Evening star., 1949-11-11
New Drug Found to Stop
Morning-After Shake.
Myanesin, Introduced in England,
Used as Relaxing Medicine
By Thomas r. Henry

By Thomas X. Henry
A drug which stops morning after shakes
Is reported by University of Illinois psychi.
artists.
It is myanesin, first introduced in Eng
land three years ago, which already has had
considerable use as a relaxing medicine.
The tests Just reported were carried out
at the Manteno State Hospital in Illinois by
Drs Louis S. Schlan and Klaus r. Unna. The
drug was given both to alcoholics and to
patients with extreme anxiety symptoms.
I'm eight patients with acute alcoholism"
they report. land each with the shakes after
prolonged bouts, myanesin decidedly reduced
or abolished the gross tremor Immediately.
This was best seen on their raising a cup
Of coffee to the lips. Before administration
Of the drug both hands were needed in each
case and even this heroic effort resulted in
spillage. Within 80 to 60 minutes after
digestion of the drug the cup could be lifted
with one hand and in the normal fashion
without any spilling.
Anxiety Relieved.
Severe anxiety was as promptly relieved
and the patients reported being comfortable.
except for hangover effects, such as head
ache. All these patients had been chron-
ically readmitted to the hospital and had
previously required paraldehyde and barbit-
urates-sleeping drugs-for three or four
days after each prolonged intoxication. No
such sedation now was necessary. The re-
ports were that the relief experienced was
prompter than with either of the other types
OF sedatives and that they felt wide awake
and closer to normal"
**&*
A vitamin which will prevent the nausea
OF pregnancy is reported by University Of
Toronto workers.
1t is vitamin B-6 or pyrodoxine, found In
limited quantities in most foods. The sub
stance has been known for about ten years.
It has been studied, however, chiefly with
lower animals-rats. dogs and mice. Find.
1ngs, however. could not be applied uncrit-
1cally to man. Various claims have been
made for the value of the vitamin in mus
cular weakness, epilepsy. acne and the
formation of assures at the corners Of the
mouth.
~ 1t has been very difficult to find clear
cut case where any of these findings applied
to human being, and with normal diets
there would be very few cases of pyrodoxins
deficiency.
Clue Followed Up.
. Drs. w. j. McGanity E. w. McHenry, H. B.
Van Wyck and G. L. Watt of Toronto, ac-
cordlng to report Just published by the
Nutrition Foundation, followed up with ex.
pectant mothers clue uncovered in expert
ments with rats This concerned the con-
centration of urea in the blood It was
found that this was normal in a group Of
40 pregnant women who were experiencing
no nausea and greatly elevated in those who
were constantly ILL.,
Pyrodoxine was added to the diet Of each
group. In the healthy women 1t produced
no change. In the others there was decided
Improvement leading to the conclusion that
the condition might be almost entirely due
to pyrodoxine deficiency
Other experiments indicate strongly that
the effect Of deficiency in this vitau1in is in
the field OF metabolism of proteins the nitro
gen-containing substances in food from
which large part of the body is built up