Capsules

P:A common drink and an uncommon nut are both causes of severe skin inflammation, says the A.M.A. Journal. An Oakland (Calif.) man, 36, went to a party where the only drink served was gin and tonic, had five or six of them. Within two days his entire body was covered with a red or purplish rash, his face was unrecognizable, and his palms and soles were a mass of blisters. It took six days of treatment with cortisone, wet dressings and lotions before he could leave the hospital. Cause of his trouble: a rare, severe sensitivity to quinine. A Philadelphia woman, 60, had a bad rash after gathering cashew nuts in Ceylon, and a relapse weeks after her return, when she found some, of the nuts in one of her bags and opened them to show to her family. Her trouble: allergy to cashews, which contain an 011 called cardal. Say the reporting doctors: U.S. travelers, now going to the tropics in increasing numbers, should be on guard. P: To detect cases of phenylketonuria (one of the few preventable causes of mental retardation) early enough to begin effective treatment with diet or drugs, the College of Medical Evangelists and Los Angeles City Health Department began a routine test for all infants taken to a child clinic. A drop of ferric chloride is applied to a diaper; if the urine turns green, the child has the disease. Hope is that physicians generally will adopt the simple test. P:Cleveland Clinic researchers headed by Dr. Irvine H. Page (TIME. Oct. 31, 1955) reported a chemical victory that may lead to better understanding and treatment of high blood pressure. They have synthesized angiotonin II, the active form of the hormone angiotonin (discovered by Page in 1939), which sends blood pressure zooming when injected. Hitherto available only in minute amounts laboriously extracted from tons of animal glands, it can now be made in quantity for intensive research.

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