VIOLET RAYS IN MILK.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17502, 8 September 1928, Page 9

VIOLET RAYS IN MILK.

TREATMENT FOR RICKETS. SPLENDID WORK IN GERMANY. A London paper says:— Few people are aware of what is being done in Germany In the matter of a new treatment of children for rickets and kindred disorders. Briefly, it consists in charging milk with arJflcial sunlight by means of violet rays. A few days ago an interview was granted me by Professor Scheer, the young and energetic doctor, whose new treatment of rickets has made him famous in his own land, and beyond the frontiers of Germany. Shady pathways, with green lawns and trees on either side, lead to the children s quarters of the famous Medical University Hospital in Frankfurt. I was shown into the professor’s laboratory, where, in his clear way, he explained his new method, which is restoring to health many thousands of suffering children. Rickets, which attack particularly those who have little cyiportunitv to enjoy fresh air and sunshine, is often called in Germany the English malady, not, as some people think, because it is more prevalent m England hut because an English physician, Dr. Giisson, first made a study of it, publishing a on the disease as far hack as 1050. Professor Scheer points out that by means of his treatment it is not merely a question of curing the outward and Visible Signs of this Terrible Disease crooked legs, deformities, etc.- —but of rendering the children less susceptible to other illnesses, such as measles, whooping-cough, etc., and helping them to overcome them more easily. As is mostly the ease, the discovery of the new treatment with artificial sunlight.was not-the work of on,- man. Several men, o'f different nationalities —British, American, and German—have contributed to it. Dr. Huldschinsky, in Berlin, was the first to establish the fact that rickets can be cured hy direct treatment, with artificial sunlight, or violet rays. But there were certain disadvantages con- j nee led with it. There was always j great risk of infection in bringing the j sick children together for treatment, and it. was too cosily to he or much benefit io I lie poor. About this time Dr. Hess and Dr. Steenboek. in •\ine-riea, discovered that direct treat>o.nt was unnecessary, and that -the

same healing process would take place if the violet rays were applied to food. The next step was to prepare mMk i in this way, and at first this seemed I to he a great success. But again dif- ! ficulLies arose. The milk had a very | unpleasant taste and smell. This was ! caused by the presence of oxygen. But j as the presence of oxygen is unnecessary in the formation of anti-ricket factors, efforts were made to overcome the difficulty by using dry milk. Fresh milk, however, is naturally j better, and finally Dr. Scholl, of Bad, Tolz, constructed an apparatus by which H is possible to eliminate the oxygen and render the milk tasteless ami without smell. In this form the Children Enjoy Taking It. Professor Scheer was llie first to practise this new treatment in his hosI pilal, and commenced a year and a- ! hair ago. His aim is not only a cure, I but -to bring about a general pre- | vent-ion of the disease by adding 10 to i ‘JO per cent of the prepared inilk to j the ordinary milk, to be taken bj i practically all children, not only those \ j in the doctor's hands. it is du’e also 1 to his initiative that the town of Frankfurt has recently erected an apparatus

in a large municipal dairy where every day about 2000 quarts of prepared milk are sold. One of the great advantages of this treatment is that it is mucli cheaper -than any other, and brings the 'chance of cure within the reach.of -everybody. The cost of treatment, lasting,- about four to eight week’s, is reckoned approximately at •is, while direct treatment with violet rays costs about £2. The price of ordinary milk is increased by about one penny for fully radiated, or ’’Healing Milk," and by about a farthing for the anti-ricket, or “preventive milk," which only contains about 10 per cent of the prepared milk. Professor Scheer belongs to that school of scientists whose -enthusiasm is only equalled by boundless activity. He hopes that in a few years rickets will he a thing of Hie past.