Evening star., 1937-08-19

Some of the rarest of human maladies.
reported only few times in all medical
history. are found now and then among
the thousands of World War veterans
who now are passing through the clinics
of the Veterans Administration.
Such strange diseases as Qualification
of the heart. tuberculosis of the tongue,
cancer of the appendix. etc. are de-
Scribed in the current issue Of the medical
bulletin of the service. Queer mental
and physical symptoms often are COM
bined as the result of obscure nervous
injuries.
Among the rarest conditions reported
was calcification of the pericardium, or
bag around the heart. After the vic
TINS death when the heart was struck
with a scalpel it sounded as if porcelain
had been struck"
Carcinoma of the appendix, according
to another report, apparently is con-
dition more frequent than is generally
supposed 1t usually goes undiagnosed
and is missed when the appendix is re-
moved for some other reason. Theoret-
icallv its occurrence may be of consider
able importance in considering the cause
of such abnormal growths, because Of
tissue making up this outgroWn organ OF
the race
There was one man apparently con-
demned to go through life bouncing or
tossing rubber ball.
He was a veteran who had recovered
from an attack of encephalitis lethargica,
or sleeping Sickness" which is char
acterized by an inflammation of the walls
of+ ,;,I ~ o1o oFt bo hro in o10cn
proximity to centers concerned with
bodily movement. Some time after ap-
parent recovery he developed the condi-
ton described below by DR.. John D.
Carpenter. Veterans Administration ply
sician. in the current issue of the Medical
Bulletin:
"Examination revealed a tall, fairly
well developed fairly well nourished
young white man who, when sitting or
lying quietly in bed, appeared relaxed
and quite normal. But AS soon as he
began to walk or to undertake purpose
full movements his face and eyes began
to twitch and there was spasmodlc
contraction, more pronounced on the
left side, which resulted first in the
closing of the left eye and then of the
right 1t is believed that this was due
to an excessive contraction Of the muscles
of the upper right thoraX and of the
neck, both behind and in front. He
made an effort with his right hand to
hold his right lid open sufficiently to see
his way under these difficulties.
THE patient stated that by bouncing
a ball he could keep his eyes open and
hold his swaying body erect. The tense
ness of his body in this way was re-
laxed and he walked freely, although
leaning to one side. When in crowds, or
where walking was rough he stated, he
tossed the ball in the air instead of
bouncing it, with the same resultant
steadiness in locomotion and abatement
of blepharospasm (twitching of the eye
lids)."
Examination both at the Veterans Bu-
reau Hospital and at the Mayo Clinic led
to the conclusion that the mans trouble
was not mental but entirely organic
After treatment for more than two years,
DR.. Carpenter reports, "he has made
good adjustment"
The current bulletin contains one OF
the few case histories of the rare condi-
ton known as "adiposis dolorosa,' or
|, "fat that hurts" Lumps, or sometimes
large masses, of fat develop under the
skin, especially about the abdomen, hips,
thighs and shoulders. These Jumps are
extremely painful, although the growth
appears to be pure fat with no nervous
connection.
The case reported by DR.. John B. An
derson oE the Veterans Administration