LEPROSY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3488, 18 January 1921, Page 45

LEPROSY.

A CURE IN SIGHT

(From Our Own Correspondent.) n-i • AUCKLAND, January 7. rhe curing of lepers was the subject of some remarks by Dr V. U. Heiser, of the United States Health Department, who arnvfd in Auckland from Vancouver yesterday. Ur Heiser lor a considerable period was officer m charge of the Department of I übhc Health in the Philippines, and has devoted, a great deal of time to the study of leprosy He is now' convinced that a cure tor this disease lias been discovered in the form of one of the esters which have been isolated from Chaulmoogra oil Dr Heiser stated that he had just examined 137 lepers at Hawaii, Honolulu, and had found the whole of them improving very rapidly. He said it was not- too much to hope that from 25 per cent, to 30 per cent of taese would be permanently cured “J “V s . treatment. “Chaulmoogra oil,” said Di Heiser, has been known for hundreds or years, but the drawback heretofore -was that it vitiated those who took it, and the problem was to find the essential properties of the oil that would do good in leprosy cases. Those connected with chemistry all over the world have been experimenting, with a view to solving the problem, and latterly American chemists have taken the matter up at, Honolulu, and, as I have indicated, with most wonderful results. The oil is used hypodermically, and this has cured a great number of patients.” Dr Heiser said that he had made a study of this ciscase in India in company with Sir Leon Rogers, and they had succeeded in isolating the substance in the oil which cured even a larger proportion of lepers than had been anticipated. “It is one of the most exalting effects of modern medi--i .e, ’ said Dr Heiser, “that the leper has so nethmg hopeful to look forward to. It is possibly not too much to say that all those who suffer from leprosy can have the disease arrested. By that I mean it will not be able to progress. When wc recall the fact that this disease has been baffling mankind _ since Biblican times, it is very encouraging that modern science has at last found a way which holds out so much hope.