Creaking Legions

A year had passed since the Mayo Clinic first announced the dramatic effects of treating rheumatoid arthritis sufferers with the hormones ACTH and cortisone (TIME, May 2, 1949). In that year, millions of pain-racked arthritics had clamored for the "new cure," or begged their doctors to tell them how soon they could expect relief and how much. Last week the answer was plain: they could expect nothing certain for a long, long time.

Not a Treatment. Much of the raising of false hope could be laid to the showmanship which marked the first news. Patients who had been crippled were photographed dancing a jig after a few shots of either hormone. But the research team headed by Drs. Philip S. Hench and Edward C. Kendall which touched off the foofaraw ends a solemn, 120-page report in the Archives of Internal Medicine with these sobering words:

". . . The use of these hormones should be considered an investigative procedure, not a treatment . . . It is hoped and believed that [further] studies will in time lead to an improved and practical method of treatment . . ."

This was a far cry from the optimism still being voiced in less-informed quarters. The truth is, when the hormone injections are stopped, the rheumatic miseries usually come back promptly in full force. Drs. Hench and Kendall saw one patient win relief for ten months and another for twelve. But in such an erratic disease as arthritis, the same things might happen without hormones.

There are also irksome side-effects. Both hormones are apt to cause acne, hairgrowth, rounding of the face, irritability and depression. The side-effects usually disappear when the injections are stopped, but some do not show up until afterward.

Nothing but Hope. The doctors are still deep in argument over possible substitutes for the wonder hormones ACTH and cortisone. A few Swedish, British and U.S. investigators claim wondrous results with desoxycorticosterone acetate ("DOCA," an adrenal hormone) and vitamin C injections given within a few minutes of each other. Others in the U.S. sing the praises of such hormones as 21-acetoxy-pregnenolone. None of these, said Drs. Hench and Kendall, have stood up under proper testing.

In fact, the uncounted, creaking legions of rheumatoid arthritis victims had nothing last week that they did not have last year--except more hope. They were not likely ever to get ACTH or cortisone for routine treatment. Now, as for years past, they would get bed rest, exercises, and aspirin to ease the pain.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.