The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1915-11-20
PELLAGRA DURABLE.
Dread Malady Caused by insufficient
Proteid Diet.

Dread Malady Caused by insufficient
Proteid Diet.
\ Announcement has been made thai
as a result of Continued research anc
experiments 5of the Public Health
/ Service. both tie cause and the cure
! Of peilagta haNa been discovered. and
i t'lat the spread Of this dread malady,
/ which has been increasing in the
| United States at . terrific rate dur
ltg the past few years. may now be
/ aee,.ed and eventually eradicated.
/ ne discovery Is regarded as one of
the most important achievements of
medical sciencesin recent years.
/ Pellagra has been increasing al
alnliagly throughout the United
5t..tes :lufinga The last eight years.
t IS estimatedgthat $4,000 eases of
he aiseese Willshave occurred in the
nlted States IN 1915. and of this
lz-7177Tmber at least $500 will 97saa died
efo.e the endsof the year. In MANY
/ e=:tioas only tuberculosis and pneu-
monia exceed ftEas a cause Of death.
The final epeeh-making experiment
of the Public Health Service was car
lied ont at the farm of the Mississippi
state penitentiany about eight miles
east of JacksonSs Miss, and together
with the paAgious work of the Ser
vice comp4a,,ss the chain in the pre-
vention al sdasuress of S9Ae disease. The
work at the Mississippi farm has been
in charge of Surgeon Joseph Gold
berger and Assistant Surgeon G. A .
Wheeler of the United States Public
Health Service. The farm consists
of 1906 acres, in.the center Of which
is the convict camp, The final ex-
pertinent was undertaken for the pur-
pose of testing the possibility of pro-
dueing pellagra lin healthy human
white adult malesby restricted, one
sided, mainly carbohydrate (cereaD
diet. OF eleven eonvicts who volun-
teered for this experiment, six de-
veloped a typical dermatitis and mild
nervous CASTRO intestinal symptoms.
Experts, including DR. E. II. Gallo
way, secretary Of the Mississippi State
Board of Health, DIR. Nolan Stewart,
formerly superintendent of the Mis-
sissippi State Hospital for the Insane
1t Jackson, DR.. Marcus Hause. pro-
fessor of dermatology. medical col
lege Of the University Of Tennessee,
Memphis, Tenn, and DR.. Martin r.
Engman, professor of dermatology in
the Washington Medical School, St.
Louis, Mo-. declare that the disease
which was produced was true pellagra.
Prior to the commencement of
these experimentssno history could be
found of the occurrence of pellagra
on the penitentiary farm. On this
farm are Is or 80 convicts. Cover
nor Earl BreWeraoffered to pardon
twelve of the ognvicts who would
volunteer for thesexperiment They
were assured thai they would receive
proper car9 threaghoI the expert
ment, and Treatment should it be
neeessaI given was hol,a-.
tffuf ard more titan sufficient to sUs-
tain life. It differed from that given
the other eChvicts nlegoay in the alb
sence of meats, milk, " eggs, beans,
peas, and similar proteid foods. In
every other particular the conviets
selected for the experiment were
treated exactly as were the remain
ing conviets. They had the same
routine work and discipline, the same
periods of recreation and the same
water to drink. Their quarters were
better than those of the other con-
victs. The diet given them consist
ed of biscuits, fried mush, grits and
brown gravy, syrup, corn bread, cab
bage, sweet potatoes, rice, collards
and coffee with sugar. All compo-
nents of the dietary were of the best
quality and were properly cooked.
AS a preliminary, and to determine
if the convicts were afflicted with any
other disease, they We're kept under
from Feb. to April 9,
two and half months, on which date
the one-sided diet was begun.
Although the occurrence of nerv-
Gus symptoms and gastro-intestinal
was noted early, it was
not until Sept. Il, or about five
months after the beginning of the
restricted diet, that the skin symp-
toms SO characteristic of pellagra be-
gan to develop. These symptoms are
considered as typical, every precau-
ton being taken to make sure that
they were not caused by any other
disease The convicts upon whom
the experiment was being, made, as
well as twenty other conv1cts who
were selected as controls, were kept
under conauflous Hgdical surveil-
lance. No caaus,of peffagra developed
in camp excepting among those men
who were on the restricted diet. The
experimenters have therefore drawn
the conclusion that pellagra has been
caused in at least six of the eleven
as result of the one
sided diet on which they subsisted.
On the basis of this discovery, the
states Of Mississippi, Louisiana
asIh:,Florida have laid theEnpro-
paganda through their respective
boards of health for the eradication
of the disease.
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Silver Wedding Anniversary.