Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-07-03
LEPROSY CURE
NOT YET FOUN
Experiments at Hawaii
Colony Give Little Hope.I

WASHINGTON, D. c.. July 2-I1
the brief announcements of a cure
leprosy have been somewhat misIeadI Il:
to the public, is announced by the b s<kz
lie health service.
The facts of the so-caIled cure -
that $50 patients of the Hawaiian Ia
colony have been treated for from ST, -
eighteen months with chaulmoogra s. &
and of these forty eight have
paroled from the asylum as suppose
WELL
All those treated were in early, sta Il
of the disease, as it is almost hopeA 3
to attempt cures Of patients far
Yanced.
Forty-eight probable cures of the most
dreaded disease known to humanity is an
encouraging achievement, but the pub
lie health service points out that over
one hundred cases failed to respond. ana
that, on the whole, leprosy continues "a
be a mystery.
Chaulmoogra oil, the product Of
tropical plum tree, \ has for nearly q
century been regarded as a remedy for
leprosy, but the dose is so nauseatine
that few patients can stand taking 1t in
ternally long enough to derive any bene
fit from it,
Not long ago. however, some doctors
tried making a hypodermie injection Of
the oil into the muscles of a PATIENTS
arm, and this was the method used II
the Hawaiian hospital
Why the oil fails TO benefit some cases
which have advanced no farther than
those cured is not altogether UNDER
stood.
Leprosy is one of the most bathing
maladies known to the medical profess
sion.
1t is found all over the world md
in people Of practically every race.
There are about 100000 cases now.
most of them In China where the peoplo
are either more susceptible or the germs
are more prevalent
Leprosy's cause has been attributed
al different times to climate too LITTLE
salt in food, insanitary living condi.
tons, and spoiled fish.
1t was only few years ago that doc
tors discovered that there is a bacillus
OF leprosy, very similar 10 that Of tu-
berculosis, but nobody has yet found
out positively how this germ is trans
mitted.
When the bacillus was isolated, it was
supposed that animals could be tnocu
lated with it and a serum obtained to
cure the disease, but no animal has ever
been found that can contract leprosy.
Almost the same thing is true of I'M
man beings
OF the few men who have allowed
themselves to be innoculated one case
stands out in which the subject really
became leprous
This man, a Hawaiian, convicted Of
murder, was given the choice Of hanging
or incubation with leprosy, and he
agreed to be used as a subject of expert
ment.
In five years he developed the diseasW
and spent the rest of his life in a jail at
the Hawaiian leper settlement
HUNDREDS OF LEPERS
IN THIS COUNTRY.
Doctors agree that all animals and p5 Z
per cent Of human beings are immune toE
the germ Of leprosy.
There are at least 500 or 600 Iepers IN
this country, good many of them a
large.
Some do not give themselves up d
quarantine so long as the disease cal
be concealed, while others escape from
the miserable and lonely quarters intd
which they are thrust by states which
have not organized leper asyIums
These refugees fee from one place
another, but because leprosy is far les
conta gious than measles, and because
few people are favorable subjects, the az
fects Of contact with these outcasts
negligible.
Even when Iepers contsa& Ito ID
with their husbands, wives orr kher ri NJ
atives who have not Contracted the di
ease there is only about one chance il
twenty of the clean person becoming In
fected.
This was long ago believed to be true,
and it was definitely demonstrated by
census taken at the Hawaiian Icper set
Element
AS Hawaiian lepers are allowed to have
a member Of the family live with them
large number of untainted persons in.
their settlement.
OF ninety eight men living there with
leprous wives i've only were found "a
have developed the disease, while Of
eighty-three women married to iepers
four had taken it.
Because the disease may not DEVELOPS
for several ENTHUSIASTICALLY as long
as fifteen years-sfter the person becomes
infected. only persons who had been ex-
posed at least three years were con sid
cred in making up the figures.
Statistics have also been compiled 70
show that leprosy is not hereditary.
In Hawaii and the Philippines where
children born Of lepers are taken from
them and kept In homes for q certain
length Of time scarcely case ever de-
velops. and these are nearly always
shown to have been contracted by con-
tact
The idea Of leprosy being hereditary Is
gained largely from the Bible story WHARF,
it is mentioned as a curse pronounced
upon the servan of Elisha and upon his
children because they obtain money By
fraud.
In the Bible stories the leper is al
ways called unclean, and In three in
stances the disease is spoken of as
punishment.
Thus it has come to be associated with
immortality in the minds of many people
though doctors have repeated denied that
any connection exists between Ieprosy
and venereal disease.