Evening star., 1939-05-19
Human Machine Oil
ToCombat Rust Of
Old Age Proposed
Medical Association
Told Of Energy
Releasing Vitomin
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff Correspondent.

N~'SNS'hS N'ah'h
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star staff Correspondent.
ST. LOUIS, May 19-Oiling the
rusty machinery of old age by means
of an energy-releasing vitamin was
proposed before the American Medi-
cal Association here today.
The Nations growing hosts of
men and women past middle life
may constitute great malnutrition
p problem, said DR.. E. L. 7ouhy of
Duluth. not because they are finan-
cially unable to get adequate diets
. but because of loss of appetite due
p in part to the lowering energy of
their digestive systems. They have
vague complaints, lose weight and
follow diets prescribed by their
physicians which may be rich in
81 sugars and starches AS a result a
vicious circle may be set up and
symptoms of some of the real vita
min deficiency diseases established.
, The particular machine oil" pro-
posed by DR.. Touhy was thiamin
chloride, a form of vitamin B-1
which acts as a promoter of en-
ergy release in the body. He him
self has used the preparation, he
said. in a wide variety of conditions
affecting elderly people with some
apparently outstanding results and
others which are difficult to inter
pret. He presented his findings
largely as a suggestion for more eX-
Fermentation.
Action Declared Intricate.
The action of thiamin chloride,
he said, is extremely intricate. 1t
occurs abundantly in yeast and ap-
parently is essential wherever car
bohydrates are to be broken down in
digestive processes. In cooperation
with engines naturally present in
the digestive tract it eXpediteS the
breakdown of glucose and the pro-
duction of carbon dioXide His own
cases, he said. provide evidence that
through its function of carbohydrate
metabolism it acts to restore mus
cular adequacy to the gaStrointes-
tinal tract where prolonged depriva-
llOn mas ODtdlneQ.
1t will enable old people. he said,
to eat more of more varied diets
without worrying over the conse-
quenceS. With adequate digestion
of these their general health may
be expected to improve. At the same
time he warned against indiScrimi-
nate muscle oiing and urged that
Io Il
of the individual case by the
physician.
Experiments with dogs and pigeons
indicating that injury to nerve tissue
strongly resembling the changes
found in the Oriental deficiency
disease beriberi and a rare nervous
malady known as Wernicke's disease
can be produced by inadequacy of
vitamin B-1, or thiamin. were re-
ported by DR.. Harry M. Zimmerman
Of Yale University.
While beriberi itself is almost never
found in the United States, he said,
the same type of nerve tissue change
is not infrequent under other names
or in association with other maladies.
Wernickes disease, while rare, has
been known for a long time in aSso-
citation with chronic alcoholism and
certain conditions associated with
pregnancy. 1t is an inflammatory
hemorrhagic condition of the brain.
Diseases Produced.
I'VE have found" said DR.. Zim-
norman, that the disease can be
produced in pigeons and dogs with
amazing regularity from diets de-
ficient in vitamin B-1 Diets de-
ficient in other vitamins do not
produce these changes"
The "bromides, sedatives con-
tanned in many proprietary medi-
Cines. are producing a queer sort
of intoXication. it was reported by
DR.. Lewis P. Gundry of Baltimore.
They are often taken. he said, by
alcoholics at the end of a spree, with
the following mental conditions as a
result:
The patients are often unco-
operative, noisy and even extremely
combative. The mood varies from
one of elation to one of abject fear
and terror. The speech is usually
thick and jumbled and slurred to
such an extent as to be almost un-
intelligible in some cases. With this
there are many deluSions and hal
lucinations. The patient frequently
carries on confused conversations
with imaginery individuals on the
ceiling or sees large men and ami
mails of all descriptions. He fire.
ouently believes that he is to be
executed, or that members of his
family have been killed. Complete
Discrimination was often observed
and there is a tendency to confubu-
lation."
Kidney Stones Dissolved.
A way may be found to dissolve
kidney stones. according to expert
ments at the Massachusetts, General
Hospital reported today. At pres
ent these generally require surgery
for permanent relief
There are four common types of
these stones of distinct chemical
composition, it was reported by Drs.
Fuller Albright, Richard Chute and
Hiram w. Sulkowitch and the re-
search has been based on the idea
that certain persons have tendencies
. to some of these types and that they
can be dissolved by appropriate
chemicals. They have had some
success, they said, in dissolving the
chemically most complex stones of
all, those of calcium phosphate. by
introducinp solution of sodium,