The Washington times., 1922-05-07

IN various 1Ormo OF disease Ol INC
kidneys, such as Brights disease.
and has been usually attributed to
tho damage done by the disease to
the kidneys as the body filter. We
have been in the habit Of quite
sharply cutting down on meats Of
all sorts in the diet Of these dis
eases. for fear Of throwing too
much work on the kidneys. as the
waste products Of meat are drained
out of the body through this organ.
RESULT OF EXPERIMENTS.
This raises the question at once
whether a shortage Of animal pro.
tein or meat may not be In part.
at least, a cause of the dropsy.
Studies Of the blood Of a number
Of patients with edenia from kid
ney disease have shown marked
deficiency of protein, and some Of
the patients have been greatly i'm.
proved by allowing more protein
or meat In their diet.
or course. this Is little more than
a suggestion so far, and will re.
quire a thorough testing out on a
wide scale. in order to esta blish
its value, but there has been a
general feeling for some years past
among thoughtful physicians that
a more liberal meat diet jr kidney
disease gives better results and
longer life to the patients. even
though opposed to tho former
scientific theory. There is such a
thing in both Brisht's and diabetes
as curing the disease but killing
the patient.
The other new evidence in sup
port Of our old instructive belief
in the value and indispensibleness
OF fairly liberal amounts Of meat
on our tables comes from this side
Of tho Atlantic. and is also an
almost nation wide scale. This is
the later conclusion Of DR.. Gold.
berger and his associates in the
United States Public Health Ser
vice. as to the particular elements
in the diet whose absence causes
pellagra in our Southern States.
PELLAGRA AND ITS CAUSE.
Pellagra Is a serious disease Of
tho great fooo. or rather food de-
f1ciency group, to which scurvy,
beri.beri and probably ricketts, be-
long. Beginning with a painful
inflammation and thickening Of
the skin. particularly OF the
hands. face and arms. followed
by intense and obstinate irrita-
ton OF the stomach and intestine,
with purging, worse In spring and
summer, better in fall and win
ter. This runs on season after
season until relieved. or, in severe
cases. ends in a chronic form Of
insanity, or in death by exhaus-
ton.
The original and historic
theory of the disease, which was
imported with its name from Eu.
rope. pellagra. being Italian for
rough skin" was that II was due
to too much corn or maize in the
diet. and particularly to spoiled
or moldy corn. But when it was
discovered ten or fifteen years ago.
to everybody's intense surprise,
that pellaHra was disabling tens
Of thousands OF poor whites
and negroes in our Southern
States, studies set on foot. both
by national and State health ex.
pcrts. quickly showed that there
was no adequate basis for this
corn theory. No constant connec-
ton whatever could be found be-
tween either the amount or the
soundness Of corn meal or other
corn product fooda and the pres.
ence of tho disease. While we'll
marked cases occurred In patients
who from personal preference or
dislike. had never used any form
Of corn meal
INSECT THEORY FAILS.
Then the theory that It was an
inscct-borne disease carried by tie
bite Of some species Of gnat
(simulium) was taken up. but this
also was found to lack adequate
support. When the question of
the quality Of the diet was care
fully studied. a high degree OF
relation appeared at once. To put
1t roughly. It was very evident
that the families and the classes
which suffered most heavily from
pellagra were not a. well fed as
those which were less subject to
the disease.
Several years ago Goldberger
and his associates felt sure that
they could map out a "pellagra
diet" closely to resembling tn.
famous hog and hominy" Of the