NEW SOURCE FOR “MIRACLE” DRUG

Grey River Argus, 11 October 1949, Page 3

NEW SOURCE FOR “MIRACLE” DRUG

The seed of tropical vine growing high on jungle trees in equatorial countries offers a potentially unlimited source of a new T ‘miracle drug” for treating arthritis, rheumatism., and other chronic diseases. The new drug is called Cortisone. Up to now it has been obtained only from ox-bile, and in quantities insufficient even for research purposes. However, tests of it in the United States showed high promise for millions of arthritis, rheumatism, and other sufferers.

Yield of Cortisone from a substance called sarmentoginen extracted from the tropical vine’s seed is about 12,000 times greater than from similar quantities of ox-bile acid, scientists say. Furthermore, a far less complicated process is involved in obtaining Cortisone from the vine’s substance than from ox-bile. Also, the vine is perennial, providing a continuing source for the drug. The vine, a species of the genus strophantus, grows in many countries, but not all seeds contain sarmentoginen, scientists point out. The type of soil the vine grows in seems to determine the sarmentoginen content to some extent. Apparently even more important is exposure of the seeds to bright sunlight. An expedition of United States medical and agricultural scientists has been dispatched to Liberia to search for strophantus plants, to collects seeds, and to investigate the possibility of cultivating the plants on a large scale. While U.S. Government officials note that much effort would be required to produce enough Cortisone from the vine seeds for general use, they stress the potential value of the drug in alleviating human suffering in the world. Cortisone, called Compound E when it was first developed in the United States, has shown a miraculous but tempory effect on rheumatic ailments. It must be injected daily, just as insulin must be injected daily to control diabetes. The body response to the injection is almost immediate. Patients who were treated with the drug in tests at the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota, were able to walk, and even run, within a short time. Some of them had been bedridden and in severe pain for several years prior to the treatment.

Under present production processes, it takes forty head of cattle to make enough Cortisone to treat a single person for one day. So scarce is the drug that a committee has 'been appointed by the National Academy of Sciences in the United States to handle its distribution exclusively to research institutions.

The United States Public Health Service appointed a special committee of medical experts to study new means of producing Cortisone, and to test its effects on various diseases. Preliminary tests had indicated it might prove beneficial in treating certain mental and nervous diseases, like epilepsy.

The Public Health Service is seeking an appropriation of 1,750,000 dollars from U.S. Congress to be used in large part to further research into Cortisone uses.