PARAFFIN OIL

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 72, 26 March 1914, Page 2

PARAFFIN OIL

ITS INTERNAL USE

WHAT SOME MEDICAL MEN

THINK

; Based on the discoveries of Dr Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane, the eminent .surgeon of Guy's Hospital, London, a<n article appeared in the March issue of Life setting but how purified paraffin oil might be used as an aid to long life. Life repeats, in its April issue, that •__ inquiries ■ made in scientiiic, medicalj and '■;', other; ■' quarters, in Australia, go to show that claims as to iivhat pairaffin oil can <3o for the human.race,are not based vlpon a fad, nor upon an obsession, hut that , Dr. Lane's theories have been put to. practical test, and -have not been found Ayantin^ in results'"The following extract front April Life :as worth quoting,:— y< ■■ "■ •' "Briefly re-stated, this so-styled 'recipe for long life,' and the theory upon which it is ; based, is that the; majority of the members of, the human race suffer from a defect of the lower intestine, which ■ 'prevents what is practically -the draiii'age system of the bbdy from _; working properly. ■ ;To overcome this defect, Di J Lane in, a.large number of cases performedthe operation.of removing the defective portion of the intestine, and joining, up the ends^---in'other words, doing what electricians would <>ail a ' short-circuit' of the intestine. The effect was to create, a renovated intestine which would perform: its work as well as the original.

PARAFFIN AS AN INTERNAL

lubricant:

"However, as this defective portion of the.body could, not ;be removed from the whole of the human race, Dr Lane set about to try and discover .some means of making it work effectively and properly. The result of 3iis experiments, made both on. himself and his; patiqnts,; was that if the defective part of the canal was lubricated, it performed its: work siatisfac 7 torily. He fouijd ■ pai-afiin oil the only lubricant -which would answer his requirements ' as, being a purely, mineral oil, ana neither a food, a; poison, nor a drug, it could not be absorbed into the system jand^therefore acted exactly in the way he wanted—as a. lubricant, purely and simply to make more ■ easy the. work of a deficient portion r oi the human drain-ago machinery.

"<This. simple recipe for long life has Deep, taken up with enthusiasm by medical men in Australia, not merely because its use makes for longevity alone,- but because in l\i.raffin oil lias been found that which rjedieal men will rarely acknowledge —a panacea, for many ills due to constipation and auto-intoxication.

A GREAT DOCTOR'S VIEW

f'And these" claims as to the astonishing number-' of ills, for which paraffin oil is a remedy, are perhaps bast set out in a critical, recapitulation of them, which' Dr T. George Adami, M.D., Sc.D. ; LL.D.,- F.R.SJ, Strathcona Professor of , Pathology, McGill. University, Montreal, delivered before the medical {society of the city and county of Denver, Colorado, and which is reproduced in the British Medical Journal. 'Steadily ;ind progressively during the. hist .icore or bo of years,' said Dr Adami, 'there has developed a- tendency to ascribe to derangement of the intestinal tract the origin of not a few grave disorders, until to-day we hay* Sir Arbuthnot Lane recording no f; <rer than seventeen more or less orcstiinding symptoms as directly c.'io.to stasis and the delayed passage cf faecal* matter through the lower

of the ileum and' _ the larg_eir •.I'o-.rel. together with nine maladies <lue to the same cause.?

"Continuing, Prof. Adami reeapi-

tulates the conclusions at Avhich Dr j Lane arrived!:1 -• . i

, ".' By chronic "intestinal stasis, says!. Sir Arbuthrioit,1 he means that the passage of they contents of the intestinal canal is delayed sufficiently long to result in; the production, in the small intestine especially, of an excess of toxic '.'..material; and in the absorption into the- circulation of a greater quantity of poisonous products, than the organs5 which, convert and excrete them ar»; able to_ deal with. - In cpnsequemje there exist in the circulation materials'_ which " produce' degenerative changes in every single tissue of the body, and lower its resisting power 'of invasion ,by deleterious organisms.,.

SOME AUTO-INTOXICATION AILMENTS.

1 •" 'He (Dr Lane) enumeirates the following, aS: the symptoms Ayhich iesult directly* fi*om the. "autp-intoxi-caiion" of chronio intestinal, $tasi,S;.t•■

"'(1) Loss of, fat. (2)" Wasting, of: •muscles. > (3) .Alteration in. the^texture and- ooipf' ja>f Vthe.skin M 'and offensive pferspiratioai. (4) ;s,u;bnormal telhpera^ ture. ,r... % (5) '•, Mental .'; condition^ apathy, stupidity, or misery, wltijcHl: may l^ecbnie exaggerated to .a, state j of miejlaiicholia, or even apparent! imbecility," with suicidal tendencies. There -may be neuralgic symptoms, lieiiritis, frequent headache, loss of control oye-r the temper. (6) Rheumatic aches- and pains. (7) Atrophy .of-.-^he. thymid gland. (8) v Either increased or. lowered blood pressure. (9) • Degenerative y changes in the breasts, predisposing to cancer. (10) Prolapse of. abdominal organs. (11) Bi'eathlessness' on"', exertion. - (12) 'Degeneration of the heart muscle. (13)' Reiidi changes \Vhich' am roughily. grouped under the terms ' 'Blight's .disease." (14) Early loss of. haiji" color- with , falling; out. (15) Affec-! tions of the pancreas' with chronic induration, inflammation, and finally.) cancer; pancreatic diabetes: : (16) Infection of the biliaiy system., (17),] Degenerative diseases of the eye.:' Added to these is a> rather terrifying list of 'indirect' results. ;■ . 'I

"In another. issue of the . British Medical Journal, Seton S. Pringky F.R.C.5.1., Surgeon to Mercer's andl Cork Street Hospitals, Dublin; in the course jof an. article on chronic intestinal stasis, a condition which has been treated by operation, claims, that the internal administi'atioii of paraffin oil—or ' Red ■ C., Paraffin, 'as the1 correct oil sold. in Australasia is . called;—will prove highly beneficial. '.Patients Vi .-after; such 'treatment show very - striking; results. They often veritably seem to. renew their youth. They' sleep' better, eat better, look better, and feel better. They are desirous of, arid capable of, leading more active lives; that is, they lose, their mental and physical lassitude.'

OPINIONS OF AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL MEN.

"An eminent Melbourne sxirgeon, when talking of the various -intestinal operations which are performed with a yiew ,to bettering 'digestive ! deficiencies, remarked: .' The surgeon is apt to take a short cut which' is sometimes a long cut.' He was 'enthusiastic - r - about the ~-results obtained from the .paraffin oil: -'I halve,' he said,,' used',it myf -self in innumerable cases,, and the results have at' all times -proved highly satisfactory, eliiiiinating, in many instances, the necessity for an operation, Avhich had,, at first, seemed imperative.3 . ■ ■'■ . :

"One of the leading Collins Street practitioners, who has, devoted; much time to the study of ; the digestive system, pronounces paraffin oil as an invaluable" lubricant. 'It is purely a lubricant,' he said, 'and.its action is quite indirect and mechanical; but I have proved its value by the results obtained in the hundreds of cases .•treated with this oil."