A CURE FOR LEPROSY

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 31 July 1920, Page 8

A CURE FOR LEPROSY

SATISFACTORY EXPERIMENTS

Leprosy, one ol the world's most dreaded- maladies, which has been regarded since early history as a hopeless and incurable scourge of humanity appears to have been conquered at last by medical science, according to an announcement by Surg.-Gen. Jlu-h S .Cummmgs, of the United States Public Health Service The basis of the cure is apoarently the administration o f an acidic solution •i >e«? er ' obtain ed from c-h.iulinoogra oil I his oil ] S pressed from the seeds of tile .nut of an East Indian tree the chaulmoogi-a., and it has long been used m the treatment of various constitutional and cutaneous diseases. "The startling' point in the belief that leprosy could be cured (reports the New York Evening Post) was the observation that now and then the course of the disease appeared to be favorably mituenced by treatment with cJiaulmoogra oil. But the tratment was attended by many difficulties and could not be carried out in all cases. At this point the Public Health Service enlisted the co-operation of Professor, li, E. Bean, head of the ehemi-' cal department of the College of Hawaii, suggesting that attempts be made either to isolate the active constituent of this drug or to devise means for making its continued administration feasible. The latter Mas accomplished by preparing what" is known as "ethyl ester" from the ciiaulmoogra oil. The treatment has been carried on at the j.eptosy investigation Station at Kaiihi," Hawaii, the work being directed by Dr <J • T. iU'Donaid, director of the station. Xhe results have thus far been so satisiaetory that lepers come willingly for treatment, and following a course of treatment extending about one year i:orty-eight lepers Mere paroled in Octo: ber, 19If). Up to now they have remained free from disease."