FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14. 1913. KADIUM AS A CURATIVE AGENT.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14823, 14 November 1913, Page 8

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14. 1913. KADIUM AS A CURATIVE AGENT.

A few wer-ks- n.co a cable message informed us of an important statement made by Sir Frederick Treves, the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Radium Institute, as to the success which has attended the use of radium in the treatment of disease. The full text of the communication made by the distinguished surgeon to representatives of the Knglish Press is now to hand, and contains several features of widespread interest. Two years hare passed since the Radium Institute was established, and this is tho first occasion on which any public statement Tins been mado as to tho work which it has accomplished. We learn that the quantity of radium in the possession of tho Institute is four grammes, which, at its present reputed price, is of the value of'£so,ooo. Tho material is sa-id to bo now unobtainable at any price. There is no other institute in tho world holding as much as four grammes of radium for curative purposes, and Sir Frederick Treves believes that if one could collect all the radium in tho world used outside this Institute for therapeutic purposes, it would not amount to so much' as four grammes. A most important discovery mado by tho .Scientific Committee of the Institute, and briefly referred to in a cablo message, is the fact that tho jcfes or emanation which is given off by radium has exactly the snmo properties as pure radium, and is as efficient as pure radium for curativo purposes. How it couid be carried about was an extremely difficult problem, which the committee have solved by tho inrention' of hollowed plates of varied forms into which tho emanation is forced by pumping,, and fixed by being- put in liquid air. It is stored in small glass

tubes also, and the committeo are now able to send supplies in plates or tubes to members of tho medical profession in any part of tho country. "As a re- " suit" added Sir Frederick Treves, "tho whole aspect .of affairs in regard "toitho curative use of radium has "been changed. If a doctor in jKdin- " burgh, for example, wants 200 milli- " grammes of radium for use. upon a "patient, its cost, £4000, probably "would bo prohibitive, but the insti- " tute can supply a plate containing " radium emanations which will have " tho same effect, for an amount which "is comparatively trifling. Radium "gives off the emanation constantly, "and itself is not destroyed. It is the " reproduction of the 'burning bush of "Moses' constantly giving offbeat "and never consumed."

During the,ten days previous to Sir Frederick Treves making- this statement, the Institute had sent out thirteen pieces of apparatus, representing an activity equal to that of 860 milligrammes of radium, which would be worth about £17,200, and the committee are now distributing, over vie country emanations equivalent to 150 milligrammes of radium dairy. That is the quantity which they are obtaining daily from one gramme of radium. Another branch of the activity of • the Institute is the supply of water impregnated with radium emanations for consumption by sufferers from certain affections. The improvements brought about in the condition of patients by drinking radium water st-ong enough to be luminous, according to Sir Frederick Treves, are marvellous, the Institute supplying radium emanation solution of one to two millicuries per litre, a strength far exceeding that of water, whether artificially or naturally produced, obtainable anywhere else in the world. It has been tried in cases of arthritis deformans, a very intractable rheumatic affection producing horrible distortions of the joints, and in forty per cent, of the cases most marked benefit has followed the consumption of the water, while one-half of tho remaining cases have benefited in various ways. Usually a patient drinks about half-a-pint of the emanation water daily for six days in each of six weeks. That is the first course, and after a rest the course is repented if necessary. While it is still held that in cases of cancer tho knife should be used at the earliest possible stage wherever practicable, remarkable results have already been effected at the Institute in the treatment by radioactivity of cases of

rodent ulcer, carcinoma, sarcoma, keloid, and other afflictions which have been treated by radium. Had these facts been stated by any less conservative and cautious authority than Sir Frederick Treves," who, moreover, has two years' experience , on -which to base his statements, we should have been disposed to receive them with a certain reserve. So many new remedies have had an extravagant vogue for a time, and then passed into oblivion, that one naturally feels a little sceptical in regard to medical discoveries promising very striking results. It soems to us, however, that the statements made by Sir Frederick Treves warrant an earnest effort being made to secure for Xew Zealand come organised means of carrying on radium treatment in a manner that will make it available to patients of every degree. It Ls perhaps too much to' hope that

some benevolent citizen or citizens will emulate tho philanthropic example of Lord Iveagh and Sir Ernest Cassel, by founding and equipping a Radium Institute in this country. The costliness of the material puts it out of the reach of the ordinary medical practitioner, or even of tho largest general

hospital, if it is to bo purchased in a. sufficient quantity to be of much use. The recent discovery as to the use of

radium emanations seems to open up a method of solving the difficulty. "Wβ hope the Government will consider tho advisability of procuring a stock of radium, and supplying tho emanations to the leading hospitals, and to medical practitioners desirous of using it in their

private practice. In the latter case, of course, a reasonable charge should be made. Probably the best plan would be to establish a radium laboratory, in

charge of a competent export, at oneof the leading hospitals. The expert in that easo could not only see to tho distribution of the emanations, but could give instructions and expert- advice as to their use. Tho statement as to the curative effects of radium water in cases of rheumatism is particularly interesting in view of the fact that tho water of several hot springs in ibis country ha>? been found to bo radio-

.•vctive, ,'md these same springs, as is well-kncnrn, have ■ proved particularly effective in the cure of rheumatic affections. The Government, in our opinion, should cause carcfn] research to bo mado into the radio-active properties of tho different springs, and at ihe same time tho Geological Department might be instructed to report on tho possible supplies of radium to be obtained from ores existing in this country. It is understood that Professor Rutherford, the greatest living authority ou radio-activity, will shortly revisit Neu- Zealand, and it eeems to us that the Government could not do better than avail themselves of his advice in this important matter.