The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-11-17
CURE FOR PELEGRA
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE HAS
FOUND CAUSE OF DISEASE
Starts BY WRONG Diet
DR.. Goldberger Experiments Upon
Convicts Giving Them the Disease
by Improper Feeding and Curing
Them by Using Balanced Diet
Disease to Be Fought Harder Now.

Discovery of the cause and cure
| for pelIagra was announced formally
Thursday by the public health ser.
vice. The announcement follows the
recent publication of report by
Surgeon Joseph Goldberger on a year
of experiments in cooperation with
Southern States health officers dem
onstrating the correctness Of the
theory that a one-sided diet disease
and that a well balanced diet would
cure 1t.
"The spread of this dread malady,
which ras been increasing in the Uni
ted States at a terrific rate during
the past years, may now be checked
and eventually eradicated," says the
service statement. 1T is estimated
that $4,000 cases Of the disease will
have occurred in the United tSates in
1915 and of this number at least
$500 will have died before the end
Of the year. In many sections only
tuberculosis and pneumonia exceed it
as cause Of DEATH
The final dietary tests were made
by Surgeon Goldberger and Assistant
Surgeon G.. A. Wheeler at the farm OF
the Mississippi penitentiary where
half dozen of II conVicts were given
pellagra by feeding them for five
months on bountiful meals consisting
chiefly Of meats, milk, eggs, beans
and peas. The victims recently were
pardoned by the Governor and are
being restored to health through
corrected diet.
although the occurrence of ner-
vous symptoms and gastro-intestinal
disturbances was noted early" says
the service statement, ''it was not un-
til September IL or about five months
after the beginning { the restricted
diet that the skin Sy1L LptomS so char
acteristic Of pellagra began to de-
velop. The convicts upon whom the
experiment was made were kept un-
der continuous medical Surveillance.
No cases of pellagra developed in
camp excepting among those men
who were on the restricted diet. The
experimenters have, therefore, drawn
the . .'clusion that pellafra has been
caus at least six of the IL VOL
unteers as q result of the one side
diet on which they subsisted.
'On the basis of this discovery the
States of Mississippi, Louisiana and
Florida have laid their propaganda
through their respective boards OF
health for the eradication OF the dis
ease.
'In earlier experiments about 200
patients had been cured by balanced
rations and a. the end OF a year there
had been a slight recurrence OF the
disease in only one instance
At the annual meeting of the
Southern medical association at
Dallas, Texas, sharp differences OF
opinions as to the cause and treat
ment of pellagra marked the final ses-
sion OF the association which conclud-
ed its annual convention Thursday.
The dietary theory, recently ad-
vanced by DR.. Joseph Goldberger OF
the United States public health ser
vice, and formally by the public
health service Thursday was the prin-
cipal subjects OF discussion and news
reports of his fork criticised as mis-
leading.
Several phyicians said newspapers
had printed headline that cure had
been found but that Dr. Goldberger
had not announced anything more
than a very good treatment for the
disease, possible the best treatment
yet known.
DR.. Allen Freeman of the United
States public health service read
to the pellagra symposium copy OF
the diet which he said DR.. Goldberger
found had tendency to produce pei
lagra. Dr.. Freeman pointed out that
it was almost the identical diet OF
every person Of small means in the,
South and appealed to the physicians
to accept for their own use and eX-
pertinent the treatment Dr.. Gold
berger has demonstrated.
"Dr. GoIdberger," he said, "does
not claim to prove that diet is the
only cause for pellagra. But he does
claim that through diet he bad pre-
vented peIagra and that through diet
he has produced it."
DR.. Stewart L. Roberts of Atlanta
said that as pellagra is wasting dis
ease, a diet including such foods as
peas, beans and fresh meats, which
were among the articles recommend
ed by DR.. Goldberg, would tend to
ward relief for the reason that they
are rich in the elements necessary to
restore wastage.
DR.. Roberts added. that he did not
believe it possible to say pellagra
patient had recovered until the pas
sage of at least three years, during
which time no symptom of the dis
ease appeared. He thought that when
the cause of pellagra is discovered it
will be either a parasite or poison.
Whatever the final proof on diet
treatment might show, said DR. o. NJ.
Marchman of Dallas, even if the
treatment fails, it should start tudy
with renewed vigor and hope Of soon