Evening star., 1946-07-21
1000 Sudden Deaths
OF Young Men Studied
by Army Patho|ogists
By Thomos R. Henry

A sudden killer of young men,
hitherto considered rare medical
anomaly chiefly striking down chill
dren-iS revealed in study OF un-
expected death among soldiers just|
completed at the Army's Institute
of Pathology.
1t Is an acute, Illuminating infec-
ton of the entire body due to al
bacterium which often is found as
sociated with spinal meningitis. It'll
strikes without warning and usually
the victim is dead within "a hours
after he feels sick enough to consult
doctor.
1t frequently is associated with a
rapid degeneration of the cortex OF
the adrenal glands, which until now
has been considered very rare.
Study 1000 Cases.
AT the Institute of Pathology. DR..
Alan r. Moritz of Harvard Medical
School and Capt Norman Zamcheck
of the Army Medical Corps made an
exhaustive study of the AUTOPSY
findings on nearly 1000 soldiers who
died within "a hours after they were
taken Ill. The project was under
taken because it seemed to offer an
Ideal opportunity to find the causes
OF sudden death among supposedly
healthy young men. Such a study is
difficult in the civilian population
because often there is no check on
the individuals condition before he
f1rst sees physician.
1t can be assumed that a soldier
was in good health almost to the
time OF his death, for medical ex,
amlnations are frequent and it is
dlffcult to conceal minor illnesses
The most common causes of sud-
den death were the same as those
found among civilians-various types
OF heart maladies and cerebral
nemorrhages. These are apt to
strike at any age but the probability
OF an attack increases as the indi-
vldual grows older. The greatest
number of such deaths in the ARMY
was among men more than 25 wears
old and they were most frequent
after some unusual exertion.
The third most frequent cause of
death, however, was complete sur
prise. Two-thirds of the deaths
were among men under Is and nearly
a third of them among soldiers
under 20.
The attacks appeared to come
without warming. Careful studies
Of case histories, however. shows
that there often was a period of
week or more when the victim felt
below par, although not sick enough
to go on sick call or to complain to
his comrades. Usually he thought
he had slight cold.
Some Died Before Examination.
Then came the Illuminating phase
OF the disease. 1t usually was abrupt
ana overwhelming. Some died be-
lore they could be seen by medical
officer. More than half died within
six hours of admission to an Army
hospital.
Boys would be brought in with
fever, low blood pressure, hemor-
images from the skin, rapid pulse :,
and some involvement of the lungs.
Usually the fever became very high
Just before death Autopsy usually
showed the cortex of the adrenaI
glands had deteriorated.
Hitherto only 80 adult cases have
been described in North America
and Europe. The medical officers
believe this is not a true picture and
that the malady is probably as COM.
mon among the civilian population
as in the Army. But, they say, the
end comes so quickly that in civilian
life many of the victims simply
would be found dead in bed. They
then would be examined only by a
coroner who would be satisfied if he
found no evidence of crime and
would not seek the exact cause of
death.