BLOOD PRESSURE

Waipa Post, Volume 43, Issue 3391, 22 December 1931, Page 2

BLOOD PRESSURE

High blood pressure is becoming increasingly common as a disorder of middle age, and a new suggestion for its treatment is contained in a recent issue of the Lancet, where Dr Nathan Mutch, of Guy’s Hospital, London, records his experience with the use of radium.

The dose employed is almost infinitesimal; usually Dr Mutch has given 1 or 2 microgrammes, injected every day or every other day, the necessary effect has been obtained. (A microgramme is a millionth part of a gramme, and there are about thirty grammes to the ounce.) The fall in blood pressure obtained continues for many days; in certain cases the full advantage persists indefinitely, while in others it was possible to keep the patients at the lower figure by giving an exceedingly small amount of radium every week. The fall in blood pressure did not cause any feeling of discomfort; on the contrary, the patients experienced a sense of gerater well-being and showed an all-round improvement in general condition.

The action of radium in this condition is not altogether clear. Dr Mutch was careful to exclude any psychological element as a source of confusion in interpreting his results, and he emphasises that general treatment, such as the elimination of any source of poisons in the body, must be used In addition to injection of the drug, Dr Mutch has also treated some cases by doses of water containing the emanation given off by radium; but this substance does not maintain its power for long, and the results are not so trustworthy.