Evening star., 1935-01-11
WTAM|N A LACK
HELD STONE CAUSE.
Doctors Reveal Expert
ments to Back Theories on
Kidney-BIadder Ills.

Deficiency of vitamin A in diet was
described as a major factor In The
formation of bladder and kidney
calculi by DR.. Charles Higgins OF the
Grille Clinic, Cleveland, before the
Medical Society of the District OF Co
lumbia at its weekly meeting wed
nesday night.
The experimental work upon which
DR.. Higgins conclusions were baseo
was described as representing major
advance in a problem which has
puzzled the medical profession for
centuries. Vitamin A Is found in tsh
liver oils, in animal livers, in egg yolks
and in various vegetables. Lack OF
it is known specifically to cause
curious eye disease known as xeroph-
thalmia and generally to reduce re-
sistance to bacterial infection, espe-
cially of the type which causes colds
and pneumonia.
Two Experiments Tested.
DR.. Higgins fed two groups OF rats
ON identical diets from which all sub
stances containing vitamin A had
been eliminated. One group was given
in addition a couple OF drops OF coo
liver oil daily, giving the needed vita
min. Nearly all the first group de-
veloped kidney or bladder stones IN
from 80 to 100 days. None Of the cod
liver oil group developed the stones.
He was able to obtain an almost
perfect record of dissolving these
stones in rats by adding cod liver Oil
to the diet. With human beings, how
ever. the problem is much more COM
plicated than with the lower animals.
A series of cases, however, have been
treated successfully with a diet con-
tanning liberal supplies OF vitamin A,
either in the form of fish oils or some
of the vegetable extracts. He met
with some failures, however, which
NAV be due to essential differences IN
tn bio-chemistry of rats and men or
to the wider physical and chemlcal
structures of the stones formed IN the
human body. Arranging proper diet
for a human being also Is much more
difficult since there are complicating
factors which only the expert clinlcian
can determine.
"Stone Areas" Placed.
DR.. Higgins has collected statistics
from all over the world, showing ap-
parent stone areas" in districts where
yitamin A deficiency might be ex-
pected-such as parts Of China, Rus
sia and India. There are two we'll
marked areas in the United States
in California and Florida. Throughout
most of the world, DR.. Higgins said. the
formation Of stones has changed from
q disease of children to one of adults
during the past century with the
change in adult diet toward greater
vitamin A content.
DR.. Higgins emphasized that he did
not claim vitamin A as sure-f1re cure
or substitute for surgery in removing
stones. Everything depends upon the
condition of the patient, the position
of the formation, and possibly upon
the form and chemical structure. In
some cases, in fact, uncritical use OF
such vitamin A food as cod liver oil
might have serious results. These cases
are those of patients suffering from
exceptional activity of the parathyroid
glands, which supposedly control the
calcium metabolism Of the body.
Three Causes Cited.
Another aspect Of the calculi prob
lem was presented by DR.. Lynwood
Keysey of Roanoke, Va, formerly Of
the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, Mimi.
who has done much pioneer work in
the dietary treatment of the ailment.
DR.. Keysey stressed that while the
vitamin A content of the diet was
unquestionably of great Importance,
the formation OF stones might be at
tributed to at least three major causes.
and that while the disease was most
prevalent in areas where there is a
deficiency Of vitamin A in the diet
1t is not especially prevalent in other
areas with the same deficiency.
One underlying reason for the i'm
portance of vitamin A, it was pointed
out, Is that lack of it may lessen the
resistance to infection of the tissues
Of the body areas where stones are
formed, those breaking down the nat
ural defensive mechanisms. One spe-
cific micro organism has often been
found in association with calculi and
it has been demonstrated to have the
faculty of splitting up the chemical
substance, urea, leaving part Of 1t
to form stones.
DR.. Higgins experiments with this
organism, however, indicated that 1t
caused a general rather than specific
infection.
Both doctors are continuing their
experimental work in the hope Of
gaining further light on the very COM
plicated relation of diets to the for
nation Of these foreign bodies.