Evening star., 1942-08-08
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
BIZ Thomas r. Henry.

0V 1HOUiuS n. HeH v.
A new snti-fear drug for soldiers is
on the horizon.
1t is sodium amytsl, long used by psy-
chiatrists as a sedative In treating va
rious mental disorders.
According to British experiments re-
ported here, 1t eases nervous tension in
the face of threatened catastrophe for
as much as four hours.
1t also reduces intelligence but to an
insignificant degree, for about the same
time.
Courage to order" 1t is called by the
Lancet. of1icial journal Of the British
Medical Association.
The experiments all performed on
civilians in panic over prospective air
raids. are reported by Drs Patrick Slater
and william Sargant OF Oxford Uni
versity
One Of the greatest fears of the SOL
dier, reports the Lancet is that he will
be afraid In the face of an emergency.
The knowledge that he can carry in his
pocket something that will allay such
terrors, the Lancet editors believe, might
increase greatly 4 fighting mans eflici-
ency.
1t long has been rumored that Ger
man troops are provided with some
such drug. There have been two posi-
bilities. One is benzedrine sulphate, a
drug which once was used frequently
by American college students before
examinations. In appropriate doses it
undoubtedly increases mental activity
and endurance for few hours, but Is
apt to have a bad kickback 1t would
be useful. at best, only in an extreme
emergency and has been frowned on
by both American and British medical
officers.
The other Is a related drug known as
pervitin, only recently introduced in
the United States and reported at the
last meeting of the American Medical
Association. 1t was probably used by the
Germans to some extent in the Battle
OF Crete since reports of its effects be-
gan appearing in German medical
journals shortly afterward.
The trouble with pervitin, according
to the British experimenters, is that it
stimulates the brain too much. Ideas
pile up faster than they can be organ
lied. 1t also, II used excessively, has no
kickback
Sodium smytal. Drs. Slater and Sar-
CANT report, has In some ways an oppo-
site eject. 1t gives the person taking
1t in measured doses a feeling of conf
dence and lack Of worry. On the other
hand, it numbs the brain. Scores on
standard intelligence tests fall oil from
three to five points after taking it. But
after all. this is very slight and probably
would be insignificant 80 far As the
ordinary duties OF soldier in battle are
concerned. When too large \ dose is
given one becomes sleepy, regardless of
the excitement going on in the neigh
borhood.
A new sulfa drug, allegedly superior
to all the others in trea atment of pneu-
monia-and probably meningitis and
gonorrhea-has just been reported by
oiltish physicians.
This is sulfamethazine, reported to the
British Medical Association by Drs. D. W.
MacCartney, r. w. Luxton and G. Stew
art Ramsay OF the University of Belfast.
1t is closest to sulfapyridine, they
report, in its general effects. This drug,
originally produced in England but
rapidly adopted in the United States,
in the past few years has reduced the
hitherto dreaded pneumonia to 4 rela-
lively minor cause Of death. Better
effects are claimed for two later intro
| Observation-Disclosures and sulfadiazine.
But. the Irish experimenters point out
| in their report. all the sulfa drugs are
| poisonous. They kill, or prevent the
| multiplication of, the disease germs In
the blood stream, but they also have
an 1nhibitive effect on the normal blood
cells. The constant search has been for
chemical agent more potent against
bacteria and less potent against ordinary
cells All, If given in the large doses
considered necessary are apt to produce
nausea and vomiting, and the skin Is
apt to turn blue as the inhibited blood
cells are unable to carry their normal
amounts of oxygen.
| Another very serious difhculty with al
OF them Is their effects on the kidneys
They are not very soluble. As a result
they are apt to form hard, crystalline
masses In the kidneys-es thu
equivalent Of kidney stones.
Tests of the new drug to date on scores
OF cases OF pneumonia the Irish doctor.
report show as good curative effects a,
the latest Of the sulfa drugs widely usec
in the United States sulfadiazne. Al
the same time it appears to be consider
ably less poisonous to the ordinary blooe
cells.
There has been no case of nausea fol.
lowing its use in large amounts.
At the same time. they say, 1t is tn.
most soluble of all this family of prepa
rations yet known. This means that II
is much less likely to form kidney stone.
and can be more easily made into &
solution for direct intravenous injection
IN cases where n patient is too sick t.
take the drug by mouth.
Another advantage is that, because o
its solubility. the rate of elimination /!
lower than that OF the other sulfa drugs
Smaller doses accomplish the sam.
results.
Thinks Dies Committee