Evening star., 1940-06-15
Hormones Believed
Factor in Paralysis
Susceptibility
Medical Association
Told Of Experiments
With Monkeys
BY THOMAS r.. HENRY.
Star Staff Correspondent.

NEW YORK, June 15.-Proba-
bility that one of the female sex
hormones plays a part in suscep-
tibility to infantile paralysis was
advanced before the American Med
ical Association here today by DR..
William l.. Aycock of Harvard Uni
versity.
The dreaded malady, of which
President Roosevelt is the most dis
tinguished victim, and which is due
to fllterable virus which enters the
central nervous system through the
nose, spreads haphazardly through
a community. 1t has been observed,
however, that women about to have
babies are more susceptible than
the average Of the population. 1t is
known that there is a chemical
change in the mucous membranes
Of the nose during pregnancy.
Following this clue DR.. Aycock in
1ected one of the female hormones,
estrogen, into the noses of monkeys
and found what appeared to be a
considerable increase in resistance.
He also found that persons sick
of poliomyelitis eXcreted larger
amounts of this same hormone than
did we'll persons.
Virus Found in Sewage System.
During pregnancy the hormone
balance of the body is upset. 1t may
be, DR.. Aycock said, that other hor-
none disbalances also play a part
in making folks susceptible to the
dreaded virus.
Finding of infantile paralysis
virus in the sewage system during
an epidemic in rural Connecticut
last Summer was reported by Drs.
John R. Paul and James D. Trask
of New Haven. Almost at the same
. time Public Health Service officers
made the same finding at Charles
ton, S. c.
This may, they pointed out, be
one important vector of the disease
the mechanism of whose spread has
remained mystery.
''We believe" they said, "that
poliomyelitis is probably transmitted
from one person to another by a
number of different channels.
Among these, and perhaps the most
important, is that of close and in
innate contact with an Infectious
person, illustrated by the type of
interfamailial contact in which juve-
nile members of the family usually
share. Many of these infectious
persons may be convalescent car
riers in the first few weeks of their
recovery either from a diagnosed or
missed case"
Vitamin X Experiments.
Experiments with rats to de-
termine the mechanism of vitamin
K, the recently discovered blood
clotting vitamin, were reported by
DR. Jesse L. Bollman, Hugh R Butt
and Albert M. Smell of the Mayo
Clinic.
The vitamin, they found, ap-
parently has some effect on the
liver which spurs that organ to
manufacture and secrete into the
blood stream prothrombin, the sub
stance in the blood which is normal
ly responsible for clotting and pre-
vents bleeding to death from
slight wound.
One of the most damaging sub
stances to the liver is the vapor of
carbon tetrachloride. Rats were ex-
posed to this vapor half hour
day until they died. In each case
death was due to massive internal
hemorrhages. Vitamin K did no
good. 1t was found that the livers
of the animals were practically de-
stroyed. Hence the conclusion that
the vitamin works directly on the
functions of the liver
Traffic accidents may be reduced
by pSychiatry-that is by sending
drivers who have accidents to a
mind doctor-the association was
told by DR.. Lowell S. Smelling of
Detroit.
Procedure Suggested.
Actually, he insisted, examinations
IN the public schools would detect
many whose personalities are such
that they should never be permitted
to drive car After that, he con-
tlnued, traffic offenders may be sent
to public clinic where they will be
given a physical examination the
proper psychiatric tests, tests for re-
action time, judgment of speed and
distance, color blindness and knowl-
edge of traffic laws.
Said DR.. Smelling: Almost every
phase of ones hiStory-childhood
schooling, occupational, adjustment,
marital, sexual and recreational-
may have a bearing on the indi-
vlduals whole attitude towards driv-
ing. When intelligence is rated
below a certain level person is OBJ
vlously not competent to drive, no
matter how well he may react me-
chanically. His judgment in an
emergency has a much greater
chance of being at fault than that
Of normal person"
One of the effects of tuberculosis
Is to deplete the amounts of vita
min G, the anti-scurvy vitamin, in
the body tissues, it was reported by
Dr.. Henry c. Sweany of the Uni
versity of Chicago. Muscle and fat,
they fou..d, are the largest storage
depots of this vatimin which is con-
tanned in raw vegetables and fruits
These are depleted in the advanced
stages of tuberculosis. AS result
vitamin c deficiency is added to the
other effects of the disease.
Considerable benefit was OBJ
tanned Dr. Sweany reported, by
diets rich in this vitamin for ad-
vanced tuberculosis cases.