Evening star., 1948-06-30
Stars, Men and Atoms
Doctors Almost BuffIed
By High Blood Pressure
Laboratory Studies Fail to Solve
No. | Death Cause in Nation
Ry Thomas r. Henry

BY Thomas X. Henry
CHICAGO, june so.-Medical science il
almost completely bafied by the chief cause Of
death in the United states-high blood pres
sure with its fatal examinations in heart and
kidney failure and brain hemorrhage.
One after another, doctors have seen the
failure Of some OF the brightest prospects COM
ing from scientific laboratories.
Today, nobody knows the cause or what to
do about it, DR.. George Z. Wakelin, professor
Of physiology at the University of Illinois,
told physicians meeting here.
Disease Of Middle Life.
High blood pressure is essentially . disease
Of middle life, usually starting with the con-
traction of some of the smaller blood vessels.
This requires more work by the heart to push
blood through them. The higher pressure is
manifested most frequently by the breaking
of one of the exceptionally thin-waIled blood
vessels Of the brain, sometimes causing instant
death. Almost always 1t results In partial pa
ralysis as the motor centers in the brain are
affected.
The sanest view at present, DR.. Wakelin
said is that this essential hypertension'-ths
name given all cases Of high blood pressure
the cause Of which Is not known-is Q group
Of diseases due to wide variety of reasons
and the best hope is laboriously to isolate
these maladies, one after another. Already half
a dozen have been taken out Of the general
category as causes These, however, account
for only small part Of the whole.
Victims, DR.. Wakelin said, are most likely to
be stocky and slightly overweight. They are
apt to have personalities varying from states
of aggression to passveness. In fact, 1t has
been widely proclaimed that there is a psychic
factor involved. Actually, DR.. Wakelin de-
clared pressure can be reduced In some
persons by putting them under a general
anesthetic. thus presumably blocking OF most
impulses from the higher centers Of the brain.
Temporary improvement is brought about
still in q few cases-by use of a new drug,
tetraethyl ammonium, which blocks the SYM
pathetic nervous system.
Sympathetic Disorder.
This Is the basis, DR.. Wakelin explained.
for the radical operation known as SYM
pathectomy In which this part Of the nervous
system, controlling many Of the body's un-
conscious activities, is cut loose from Its blood
vessel connections The operation appears
to do some good in about 20 per cent of the
cases. In others 1t proves Of no value. The
best conclusion, DIR. Wakelin indicated, Is that
one OF the complex of apprehension diseases
may be due to a sympathetic disorder.
one OF the most popular recent tneorleS
has been that apprehension is due to the
oversecretion of a blood-pressure increasing
substance from the kidneys. The condition has
been produced experimentally in dogs by
blocking OF the kidneys. Still there Is
no evidence that the same holds true for
man. The condition can be produced in rats
by injection of one Of the hormones secreted
by the pituitary gland buried in the brain.
The thesis has been advanced that there
may be some as-yet-unknown hornone re-
sponsible for hypertension in man. Blood
pressure also can be raised by the injection OF
one of the hormones Of the adrenal glands
from which adrenalin also Is secreted.
However even If any of these causes could
be established, Dr. Wakelin concluded, they
would apply only to a limited number of
cases and the general picture, so far Is the
death rate is concerned, steadily grows worse.