Evening star., 1935-10-24
STARS, MEN AND ATOMS
Notebook of Science Progress in Field,
Laboratory and Study.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

There is a disease-one of the most
malignant known to physicians-which
actually lengthens the life of its victims.
The average life span of those who
suffer from it is from few months to
five or six years longer than the actuarial
average for persons of the same race. sex
and age groups Of the population as q
whole.
And, says DR.. Raymond Pearl Of Johns
Hopkins University, it is a striking ex-
ample of "the imperfection that so fire.
quently appears in this world Of ours.
The meanest and most dangerous class
of the mentally deranged live longest"
The disease is paranoia. The fact that
It lengthens life was found in a statisti-
cal study conducted by DR.. Pearl and
Marjorie Gooch at Johns Hopkins and
by DR.. Walter Freeman at st. Eliza
beth's Hospital here. The results of this
study are announced for the first time
in the current issue of Human Biology,
issued at Johns Hopkins.
It was found that among colored VIC
Tins of paranoia both men and women
lived more than five years longer than
the mean life span of the race. Among
white men and women the gain was
only of few months. The surprising
result was that this was the only malady
which resulted in longer life for both
races. White sufferers from all the
other mental diseases died sooner than
the average of the white population.
The colored insane generally lived longer
than sane members Of their race out
side hospitals, probably due to the bet
ter sanitation and nutrition.
Colored men and women, whom para
noia apparently benefits most physically,
seldom suffer from it. The race appears
highly resistant to the peculiar system
Of delusions involved in this psychosis
and 1t runs counter to the grain of the
racial psychology. The white race Is
quite suspectible to it-and white victims
profit only few months in length Of life.
But, says the report, "the results sug-
gest the odd paradox that paranoia seems
to be, per Sc, a disease that conduces to
long life. It certainly is not detrimental
to race duration.
The statistical tables drawn up by DR..
Pearl and DR.. Freeman are based on the
mortality of insane patients at st. Eliz-
abeth's Hospital.
They were grouped in three other
classes, besides the paranoid. These
were the cycloid, including all victims
of manic Oppressive insanity; the
schizoid, including all dementia precox
victims who were by far the most nu-
merous, and the epileptoid, or sufferers
from various forms of epilepsy. The
latter. in both races, were found to be
considerably shorter lived, both in re-
spect to other insane and to the popula-
ton in general.
Beth the cycloid and the schizoid
maladies are behavior alterations with
no known organic cause. They are mem
tally but, on the surface, not physically
sick. Nevertheless there is some sort OF
obscure pattern relation of mind and
body so that. as is pointed out by DIR.
William A. White, superintendent Of st.
Elizabeth's Hospital, the death rate Of
the insane is more than double that
outside Of mental hospitals. Paranoia
seems tied up in a different sort of con-
flict-unique among maladies both mem
tai and physical.
The victims are, as characterized by
DR.. Pearl, probably the meanest and
most dangerous Of all the insane. The
disease usually is characterized by delu-
sions Of persecution. The paranoiac gets
the idea that some person. or institu.
tion such as q political party, Is engaged
n hinderinS ht1 pro9reah Tho delustoo