Evening star., 1949-12-05
New Treatment Found
For Victims of Anuinu
Some Hopeless Cases Enabled
To Walk and Return to Work
Rv Tkomas r. Henrv

To Walk and Return to Work
By Thomas r. Henry
remarkable advance in the treatment Of
angina pectoris, most painful and disabling
Of heart maladies. Is reported by = Boston
physician working under an Once Of Naval
Research project.
Victims bedridden for months and given
up as hopeless cases have been put on their
feet and enabled to return to work, in .
limited fashion at first. The improvement
is believed to be permanent, though the
treatment as yet Is on an entirely expert
mental basis.
CART, working with small group Of Harvard
Medical School researchers at Boston's Beth
Israel Hospital. is to slow down the activity
of the thyroid gland by means Of radio
active iodine His reasoning is that anything
which slows down the metabolism of the
body will be beneficial in angina by relieving
the load on the heart. The thyroid is regu-
lator Of metabolism.
The novelty in the new treatment Is that
an entirely healthy organ is treated to cure
q diseased one. Radioactive iodine, for
which thyroid tissue has special affinity,
has been used in the past to treat goitre
and hyperactivity Of the thyroid itself. The
success has been somewhat debatable. Dis
eased tissue apparently does not attract the
element as well as healthy tissue. In DR..
Blumgart's cases the thyroid itself Is per-
fectly normal.
Tissue Destroyed.
The radioactive iodine destroys q certain
amount of the tissue. Thus the normal Sc
cretion Of thyroxine is cut down and tho
whole tempo Of the body slowed to the point
where the affected heart can handle the
blood flow. Once destroyed. the thyroid tissue
never is restored. Thus, unless something
else intervenes, any improvement should be
permanent.
Whatever good can be accomplished US
ually is apparent after three or four doses.
which can be given by mouth. Patients
cease to complain of the excruciatingly pain
full smothering sensation in the chest which
usually comes with slight exertion.
The results. Office of Naval Research
doctors believe, are among the most dra-
matte yet achieved with the use Of radio
active isotopes as medicines, rather than a.
research tools.
Even If the results should not hold up over
q long period, they say, no harm will be done
since radioactive iodine is short-lived iso-
tope. which is eliminated by the body in
few days.
DR.. Blumgart's work has been financed in
part by a grant from the Atomic Energy
Commission.
Atoms of elements as heavy as iron are
being found in cosmic rays-the mysterious
radiation which bombards the earth from
outer space.
latest tests with the Nays 2o-mile-high
"sky hook" balloons, according to Office OF
Naval Research physicists, show that the
great showers reaching the outer atmosphere
Of the planet propelled by energies OF billions
OF volts, contain nucleii Of the atoms OF
essentially all the elements from hydrogen
to iron. The abundance is about in the same
ratio as the abundance Of these elements in
the composition Of the universe. as indi-
Gated by studies Of the sun and other stars.
The greater part Of the radiation Is MADE
up Of protons the positively charged particles
which make up q large part OF the atomic
nucleus These might be considered nuclei
Of hydrogen, lightest and by far the most
abundant Of all the elements In the uni.
verse as q whole. They, In varying degrees.
are found the nuclei Of such abundant
substances as helium, nitrogen, oxygen and
carbon. No particle Of anything heavier
than iron has yet been found, although
heavy elements are known to exist.
Revisions Of Theories Necessary.
The findings, Once of Naval Research
physicists say, are forcing far-reaching re-
visions Of theories of the origin and nature
Of cosmic rays First, they settle definitely
that they are material particles rather than
immaterial bits Of radiation like extremely
powerful X-rays. The relative abundance
is confirming concepts Of the chemical make
up Of creation.
the origin of the radiation, based largely
on the Navy findings. One. propounded by
DR.. Edward Teller, noted physicist Of the
University Of Chicago, holds that they must
be emanations from the surface Of the sun.
The other, of which the chief proponent II
DR.. Enrico Fermi. is that-as has been sup.
posed In the past-they come from tho
whole body Of the Milky Way galaxy, ira
versing thousands Of light years Of empty
space to reach the earth.
Crucial data on this controversy, it IL
expected, will be obtained when 1t Is possible
to carry out "sky hook" tests at night. In
the past these have not been very success
full and most Of the reliable data has been
obtained In daylight.
Questions and Answers
reader can get the answer 70 any question
Of fact BY writing The Evening Star Information