Evening star., 1948-06-24
Atom Medicine Holds
Promise But Peril,
Experts Tell ANA
By Thomos R. Henry
Science Editor Of The Ster

CHICAGO, June 23-Atomic
medicines day has dawned. 1t
holds for the future great promise
and even greater peril.
This was the message to the
American Medical Association meet
ing here today of the country's
foremost experts in this largely
unexplored field.
Since radioactive isotopes first be-
came available % months ago, DR..
Paul c. Aebersold, chief of the iso-
topes division at Oak Ridge, told
the doctors, more than 5000 ship
ments have been sent out to hospi-
tails and research institutions. Ap-
proximately 1,400 research projects
now are under way. OF these, 700
are in biology and medicine.
Two in Most Demand.
Use of exploding atoms" in ac-
tual treatment of patients, however,
has made relatively little progress
and little can be expected until
their effects are better understood.
The isotopes in most demand are
the two which hold out the greatest
promise: Radioactive phosphorus,
with its affinity for blood-forming
organs, and radioactive iodine,
which can be used for treating
cancers of the thyroid
But these actual medical uses re-
main very small compared with the
value Of the isotopes in physiological
experiments where they represent
the biggest advance since the dis
covery Of the X-ray, DR.. Aebersold
pointed out. At present, % isotopes
Of 20 elements are being supplied
research institutions abroad.
The dangers of radio-activity con-
stitute a field almost unknown to
medicine and the exploration of
these dangers will require years, it
was stressed by DR.. Joseph G.
Hamilton of the University of Cali
fornia. Uranium fssion has brought
into existence in considerable
amounts "a new elements which do
not occur in living things and most
OF which presumably will be poison
Gus, he pointed out. Each Of these
must be studied separately to de-
termine its effect on the body and
what can be done about it.
Internal Radiation.
For the first time, he declared,
medicine is faced with the problem
of internal radiation" from sub
stances which get inside the body
and cannot be eliminated. All the
heavy new elements, animal expert
ments show, tend to concentrate in
the bone marrow where they kill
the blood forming cells. As little as
a millionth Of a gram OF some OF
them might be enough to cause
death.
Thus far the effects of plutonium,
the synthetic element of the atomic
bomb, have been most carefully
studied. The investigations show
that 1t is considerably more poison
Gus than radium. There is no way
of getting it out Of the bone in
which it finds lodging AS 1t de-
stroys bone, new bone may grow
over 1t.
1t propably will not be practical
to build bomb shelters IN American
cities. said DR.. Stafford Warren of
the University of California. who
was chief medical officer Of the
Manhattan District. A major diff
Guilty lies in the fact that different
materials are required as shields
against the gamma rays, extremely
intense X-rays, and the streams
Of neutrons-heavy nuclear particles
with which the human race has
had no previous experience.
Walls of No Value.
The former, Dr. Warren said, can
be stopped by thick walls of lead
or concrete, but the amount of ma
terial required is fantastically great.
Such walls would be of no value,
per Sc, against neutrons which must
be captured" by atoms of other