DISEASE OF LEPROSY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 28 June 1945, Page 3

DISEASE OF LEPROSY

HOPE THAT NEW DRUG MAY BE FOUND

RESULT OF RECENT DISCOVERIES London, June 26.

Recent discoveries in the campaign against tuberculosis give hope that a drug may be found to combat the sister disease of leprosy. This was announced at the annual general meeting of the British Empire Relief Association in London. Dr. E. Muir, medical secretary of the Association, said the sulphonamide group of synthetic drugs had ushered in a new era in medicine and their range was being widened from year to year. Some of these had the power of prohibiting the growth of tubercle bacillus outside the human body but when given to tuberculosis patients they proved too poisonous in doses which would be large enough to have any beneficial effect. “When used in the sister disease of leprosy, however, they have been found of value in the more advanced stages of the more severe type,” added Dr. Muir. “These results hold out hope that further development may produce drugs which will be safer and more effective. Recently another drug derived, like pencillin, from mould had been found effective in stopping the growth of tubercle bacillus. The most hopeful prospects of finding effective treatment for leprosy seem at present to lie in any drugs which are fatal to tubercle bacillus.”