THE MEANING OF OLD AGE.

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 72, 18 December 1919, Page 9

THE MEANING OF OLD AGE.

\ OSTERIES OF THE GLANDS dV VORONOFF'S ALLEGED j DISCOVERY (Bj" a Medical Coirespoiicifiiit. of tbfi I London '"Observer;"). .;,,.'' Thlo foreign correspondents .of journals havel oftentimes had reason cor 'indebted-. ness-Vto medical' sources for- sensational "eopy\" Many marvellous! operations have-rhus-been described, wonderful advances \in .medical r.c.'cnce narrated,, but the stilV more . wonderful- fact remains that usually nothing is. heard of these great happenings by, the profession which, they mostily concern. flow, many Lintcs "cures" few cancer, lq / tako an instance, have been\bandied about It is only necessary for, a professor to carry out some researches, to plan out a,certain method of tVeatment, to obtain some r£ suits which he believes to bo favourable, and journalistic enterprise completes the picture. But the professor mayCnc-t always bo to blame. Enthusiasm for>-his work may perhaps lead him lo niako a preliminary communication before a scientific societyi not for the purpose' of conveying, any. finality in the. expression, of Ir's views, but merely with the'object of drawing attention'to the special line of'inquiry which he happens.to be/pursuing.' ; ' His work, indeed, may amount only to a. series of hints," suggestive of great possibilities. Naturally'his facts' ftre'tM meagre- to establish oiiyclrtiin to finality. There may be, however, cases in'which the professor is gratified with the advertisement of his preliminary communication. oi>. the other hand, he may be annoyed, distressed, by having a claim thrust upon, him which'ho knows to he ill-founded. Meanwhile the ball has been set rolling, ambit :rollsround the .world, as is always the .ease- with sensational "copy,"-.and as it.a-olls-. it leaves -its marki a ; mark of sinister .import, d'stinguishable ■ by tho-creation, of false hopes, of cruel'disappointment, of mental disquietude, that .another"cure'' tor cancer" is. oiily.ith'o record of-.another failure.. This it.may .bp affirmed,that premature 'announcements are. the. banc of scientific -work. , "While proving that, the wish is.father'to the thought They also demonstrate that science cannot bo built-upon sentiment. Science, in every; sense, and solely, is the pursuit after truth: that, is tho.source of its unfailing and fascinating' attraction.' But the' truth must be-beyond dispute, nnd enpablo of confirmation by.independent testimony, before, any so-called "discovery" Can have any value from the'.scientific standpoint.. #. .' From the premature, aspect, therefore, may bo regarded 'the, allegation th.it 'by gland tissue in.'our bodies the effect will bo that old persons can again he endowed with the longlost .'faculty of being able'to "skip like young .rains." . Tho human body'is i.ot like an apple tree, so far as the-pro-cess of grafting is concerned. . Incidentally, the writer'was shown the other day an old apple tree upon which four' grafts hadbcvii 'successfully reared, each' representing \ different variety 'of.'''the : fruit; -The tree 'had' been"eiit''ddwn,".-is. it had ceased' to bear' leaving a stump wixmL three feet'from' the ;'ground. Nevertheless, its remaining 'vitality was sufficient to enable' it to become the foster parent of four infantile 'offspring of different parentage.,.. In the .human body ..•e may graft cartilage! with' cartilage, bone with bone, and. restore- lost skin (surfaces with grafts of skin. -But Nature draws the line n't. attempts with grafting tissues placed .amid a hetero, genous environment. .. Implant a piece of bone in the middle of a muscle, and the fragment' of bono hecomes a foreign body. Similarly, put a piece of gland tissue anywhero inside' the body ami Nature proceeds at.once to' remove'it by absorption. ; The Thyroid. iiince the thyroid gland has been mentioned in the announcement from Paris, borne, references; may'bOmado l to fat-tins': .now. : triuverfnllyf admitted '"bv : - medical', men 'that.' of all the' so-called ductless, or, technically,'"' endocrine glands, the thyroid is pre-eminently the most, .'important, and .at the 'same time.the most interesting' First in the' form of.a powder, prepared from tho' dried, thyroid gland of the sheep/it has been. proved to possets a therapeutic value of protean extent. The precise nature of its active principle is more or lessia matter of conjecture.. The writer, however, has just learned from, a private source that a well-known American physiologist, after a prolonged ( smes of elaborate researches, has.at last succeeded in isolating, tho active principle of the.gland. His investigations ;ire' still in prugress.' Practically they are complete,'.and, in. accord-nice' with the Iruo scientific'spirit, publication .will be delayed until,the results obtained admitof every assurance.of accuracy.'' ",

