Evening star., 1951-07-16
New PIusmu Treatment
Helps Arthritis Cases
Blood From Mothers Gives
Promise of Effective Aid
By Thomos R. Henry

blOOu pldSIld 1TOIu ulOLIlerS following
childbirth has remarkable effect on
some arthritis victims.
It produces gradual and sustained
remission in victims of the rheumatoid
form of this disease and remissions have
been observed to last from six weeks to
more than year.
This has been reported to the Ameri-
can Medical Association after a two
year study by DR.. Louis w. Granirer Of
Queens General Hospital, Long Island
The indications are, he says, that there
are some unknown anti-rheumatic sub
stances in this plasma. Ordinary blood
plasma has no effect.
Most of the patients in the study re-
quired from six to eight pints of the
plasma before any change took place
Then the improvement was general, with
relief Of joint stiffness and decrease Of
pain, joint swelling and Inflammation.
Only two of eight patients failed to
respond, but it is believed they were not
treated long enough.
The improvements, on the whole, were
just as dramatic as any reported with
cortiSone or ACTH, DR.. Granirer ex-
plains in the Journal of the American
always was complete disappearance
of symptoms, relief was greater than
with any preceding therapy Patients
had an improved sense of wellbeing and
increases in appetite, strength and
weight. Significant changes in blood
chemistry likewise occurred.
Remissions Not So Severe.
There always were remiSsions, but in
general the return of symptoms was
slow and they never reached the former
degree OF severity. Resumption of the
plasma therapy always was effective
when there was remission.
No bad side effects. such as appear
in other forms of arthritis therapy,
were noted. Administration Of the plasma
over long period was well tolerated.
After remissions, the report says, pat
tents need not be treated continuously.
Sound waves far above the hearing
range are proving valuable new tool
in medical diagnosis.
Remarkable progress made in this
field both in the United States and Eur
ope has been reported by the American
Medical Association.
The systems being developed depend
on the ability of these sound waves to
penetrate tissue at different rates taking
into account the nature of the tissue
itself. and they also depend on the fact
that they are echoed from various alb
normal growths.
In passing through tissue the sound
waves produce chemical changes as well
as heat. For this reason they have been
iy,
variety Of diseases, chiefly in Europe.
The diagnostic side has been largely
neglected up to the present.
Echoes From Inside the Body.
Echoes bring messages from inside
the body which often could be obtained
in no other way. The technique is an old
one. 1t is essentially the same as that
of echo sounding devices used to deter
mine sea depths and of devices en-
ployed by industry to find flaws in
metals, according to the medical assoc
iatlon report. 1t is based on the prin-
ciple that ultrasonic waves, passing
through a medium, are reflected back
to the source as echoes when q surface
of different density is encountered Thus,
in the sounding apparatus, not
only can depth of water be determined
but also various layers of water.
Thus when such waves strike tumor,
a foreign body, or collection of fluid
within tissue some of them are re-
flected back to the surface as echoes.
The time required for the echoes to be
returned gives an indication Of the
depth of the lesion.
With this technique, the medical as
sociation journal reports, it has been
possible to detect and accurately locate
gallstones. 1t also has been used expert
mentally to locate tumors in the brain
and certain types of tumors in the chest.
Sound waves of about 10000 cycles
per second are employed, together with
quite complicated automatic recording
apparatus