Evening star., 1939-04-10
Milk Injections
Held Out asCure
In Blindness
IntrumuscuIur
Doses End Some
Forms Of MuIody

TOTmS OF "OIOOy
Injections of minute amounts OF
soW's milk into muscle as treat.
ment of certain forms of partial
blindness was advocated before the
George Washington University post
graduate course in opthalmology to-
day by DR.. William l.. Benedict Of
the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MINI.
He also advocated Shotgun doses"
of the various vitamins for the fad
ing of vision due to excessive use Of
tobacco and alcohol This condi-
ton also may be helped by the intra-
muscular milk injections.
The treatment is for optic neu.
ritis, or Inflammation of the optic
nerve, which is direct projection Of
the brain. This is quite common
condition which may apepar at any
age, but is rather frequent among
persons between the ages of 20 and
30, who otherwise are in good health.
There are many causes. but the result
is an increasing loss of vision which
may progress to total blindness in
the affected eye.
Peculiar Course of Fever.
The purpose of the milk injec.
tions is to raise mild fever which
progresses in a peculiar manner.
Within IL to 18 hours in a normally
sensitive person the temperature
may shoot to four or five degrees
above normal. 1t then declines but
in another IL to 18 hours shoots up
again. There is usually still third
recurrence. The intent is to keep
temperature averaging about two
degrees over normal for prolonged
period The milk injections are
given four days apart and as many
as 20 may be needed.
The same purpose can be
achieved, DR.. Benedict said, by in
lection of almost any fever-pro-
ducing substance, especially typhoid
or diphtheria vaccine. Milk is fa-
| vored for adults because, since it
is a natural human food, few per.
sons are abnormally sensitive to it.
He warned against its use with
children whose reactions are not
| typical and who may develop very
high fevers. Half the amount Of
milk used in this treatment will kill
a horse almost instantly if injected
into the muscles, he pointed out.
Smoking Usually Innocent.
While both alcohol and tobacco
are accused of causing optic neuritis,
/ nr pnpnliaf cold II ic fha
prevalent opinion that neither pro.
duces the effect directly. and that
smoking usually is entirely inno-
cent. 1t has been tied up with
drinking because most drinkers
usually are also smokers. The effect
of alcohol on the optic nerve, he
said, probably comes from the fact
that heavy drinkers have poor ap-
petites and get diets deficient in
the essential vitamins. But, he
stressed, it probably is not the
lack of any particular vitamin but
of the whole vitamin complex in
teracting upon each other. Patients
should be given diet adequate in
every respect rather than par.
ticularly rich In any one substance.
The alcohol blindness, he pointed
out, is quite similar to that OF
beriberi, the vitamin deficiency
disease of the Far East caused
from eating too much polished
rice.
Sensitivity to a large number Of
substances may be responsible for
| tlon x,o,,r;t;e nr popodicf oxr1o ", od
Once it was frequent result OF
lead poisoning. but this is disap-
pearing with better plumbing. A
great deal of it, he said, may be
traced to substances in secret
compositions of varnishes. toilet
preparations and some of the new
chemical plastics used widely for
household furnishings.
Sensitivity to Cold Creams.
Women suffering from congestion
and constant discharge from the
eyes may be sensitive to certain
brands of cold cream or face pow
der, said Dr. John Green Of st.
Louis. He told of one recent case
in which severe eye irritation was
traced to an iron dye used IN fur
coat. and he warned against the
various eye-lash dyes applied in
beauty parlors.
DR.. Green told of condition SUI
perficially resembling the dreaded
eye malady trachoma which is due
to minute dandruff scales forming
at the base of the eye-lashes. 1t may
easily be confused, he said, with the
first stages of trachoma. which is
one of the most serious Of all trou-
bles of the eye.
He told of a new operation in
which the lower eye-lid, dropping
outward because of nerve paralysis
is placed in sling This is pro-
duced by transplanting minute
bit of fibrous tissue from the thigh
under the skin of the eye-lid.
The postgraduate course opened
today with approximately 200 spe-
cialists from all over the United
States in attendance. 1t will con-
tinue throughout the week under
the direction of Dr. William Thorn
wall Davis. George Washington pro-
fessor of opthalmology.