishing" foot
l@io'a but @lso from those reports O
II mau.Ny favorable results follow
ah2 administration of this, that
6" lhC other form Of arsenic or othel
n 1ni@ne. For on closer inquiry l.
VI be- found that in those instances
| where there seems to be reason fol
/ 'licoHg mat the favorable results
c.,'a"t for this or that drug appear
t. Aa'a d substantial basis in fact
| tto credit usually claimed for The
medicine alone must, to say tho
lo.a e Shared by the modificatio
i ,Ne Diet that Is invariably fount
to haEo Deen made. Recurrences
f. auc' iu%tances are not rare ant
not hard to understand when one re
faols nat having gotten well, The
nature. tcndency is to go back tc
| ouc's ordinary diet, and this usually