Analogically, flic.' assuinptioii! is" that the -. administration .:of the gland '' cures'"'' disease: the manifestation, of .'tiMuili %>■. pends upon . partly ilclicieiit .funetiohihif power-of our thyroid'gland. '. tion, then, is one of 7 defective 1 . metalwlism. In proof thereof,.- : the. typical ease way be cited of a young girl, pallid, thin, without appetite, .weary, depressed, incapable of,' working from loss of energy, who presents .a veritable picture of nhvsieal misery. , This patient., without any other medicine save thyroid treatment, will in. a 1 week's time, return bright.' alert, with- the. record- of a vigorous auijetite and beginning 'to regain flesh. As the writer .has had frequent oiiDoftuliities of. observing, the rapid imnrovement in nutrition in such cases is not far' removed from the marvellous. Unfortunately "the "signs..of a thyroid work-ins fnuliily are elusive. lt\is for that reason Hint the need for thyroid treatment is often overlooked^'lcodin<* to the disease symptoms wnich it displays tipinir -attributed to some other source.. There is some excuse for th'e uoii-reeog-. nition. of thyroid deficiency, inasmuch as when deficiency is present a vicious r.ii'clo becomes established, ami that: circle.. when complete, presents , many .siens, which confuse the real issue, causing a faulty ihyoid to bo the last thing to be- tlio'usht of. The Secret of Hoa'th. ' The' thyroid gland is the'- organ whose Becret.ion secures for us healthy nutrition by .controlling the poison factors, of which the great chemical *laborato"y constituted by the organs employed in the Preparation of our food for .assimilation is productive.' These poison. factors are the by-products of Hie digestive ferments. It is the function of the thyroid to render them harmless, to neutralise them: a lazy thyroid' ■ enables these poisons to accumulate, and -.11110intoxicatio.v as it is calico', follows, which is productive of disease. This snbiect. however, need not be pursued further thai- for the purpose of showing it= relation to old ii';».

Having, regard to the.deleterious influence which niito-infoxie.'itioii ha- unon o\'\ tissues, the theory of I.fptchinkoff that old age is .the result of it stands out in the light of a. »omi(l proposition. From this Tioint of view old age is not a natural l)iif a pathological process. \V? wear out, and become old liecansepo'sibly more cites throughout life « i-roeess in continuous action is poisoning nir tissues. The •writer has lontr Ijpp.ii of the belief that a man is as old—not his arteries, as it is commonly supposed, but as his tlivTOid. The oft-time mystery of a ripe. old ago is explained by the possession of n sound thyroid viand. Arli-no-sclerosis— Tiard arteries—is the iesult "!' a degenerative process r" nbich a family thyroid is. the cause. r->-mature old aop. can be similarly attributed. Perennial youth, is the sign-manual of a thyroid which retains its vigour. But it is w>t by any process, of grafting that v e can add lo the physiological output of- an organ so essential for our existence. If it were possible to do so the inference Hint we could cheat C'e advances of egc is ii'isoiiiid. By the lime that if was considered' eccesparv to heln our thyroid—a piobleniatical imi'lter -Vi (lM«n>ii''--i .rlc-ir.; nit»!it already be sclerosed. We should have lo estimate how much thyroid help was re(liiir"d, otherwise Ihe araff ninth', be in excess of our nerds: Minn we fh'uild die of! hj-iier-tliyro'disiii. is c-i|v one viy nf lielpiji" Ihyroid action, nod thai is by means of the therapeutic way now in use. This treatment, however, requires expert knowledge; lest it •■rove harmful.