The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1915-08-19
COLD STORAGE
CHAMBER is
NO HAVEN

Avn xx<A G4N
(Cs,sisssA frsa Pass 0.e.)
air with pollen. whereas q cold.
storage chamber. shut on from out.
side air containing pollen. may pro-
tect the sufferer while he 10 In It"
he said. But temperature itself
has no effect"
The well-to-do are moro likely to
DO AFFLICTED than tho poorer classes,
according to this physician. This
may be due to their moro highly
organised nervous system. or to the
fact that they eat more than me-
chanics. for instance. making them
selves moro liable to sensitixation:
but the fact has not been definitely
accounted for.
I'm Europe, so-called hay fever
Il often caused by the pollen of
timothy and rye. in early summer"
said the physician. Here, hay
fever IL q phenomenon Of the late
summer or eany autumn, and Is
caused largely by the pollen Of rag
weed and kindred plants. Hay
fever victims may be sensitive to
the pollen Of other plants. also.
Each case Ii purely individual. and
must DO so considered. John may
be sensitive to one thing. Mary to
another. One person may not be
sensitive to ragweed pollen, but to
peaches.
There are various tests for ind
ing ont what It is that causes this
constituencies. The pollen of the
sensitizing plant produces certain
cutaneous, ophthalmic or nasal re-
actions. II a persons hay fever Is
due to ragweed pollen, q little OF
the pollen rubbed on the skin will
produce q cutaneous reaction. an r.
ritation or redness, that Is not
caused on the skin Of . person who
II not affected by ragweed pollen.
Most hay fever victims are sensi-
tive to moro than one pollen, and
they may be sensitive to one thing
one year and to another thing an
other year.
1T has been found that the hay
fever symptoms are mostly due to
the aIbumen In the sensitixing ma
terial. II II not always true that
albumen causes sensitixation. There
arc people who can't use Quinine
or acetanilid or iodine, none of
which contains aibumen. without
being made sick. In q hay fever
patient, there II q reaction between
some substance In the body and
the albumen or protein In the pol
len, and this reaction liberates a
poison. This poison can be isolat-
ed. have killed guinea pig with
II. The ordinary person has no
special ferment In his body which
breaks up the pollen and frees its
albumen. and for that reason he is
not susceptible to hay fever.
The disease II not necessarily
born with the patient 1t may come
ut any time, even between the ages
Of 80 and so. But It IL more likely
to occur In people who have a
hereditary tendency toward It.
Asthma II one Of It's forms or symp-
toms.
I'm finding . treatment for the
disease, Investigation has been d.
rected toward the use Of the spe-
cihc pollen which causes the dis
ease. Minute doses OF 1t can be
given to neutralixe the ferment
which frees the albumen. In this
way, q good many patients. have
been made less sensitive, or have
been desensitixed. II the treatment
II given long enough before the At
tack. amelioration of the effects can
be secured In 25 to 30 per cent of
cases, 20 that only trining incon-
venience II experienced. But In 35
to 40 per cent there is no relief.
due to the fact that there arc so
many causes Of sensitixation. Rag.
weed treatment 10 Ineffective In
cases where the hay fever IL not
caused by ragweed pollen.
"A method 10 now being expert
mented with. which aims to desen-
sitiss all persons afflicted with hay
fever BY the same method. but 30
little literature on the subject has
been printed that II IL too early to
make q public statement regarding
It."