The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1920-10-01
FOUND tEPROSY Cures
SCOURGE OF HUMAN KIND
HELD IN CHECK
United States Health Service Has
Proven Effectiveness of New
49,. Method
associates Press Dispatch

associates Press Dispatch.l
Washington, September 30.-Lep-
rosy. scourge of humanity since
early history. apparently has been
conquered by officers of the United
States Public Health Service in the
leper colony at Kalihi, Hawaii. Forty
eight sufferers of the dreaded malady
who have been subjected to a new
method of treatment. have recover
ed to such extent as TO warrant their
release on parole and. after a year
not one has shown a symptom of re-
currence.
AS yet, no announcement of a
cure" has been made officially. for
some of The government medical OK
perts are frankly skeptical of the re-
suits. 1t may be years before an of
fetal and final opinion is given.
The limit of the official claim is
set forth in q joint report to the
Public Health Service made by DIR.
j. 7. Mcdonald, Director of the lep-
rosy investigation station and super
intending physician to Kalihi hospital
and by President A. l.. Dean, of the
University of Hawaii, as follows.
Agency OF Control.
1T has teen sufficiently establish
ed that chaulmoUgra oil contains one
or more agents which exert a mark
ed therapeutic action in many cases
of leprosy. We can not say as yet
that the disease is cured, since we
have no test adequate to establish
such a verdict. Whether or not the
apparent cures are real and perma-
nent, 1t is evident that We have a
valuable agent at our disposal in the
control of. the disease"
Chaulmoogra oil in it's crude state
is no new drug for the treatment of
leprosy, but in its raw form it proved
so nauseating and painful to patients
that it had to be temporarily dis
continued. Science turned toward its
derivatives and Drs. Mcdonald and
Dean report "it was found that the
ethyl of the fatty acids were thin
fluid oils leading themselves readily
to intramuscular injections and were
readily absorbed"
Treatment Is Sought
Injection of the oil derivative. by a
syringe has brought a new hope to
the leper, for at Kalihi Hospital Gin
lection day" is described by the
doctorsia report as an occasion for
Matchmaking though of painful ex-
peTlence Tor the SuUer6rS.
"The standard treatment" the re-
port says, now consists in weekly
injection of a preparation which con-
acids of chaulmoogra oil with two
percent of iodine in chemical COM
bination. The amount used starts
at one cubic centimeter and is grad
ually increased to maximum of four
or five cubic centimettrs for adults
Ac ,essory treatments Of iodine lini-
ment, onitments and sun baths are
employed as measures to improve
the general health and mental atti-
tude of the patients.
Drs. Mcdonald and Dean are of
.tht opinion that leprosy of the nerve
type as well as the nodular cases
should receive the new treatment.
They report astonishing results with
the nerve cases.
1--WE beiiaeve our remedies arrest
the disease" they say regarding the
nerve cases, and prevent further
destruction Ct hand and fingers, even
when, as in long standing cases, nor
NAL function can not be fully restor-
ed.
Proof OF Cure
During the past year we have done
better than simply arrest the destruc-
tive process; we have had the great
satisfaction Of seeing marked i'm
provement in a considerable number
of these purely nerual cases, and ap-
parently complete recovery if 9TH
ers. One Young man who came in
with a decidedly ataxic gait, unable to
raise his body on his toes and with
one hand so weak and deformed that
he had been compelled to abandon
the use of the typewriter a year be-
fore entering, so far improved before
his parole that his disability in walk
ing had not only disappeared but he
became one of the leading tennis
players and one of the swiftest run
ners in the compound.
"a woman with all fingers absorb
ed to less than half their original
length, after a years treatment, be-
came able to write, to sew and knit,
functions of which she had for years
been deprived"
War On Disease
Regarding - in virulent form oil
leprosy, the doctors report that "in
many cases the LESSONS disappear, ex
cept for scars and permanent injuries
and the leprosy bacillus can no long
er be demonstrated.
In the continental United States
there are two hundred known suffer.
ers of leprosy, but public health Of
ficials believe that ten times that
number exist. known only to the fam
lily doctor. The Louisiana state leper
hospital at Carville has been bought
by the government and the public
health service plans to enlarge 1t SC
as to provide facilities for the treat
ment of five hundred patients. DR.
I o. E. Denney. who is expected to be
placed in charge of the new hospital
plans to buik the best laboratory
in the world| for the study of leDrosy
Treatment sfre that given at Kalihi
will be followed at the Louisiana hos
pital. and research also will be con
dncted with a view of discovering a
new "cure" and for improving the new
method