Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-06-04
Lack of Methi0nine Cause.

Lack of Methionine Cause.
During prohibition days hundreds
died of cirrhosis of the liver. 1t was
supposedly due to some specific
effect of alcohol. But, DR.. Gyorky
reported, he can produce exactly
the same condition by feeding heavy
doses of the amino acid, cystine. a
sulphur-containing substance which
In moderate amounts is essential to
life. He can prevent it by feeding
at the same time the chemical
choline, one of the B complex of
vitamins.
The two enter into combination to
produce another lfur-containing
amino-acid, methionine. Lack of
methionine causes cirrhosis of the
liver.
Diet Deficiency.
So, says Dr. Gyorky. the condition
must be considered as not due to
alcohol, but to the fact that alcohol
drinkers have poor appetites and do
not get enough of the two sub
stances together in their diets.
CyStine IS contained in most meats.
Choline is in soybeans, egg yolk and
liver If an alcoholic adds these to
his diet there is little danger of
cirrhosis.
Practically the same explanation
holds true, he said. of the necrosis
which is fatal to women. It has
nothing to do with pregnancy, per
Sc. but to the fact that the patients
diet has been so rearranged that she
is getting too much cystine or too
little choline.
Drug Effects Vary.
An hitherto unrecognized medical
phenomenon-the different effects of
commonly used drugs depending on
species. age, race and temperature
was demonstrated by DR.. K. K. Chen
and G. H. A. Cloves of indianapolis.
A notable case was that of alcohol.
1t is commonly supposed that it af-
fects the young more than the old.
They experimental with rats to de-
termine the amount required to kill
an animal. For baby rats, they
found, it required about 95 MILL
grams per kilogram of body weight
to cause death while year-old rat
was killed after imbibing only 70
milligrams per killogram.
Another striking effect was that
of mustard gas, one of the most
dreaded weapons of the last war. A
lot more of it was required to burn
the skins of Negroes or Chinese
than those of white men. Insulin,
they showed. produced commissions
much more quickly in a high than
in moderate temperature.
Sulfanilamide in mice and rats
formed chemical combinations in
the blood stream which rendered it
ineffective IN combating infection.
In dogs and frogs it remained pure.
Man falls about half way between.
False Heart Disease.
Genuine heart disease is not so
much problem In men accepted
for military service as is "masquer-
ade heart disease" it was stressed
by DR.. Eugene S. Kilgore of San
Francisco.
Chief among the physical signs
responsible for mistaken diagnosis
of heart disease, he pointed out. are
irregular rhythm, rapid beating and
temporary elevation of blood pres
sure due to the excitement of the
examination.
Another condition that may lead
to mistaken diagnosis, he said, is
what is known as the effort syn
drome," a group of symptoms
brought on by comparatively little
exercise. They consist of shortness
of breath, rapid beating of the heart,
perspiration, tremulousness, giddi-
ness and aften pain about the heart.
These are not signs of real heart
disease, he insisted.
Candidates for the effort syn
drome," he said, ARE those with poor
posture, f1abby muscles, poor nutri-
ton or marked fairness, those who
have avoided strenuous athletics and
sought light work, often non-smok-
ers and total abstainers, and those
given to worry who study health fads
and various diets"
Nerve Vitamin Lacking.
American families worrying about
thiamin chloride-the nerve vitamin
were provided by the committee on
foods with an exhibit of the amounts
ordinarily found in common foods.
An adult man needs two milligrsms
day of the vitamin, and adult
woman 18 milligrams. Here is the
table:
Milligrams.
6 ounces whole wheat bread 81
6 ounces enriched flour bread SO
Ordinary white bread ---- .056
Pint of milk --.2 6
ounces lean meat so
l egg ------------- OF
ounces potatoes Is
4 ounces oranges -- IL