Evening star., 1936-03-01
MENTAL | Nj u PATIENTS
CURED AT HOME.
New Treatment 70" Paresis
p and Tabes Shown at
G. W. Clinic.
NY THoMAs r. HENRY.

With the SucceSSIul uedtmeuG VI
early stages of general paresis and
tabes in the home, possibility of a
notable reduction in the increasing
population of mental hospitals was
forecast in a dramatic demonstration
at the postgraduate clinic Of the
George Washington University School
Of Medicine yesterday.
Three Washingtonians who might
have been doomed few years ago to
two or three years in an institution,
but who apparently have been cured
In two or three months without leaving
their homes were introduced to the
assembled physicians by DR.. Walter
Freeman and DR.. Hyman D. Shapiro.
81 All three had shown clear symptoms
Of either general paresis Of the brain
or Of tabes, the corresponding condi-
ton Of the spinal cord. Both con-
eiitions are end results of a disease
injection and, up to about decade
ago, were invariably fatal.
Headache Eliminated.
! At the same time DR.. freeman DEM
onstrated a means of obtaining
sample of the spinal fluid for diagnos-
tic purposes which required only about
q minute, was practically painless,
and which does not have the after
effect OF severe headache. With the
combination Of this relatively easy
method OF ascertaining the condition
of the spinal fluid-which was first
demonstrated in Boston in 1922. but
which rarely has been used-and the
outpatient treatment which has been
developed by DR.. Freeman and DR..
Shapiro, a long step has been taken
toward overcoming the two dreaded
diseases.
The first step In their conquest
came shortly after the war when ben
:eficial results we're found in Austria
from the infection of victims with
variety of tropical malaria which
caused repeated episodes Of high
fever. The method was to allow ma
alaria carrying mosquitoes to bite
patient.
I This treatment was difficult and
cumbersome. It was first demon
strated In this country about 10 years
ago at st. Elizabeth's Hospital here,
with marked success. The next step
was the separation of the infective
material in the bodies of the nosqui-
tos, so that it could be injected with
q hypodermic needle. Still close hos
pitalization was required and, as a
rule, patient was retained for a
year or two after positive signs of the
disease had vanished. Meanwhile
there has been closer study of the
malarial attacks themselves.
Given Malaria Injection.
J Under the method developed by
DR.. Freeman and DR.. Shapiro the pa
silent is given an injection causing
squartain malaria as soon as a tabetic
and paretic condition is recognized.
Then he is sent home. There follows,
In the course of two weeks, about Is
.paroxysms of chills and fever run
ming as high as 105 or 106 degrees.
These are not dangerous in them
selves but it is essential that the pa
>tient remain in bed with home nurs-
ing, and that the physician be called
IF anything unusual develops.
One treatment is enough. In the
vast majority of cases it either cures
Jor brings about definite improve
4ment. Five out of six Of the patients
treated here, DR.. Freeman said, have
had the disease arrested to the point
where they have been able to remain
sat home, and two out of three have
been able to go back to their custo-
mary work. In only one out Of six
has the treatment failed to the point
where it has been necessary to re-
move the victim to an institution.
This, it was pointed out, is approx
.mately twice as good as the record in
mental hospitals.
The one essential Is that the dis
ease be detected in its earlier stages,
before it has reached the stage of
such abnormalities of behavior that
1t is not safe to allow the patient to
remain at large. This development
may be very rapid, or quite gradual.
AS rule, although the initial
symptoms are quite vague, paretic
aor tabes patient realizes at an early
stage that something is the matter
and visits physician. At that time
he seldom has reached the insane
stage, although he may be very irri-
table, conscious of a decline In
memory, have lost ambition and
Initiative, have vague ideas somebody
Is prosecuting him, have fainting
spells or convulsions, and suffer from
severe pains in the legs. But his con-
dition is not such that any physician
would pronounce him insane"
: Stopping Disease.
It Is at this stage that the progress
of the disease usually can be stopped
by the home treatment, provided con-
.ditions in the home are at all suitable.
The only fatality which has attended
the treatment to date was that of one
woman living in a poor rooming house,
who was obliged to go outside to
obtain her meals in bad weather. She
fievelped pneumonia.
d The ideal, DR.. Freeman stressed,
will be to detect the disease before
there are any overt symptoms at ALL
This can be done by examination of
the spinal fluid. Either paresis or
tabes is almost certain to develop
sooner or later in any one with the
disease organisms in the spinal fluid,
showing that they have actually at
tackled the nervous system. The old
spinal puncture, however, was difficult
and physicians were loath to subject
patients to it.
1 Physicians attending the post
graduate clinic yesterday were amazed
1t DR.. Freeman's demonstration of
the so-called "cistern puncture" in
which needle was run through the
back of the neck into the small cavity
1t the base Of the .brain where the
spinal cord starts and spinal fluid
Withdrawn. The patient, who has
been subjected to the same treatment
before, did not even vince. The place
where the needle penetrates is rela-
lively insensitive, DR.. Freeman said. 1