The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-02-12
BY WILLIAM BRADY, M. D. ENORMOUS DOSES OF vYTAMIN D FOR CHRONIC ARTHRITIS

I ~ SA&AW~eNA~
 The high concentration of vita min D which is now used with marked benefit in the treatment of long standing arthritis cannot be obtained in any food material, not even in fish liver oil. So invalids who receive this treatment must depend on one of the several sym thetic preparations which the man. uSacturers supply through physi- clans.
 The treatment starts off with no less than 100000 units of vitamin D daily, and this must be kept up every day for weeks and months; in some cases the daily dose must be stepped up to 100000 or 500,000 units, and sometimes the best rec suits may require from 600,000 up to 100000 units daily for . few days, then continued for weeks on an average of 300,000 units of D daily.
 Signs of improvement. such as lessened pain, improvement in mo- bility, reduction of swelling, general improvement in health. better cir culation, may be noted in from Q week to six months. In any case if the treatment is started the patient should stick to 1t and not vary from the dosage prescribed by the physi- clan for ct least Q month. If in that time no definite improvement is apparent, then 1t is up to the physician to increase the dose of vitamin D. The increased daily dose should be continued until irn- provement is felt, or manifestat ations of ovcrdosage appear. What these manifestations are is c matter best left to the judgment of the phy- sician. All the technical infornia- ton Is available to physicians only. Victims of chronic arthritis who have been subject to hay fever, asthma, recurring hives, or other allergic conditions, seem to respond particularly well to the treatment.
 Patients tolerate the necessarily enormous daily doses of vitamin D better if they receive also fair daily rations of B, c and A, for instance in the form of the optimai vitamin ration I have harped on so much in the past year or two.
 Unfortunately for many arthritis sufferers the various vitamin D concentrates which have been avail able for this treatment are extreme ly expensive, the medicine costing from two to four dollars Q day, de- pending on the number of units required. Processes for production of the synthetic vitamin D prep arations (viosterols having various trade names) are patented. and consumers of the products have to pay not only profit to the pro- ducer but also Q fixed fee for license to manufacture and royalty on each item sold. Hence the high cost of the half dozen commercial preparations of duly certified po- tency which have been available heretofore. am glad to note, however, that . vigorously assayed and. authoritativeiy certified prep aration to be released this month will provide Q highly potent vita- min D concentration for this or other purposes at less than half the cost of the preparations referred to. Once more I caution laynnen that these enormous doses of vitamin D can be safely employed only under the direction and observation of your physician. And the treatment has not had a fair trial unless the dosage has been kept up or judi ciously stepped up until either def- mite improvement or toxic symp- toms occur, whether in two weeks or six months.