The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-10-10
Your Health
 By WILLIAM BRADY, M. D.

A great many people foolishly dabble with vitamins, trying" first this and then that vitamin or com bination of vitamins, and never getting any appreciable benefit simply because they do not continue the experiment long enough.
 I have sometimes referred to vita min B (thiamine) as poor mans insulin," because, as numerous good authorities now recognize, it contrl- butes something to the metabolism or utilization of carbohydrate (starch, sugar.. Persons with dia- betes often find that an optimla daily ration of vitamin B1, prefer ably taken as B complex, does, af- ter reasonable time, enable them to reduce their daily insulin re- quirement. A reasonable time for this effect, I find, is three or four months. Moreover it is my opinion that the negative experience of many physicians who have, as they say, tried out this suggestion in practice, is due to the inadequate time they gave for the test. It is hardly worth whole to supplement the diabetic's diet with three milli- grams (1OOO units) of B1 and pro- portionate amounts of the other B complex vitamins daily for just a few weeks and then discontinue the practice because extraordinary ef- fects have not been obtained.
 Most physicians and good many laymen would think of digitalS at the mention of heart tonic. We need not quarrel about that here, but I must mention that it is generally agreed that one who needs a heart tonic needs it not just for a few weeks but more or less the year around. Even digitails, which the old timers considered and many good physicians today consider a heart tonic, must be taken in small does but ove "a prolonged period of time to produce tonic effect.
 Just what is a tonic effect. Ton ic means to give tone-ln this 1n- stance to the heart muscle-and inn provement of function. Frankly l can't follow the reasoning by which some physicians maintain digitalis has a tonic effect on the heart. But can readily understand that vita min B complex tones the heart muscle, just as it tones tht gastro- intestinal muscle coat and function. A large part of the Vitamin B stored in the body is found in the heart muscle. It is probably as essential for normal functioning of the heart muscle as it is for normal utili- zation of starch and sugar in the body. Muscle work involves oxida- tion of blood sugar, whether it be voluntary or involuntary muscle.
 So, with every dose of digitalis or other heart medicine I'd com- bine a teaspoonful of pleasant tasting B complex syrup or, if the heart medicine is in pill or tablet form, perhaps capsule of B com plex-and continue the B complex long after the heart medicine is stopped, although once a day is often enough to take it, provided the one daily "dose" or ration gives at least three times the amount of Vitamin B that is ordinarily re- quired to maintain good nutrition, say 1000 to 1900 units or 3 to 5 miligrams of B1 (thiamine) every day in the year, together with pro- portionate amounts of the other vitamins of the complex.
 Remember, it takes two or three months of this to produce an ap- preciable tonic effect on the heart, and once you get the effect you must continue the supplement inde- finitely, for, after all, fit is just food for which, thanks to your namby- -pamby diet, you have been half starving for many years.
 QUESTIONS and ANSWERS PinwOrm Eggs
 Is there diSinfectant I could use to kill any eggs of pinworms there might be around the house.
 (Mrs. L. H. R.) Answer-No. Send ten cents and stamped self addressed envelope and ask in writing for booklet "Unbid- den Guests" It tells what to do about pinworms, round worms, tape worms, hookworms, ringworms and other pests.
 Please tell me if beer and ale puts on weight. am fond of it and drink quart day (not all at once) and find I'm getting quite heavy al- though I eat only one substantial meal a day. (Mrs. O. T. O.
 Answer-A quart of beer or ale yield about 400 calories-about the same as a pound of potato. If you do much physical work or play or exercise every day the beer or ale vyi1I ,,rn<juSa no oraater cain in