Omaha daily bee., 1920-12-17
coNQuERING LEPRosY.

| cONQUERING LEPRoSY.
Many are interested In the pro.
gress of what has all the indica-
tions of being successful fight
| against leprosy. not because they
have leprosx or expect to have !,
or expect to have it develop in any
one in, whom they are interested
but because il Is long time enemy
Of mankind. one with conquests and
terrors. often recorded in sacred
| and profane history.
While DIR. McEwen has shown
that much Of the socalled leprosy
told about in the Bible was not
| leprosy, but other kinds of disease.
there Is good reason for believing
that there was genuine leprosy in
that time and that it was more Sc
we're than 10 the leprosy of today.
! A few years ago the Norwegians
/ undertook to control the leprosy in
their land. They did so by building
| five great institutions, gathering up
all the lepers from every part of
! in these homes. BY the time the
world war had developed the mum
I Der of lepers had decreased so
greatly that only three of these in
stitutions We're used as leper colo
MES and the others had been turned
into tuberculosis hospitals.
For number OF years In the
Louisiana leper colony DR.. /. Dyer
had been curing leprcsy or getting
results which seemed to be cures.
In spite of all this gain, the most
promising demonstration is that
which has been made by DR.. ]. T.
| Mcdonald in Kalihi hospital, Homo
! lulu. He has paroled rs cases of
leprosy since December. 1918. These
, cases are kept under observation
and there has been no suggestion of
relapse.
The Hawaiian law provides that
all persons proved to have leprosy
must go to a leprosy colony and
stay there. They 30 first to Kalihi
hospital. which institution has $50
, beds. If at the end Of six months
they are not cured or on the way
to be cured they are transferred to
the Molokai colony. The plan is
working out so well that so far from
hiding. patients now come to Kalihi
voluntarily. waive all legal rights
and ask for treatment.
The treatment used is hypodermic
AlJSLliohc VI a SpCNiui piNRotaNASH
of chalmoogra oil to which some
iodine has been added. The oil and
iodine also are given internally.
The special preparation is not ir-
ritating to the tissues nor hard on
the stomach ais ordinary chalmoogra
oil Is.
The patients are paroled when EVIL
dence of the disease has disappear
ed. The patients have all the ap-
parence of being well and there
seems no likelihood of relapse or Of
any power to spread the disease.
DR.. Mcdonald says leprosy cannot
be successfully treated except in a,
hospital. The preparation of chal-
moogra oil cannot be used by the
patient himself or IN any ordinary
hospital or by any physician except
those skilled in its use and who are
in a position to control their pa
tients. The affected Hawaiians ap-
preciating this are voluntarily en-
tering the hospital and taking the
cure.
Uses OF Cod Liver Oil.
E. S. G.. writes: VIII you kindly
advise me as to taking cod liver
Oil? / went to three doctors and
edCIl lOIu IIIc 10 TAKE COu liSSE OI1.
What effect has it?'
REPLY.
Cod liver oil is an edible fat hav-
ing all the nutritive qualities. of
fat. 1t is thought by many to be
preventive and to a limited extent
cure for ricketts, in children. The
New York City health department
once distributed cod, liver oil to
,1N 80 l1
high rickets rate among them. At
used as remedy for consumption.
1t is not SO used now.
Benefits of Vaccination,
T. P. c. writes: 81. Are there any
statistics to show the difference be-
tween people who have been vac
cinated and those who have not in
regards to smallpox?
"2. What are the statistics on
deaths from diphtheria where an
titoxin has been used and where
1t has not been used?"
REPLY.
/. Yes, there are many. One of
the best is in the statements and
figures in the vaccination creed of
the Chicago health department,
prepared by R c. H Spald-
ing. The Public Health Service re-
ports issued weekly give a compari-
son Of the smallpox rate among the
vaccinated and the unvaccinated in
all parts of the United States. Prac-
tically all the cases are among the
unvaccinated. Newsholme's Vital
Statistics" devotes 20 pages to a dis
cussion of the subject. Page after
page is used to give figures proving
the efficacy Of vaccination. For in
stance, in Leicester. England. where
some claim vaccination has not
made good. the smallpox attack rate
among unvaccinated children living