AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 138, 12 June 1926, Page 11

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION.

» TBEATMENT OF DISEASE. SOME REMEDIES MENTIONED. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, April 275 During the sessions of the American j Medical Association which have been j held in Dallas, Texas, the age-long hopelessness of paretics was alluded to, and it was mentioned that a humble malaria I germ may turn this forlorn hopelessness I into the brightest hope. j The treatment of paresis by infecting the patient with malaria was announced I as "an actual discovery of the age" in the scientific lectures of the association. | which featured the third day of the asso-! ciation's seventy-fifth annual convention. | This was considered one of the most important subjects of the several score I papers read in a dozen scientific meet- j ings that day. The speakers stated that cases have been reported whereby patients were restored to normalty. Effects of the nation-wide influenza j epidemic of 1917-18 are becoming evident in certain persistent disease's of the lungs, physicians told- delegates. Cancer of the lungs and acute bronchitis were attributed directly to the influenza epidemic in certain cases. No satisfactory explanation of why the in- j fluenza causes cancer has been offered, | it was said. • i Tbe quest for ihe magical potion I that will cure all disease was suggested by the paper by Dr. Hugh H. Young, of Baltimore, presenting the latest work in attempts to combat generalised infections by injecting chemicals and dye | substances directly into the veins. The prevalent attention given to high blood pressure was noted in the section on pharmacology and therapeutics, which gave special attention to new liver extracts to reduce blood pressure. Chinese Asthma Cure. An ancient Chinese remedy was advanced as a possible cure for hay fever and asthma at another sitting of the Association, when Dr. K. K. Chen. Chinese physician of the University of Wisconsin, described a crude drug called by his countrymen "ma huang." which be said had been in use in the empire of the dragon for more than 5000 years. Dr." Chen said favourable clinical results have been reported by a number of physicians. Delving into the dawn of life upon this planet, two Nebraska doctors- have brought to light diseases that caused the extermination of whole races of animals j eons agb. and they now presented their i findings to the convention. | Drs! F. B. Young and A. L. Coto- j per. of Seotts Bluff, Nebraska, susgested J that perhaps a knowledge of the diseases j that destroyed animals in past ages might aid man in saving himself from a similar fate. Dr. Young read a paper in which he stated that many present day diseases have been found in the fossile remains of great reptiles, the sabre-toothed i tiger and the giant wolf of prehistoric times. All of the evidences of | disease, of course, were confined to bones. I Disease? among all earlier types did i not differ from those now prevalent. and since this is true. Dr. Young said, j he believed certain types disappeared ' because of some widespread infection. I and he favoured this explanation rather than tiie better known theories based on . climatica] or geographic changes. i Shall TJnfit Be Saved? j The question of whether the unfit. srould be permitted to live brought pause in the discussion of life-giving before the | association, and a group of doctors in i the preventive medicine department i heard the debate on how to handle incom-, petents, which was led by Dr. M. P. Ravenel, of Columbia, Missouri. I Dr. Ravenel created interest when he j stated that "the saving of lives of incom- r petents is of questionable value, and in , many cases positively harmful to the race: but our present knowledge does not, enable us, however, to select those who j should lie saved and those who should be allowed to die." Dr. Eugene S. Kelgore. of San Francisco, told physicians how to differentiate between pains over the heart that : actually are due to disease and "imitation"' pains. Dr. Ravanel. in discussing | the condition of the unfit, referred to i the population growth, stating that in i 1850 the world's population was about 850.000.000. and in the next 100 years i it would lie doubled. He sand that j morons and the subnormal propagate much faster than the higher classes. He | believed that the subnormal should be curbed, hut was at a loss to know just how it should be done. Several physicians criticised newspapers for suppressing names of social diseases. Dr. A. Lambert, of New York. former president of the association, said this suppression contributed to the j general ignorance. I "It is nonsense and silly prudery," he said. "Why not call a spade a spade : instead of an old shovel? The facts should j jbe unflinchingly faced. The people should know the results of certain diseases, and they cannot know if the diseases are ; suppressed. Through the suppression of i farts inaccuracy is increased and super- ' stition glorified." i Physicians from the University of { Michigan reported the treatment of chronic inflammation of the joints with ' a new drug product not heretofore used i in such cases. In two cases of chronic i inflammation of the joints, which had j persisted for a long time, practically complete recovery occurred. In general, i the results following the use of the new . remedy, known as sodium iodoxy-ben- , zoate, have been good, including relief j from pain, lessening the amount of swelling and tenderness, increased motion of I te joints, and improvement in general health. , j Dr. Jabez North Jackson, of Kansas i City, was named president-elect, and he | will assume office at the next conven- ] tion, which will be held in Washington,! D.C. Dr. Jackson succeeds Dr. Wendell : Phillips, of New York, president.