Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-05-05
ESTABLISHED
AS DIETARY DISEASE
DIR. Goldberg Says 1t Is Noncommu-
nicable, Durable and Pre-
yentabIe.
DUE TO LACK OF PROPER FOOD
Can Be Prevented by Diet of Eggs,
Meats, Milk, Peas and Beans.
Tells Of Experiments Of Public
Health Service.

'hat pciiaSra is dietary disease, non
communicable. durable and prevent
able. DR.. Goldberg spoke last night
| in the auditorium Of the John Mar
shall High School to a large audience
composed for the most part Of students
from the Medical College of Virginia
trained nurses, or nurses in traininu
ana practitioners. A layman would
have had no difficulty in understand
Ing the address delivered by DR.. Cold
T, berg.
| Dr. Ennion c. williams. state Health
Commissioner. introduced tho speaker,
telling OF the research work of DR.
iGo!dbers In typhus fever. measles and
pellagra To DR.. Goldberg he gave
credit especially for his work In Iu-
vestisating measles. stating that 1t was
guesswork regarding quarantine OF
the disease until DIR. Goldberg def
nitely established It's course
Or. Goldberg stated that pellagra had
caused considerable bit OF confusion
among both the medical profession and
the iaity. because 1t came into promi-
hence at the time when the germ
theory was popular. 1t took several
years TO discover, he said. that the
disease was not a germ disease and
many more to discover that II was n
dietary affliction.
MENTIONS NUMEROUS
KINDRED DISEASES
He spoke OF a number OF kindred
diseases. mentioning scurvy, which
flourished in Europe some 300 years
ago. He mentioned beriberi. n disease
which prevails among relocating peo-
pies. He stated that 1T had been cs-
tablished without doubt that both are
iuletary diseases and result, not from
what one eats, but from what one fails
10 ent Scurvy. he said. came from n
lack OF fresh meats and fruits and
vegetables. Beriberi. he said. was a
result OF eating milled, or polished"
rice. II has been established, he said.
that people who eat the plain. or un-
milled, rice, do not suffer from tho
disease.
He said that pellagra came in the
same category with the first two dis
eases. He said that It was a disea SO
preventablc and durable. He would
not say--in fact. he denled--that all
cases are durable; hut he said that 1t
, was preventablc. The diet necessary
for both the cure and the prevention.
he said. consists OF plenty OF fresh eggs
and fresh meats, milk, peas and beans.
WONDERFUL EXPERIMENT
OF HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Or Goldberg told of wonderful
experiment carried out by the Public
Health Department: twelve convicts
| from a Western prison offered to take
| the test upon a promise Of pardon IL
they contracted the disease. They
were first sequestered for a year 70
make certain that they did not have
the disease. then for a period of six
| and one-halt months they were fed
upon a diet OF biscuit, corn bread fried
mush, rice. grits, greens, turnlps. col
Yards. cabbage and sweet potatoes
They were no, stinted "a to the amount
they desired. One man fell out from
other causes and was not counted
scientifically. Within six months. six
OF the men had pellagra, the other five
showed unmistakable evidences OF tho
disease. but were not counted, because
( they had no skin eruptions.
! They were pardoned, tho diet was
! changed, and last reports showed that
! all had recovered from the disease.
! There are a number of things about
| the disease that are not yet explained.
! DR.. Goldberg said. One Is that women.
of the same family and conditions. SUI
! fer much worse than the men. lie SAID
! that being OF almost an entirely diff
ferent species. owing TO physiological
! structure, women may be the more apt
victims. though he would not state this
rs definite fact.
DISEASE HAS INCREASED
AT ALARMING RATE
| He stated that the disease has In
! creased within the past ten years at
| an alarming rate, owing he said. to the
; fact that while wages have Increased
| IS per cent, living has increased 60 per
cent. and that poor people are unable
| to have the diet that is necessary to
| their we'll being.
Dr. Goldberg explained the work Of
| the department IN arriving at its con-
. illusions. He said that the commission
/ first visited MilledEevlle, Ga, where
| some 5000 inmates are confined in the
| asylum II was found that the in
mates had pe!lagra and that the attend
! ants did not while apparently they
were fed the same diet. At an orphan
| asylum in Mississippi il was found that
the children between the ages of six
and thirteen years Of age had the di-
: sease, while the others did not. All
| were apparently fed tho same diet II
| was later discovered. however, that the
| children in the asylum under six were
considered infants, and hence had plen-
| ty Of milk. while those from six to
| thirteen were considered neither in
fants nor "laborcrs." and were not fed
either milk or other STRENGTHENING
| foods"
FIND DIFFERENCE ~
DIET OF INMATES
The commission went back 10 Mill
| edEeville, Ga, and found that while,
theoretically. the inmates and attend
ants had the same food, the attendants
took n liberal supply Of milk and that
there was not enough to go around
When the government took charge of
two wards In this asylum, eighty pa-
, TENTS were cured and no others con-
tracted the disease.
That the disease reappears after a
cure has been seemingly effected. DR.,
Goldberg said was nothing strange. He
said that patient, undergoing treat
| ment and having tho cause removed