Capsules

P:Dental injections with improperly sterilized needles are frequently responsible for the transmission of hepatitis, warned Dr. Francis Foley and Dr. Ralph Gutheim of the Rochester (N.Y.) General Hospital. During a two-year study the doctors detected 15 cases of hepatitis that had been transmitted during the injection of procaine before a tooth extraction. Three of the cases were fatal.

P:Sloan-Kettering Institute's Director Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoads announced that he and fellow researchers had confirmed the long-suspected existence of a "cancer-immune mechanism" in normal human cells. In a series of tests at Ohio Penitentiary begun last spring (TIME, June 4), laboratory-cultivated human cancer cells were transplanted to 14 cancer-free convict volunteers. Similar transplants had previously grown well in patients already suffering from cancer. But in the healthy convicts they "evoked a most vigorous, inflammatory reaction," and "were promptly rejected and disappeared." When the mechanism that rejects the cancerous cells is finally identified it could lead to a chemical cure of cancer, Dr. Rhoads believes.

P:After generations have testified that mother's milk is best for babies, scientists have discovered one more reason why: it contains more protein-dissolving enzymes than other milks. Armour & Co., sponsors of the research, hope to boost sale of cow's milk to which such enzymes are added.

P:In the air man breathes a small proportion of all the molecules of nitrogen and oxygen are ionized by cosmic rays--they become positive ions if they lose an electron, negative ions if they gain one. Philadelphia researchers have found that almost two-thirds of hay fever victims won quick relief in air that was heavily negative-ionized, snuffled and sneezed far more in air that was artificially positive-ionized. As a result, Philco Corp. plans to market a negative-ionizing air conditioner. P:Automobile-accident victims often report "brain concussions" and are admitted to hospitals for study, but in 30% of cases studied by Manhattan Psychiatrist Joost A. M. Meerloo they prove to have no physical injury. Instead they are suffering from mental shock. His prescription : mental first aid by any available doctor soon after the accident to save victims from neurotic guilt and horror feelings.

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