- Email: [email protected]
New drug for skin diseases
Nov., 1958.]
CURRENT TOPICS
429
the distance called) only for the time in the U. S . A . The telex service is actually used. Since m a n y inland available in North and South America, calls are brief--shorter than the three South Africa, the Federation of Rhominute minimum formerly charged desia and Nyasaland and in m a n y f o r - - a high percentage of calls will other countries as far apart as Norcost less. Eventually, a subscriber way, Hawaii, the Philippines, Yugowill be able to rent a meter for instal- slavia and Morocco. Nationally and internationally, telex is steadily lation at his premises. A new type of public call office achieving the object of developing a enabling private callers to teleprint self-contained communications sysmessages personally to telex system tem for the whole worldwide business subscribers throughout the world was community. started experimentally last year in London and Manchester. Callers opNew Drug for Skin Diseases.-erate the machines personally by call- A potent new hormone drug that m a y ing the telex switchboard to get the be applied directly to the skin has required connection and then tele- shown dramatically effective results printing their messages. Afterwards, in the treatment of various skin disthey pay their fee to an attendant. eases. The chemical name for the Journalists, travelers and businessmen new steroid substance, which was defind this service particularly useful. veloped by The Squibb Institute for Often it is cheaper than dictating Medical Research, is triamcinolone messages slowly over the 'phone. acetonide. I t s t r a d e namels Kenalog. T h e y can be sure their actual words In clinical studies of the new drug, are received in print, and the caller involving more than 1000 patients himself has a copy of his message. with various skin disorders, unusually Britain's telex s y s t e m - - r u n by the effective results were produced in Post Office, like the telephone sys- more than 95 per cent of the study t e m - g r o w s in value in proportion to group. For example, in one clinical the number of its subscribers. There trial in which 18 patients were treated were 20 subscribers during 1947, the with Kenalog, the reporting physicain year when the service was introduced stated that the drug "proved to be into Britain; now there are 4500. excellent or even a superb agent in Last year, more than 3,000,000 these patients." telex calls representing over 13½ milAnother clinician, reporting results lion paid minutes of traffic were ex- on the use of Kenalog with 65 patients changed between the United Kingdom with a variety of skin disturbances, and countries overseas, compared said 62 of these people obtained exwith 25,800 calls representing 158,000 cellent to good results. The patients, paid minutes in 19471 as well as their personal physicians, in British subscribers v a r y from busi- some instances described the results ness firms (a high percentage are as " d r a m a t i c " or even "miraculous." engaged in international trade, manuAmong the skin disorders against facture of engineering products, dis- which Kenalog was found to be partribution and transport, including ticularly effective were atopic dermatishipping) to banking and finance com- tis, contact dermatitis, eczema, neupanies and large hotels. rodermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis World-wide telex subscribers total and a number of other inflammatory more than 80,000, of whom 42,000 are conditions.
430
CURRENT TOPICS
In addition to the visible results obtained with Kenalog, the drug also gives rapid and complete relief of itching and burning and other skin discomfort. Unlike some other hormonal preparations, Kenalog is remarkably free of side effects. Substantially less than one per cent of patients treated with the drug complained of any burning or stinging. T h e new product, a derivative of the steroid triamcinolone, was made possible b y a major scientific breakthrough in the chemistry of the naturally-occurring hormone, hydrocortisone. Hydrocortisone is a steroid. Steroids are a group of chemicals that have been proven useful in treating arthritis and allied conditions. Because the hydrocortisone molecule is so specifically engineered by nature for the job it does, it seemed hopeless to try to improve upon it. But it was improved b y an ingenious rearrangement of the molecular make-up of the hormone. This was accomplished by scientists at The Squibb Institute for Medical Research. T h e result was a made-to-order molecule--fluorohydrocortisone--ten times as potent as the natural substance. Now, as a further outgrowth of this advance, Squibb is making available triamcinolone acetonide, which is 40 times as potent as hydrocortisone and substantially more potent than fluorohydrocortisone. Available only upon doctors' prescription, Kenalog comes in three forms: cream, lotion and ointment. Miniaturized .aircraft M a s s Flowm e t e r . - - A new miniaturized aircraft mass flowmeter system that will provide a continuous indication of the mass rate of fuel flow up to 5000 lb. per hour has been developed b y General Electric's Instrument Department, West Lynn, Mass. Desig-
[J. F. I.
nated type TJ-61, it is designed for use on small jet and turbo-prop engines. A self-contained frequency compensator in the compact self-synchronous system permits operation from 400 cycle, 115-volt ship's power which does not have close frequency control. No external power converter is needed, even for applications in which a controlled frequency power source is unavailable. I n s t r u m e n t D e p a r t m e n t engineers said t h a t the system is now in design and tooling and will be in production by the second quarter of 1959. As a safety measure, all electrical components and all wires are sealed off from the fuel, and the flowmeter is electrically grounded to the frame of the aircraft. T h e flowmeter transmitter weighs 2.5 lb. and is only 4½ in. long. It will withstand severe mechanical abuse and will operate within a wide temperature range--minus 55 to plus 121°C. Proved characteristics of the measuring elements minimize error due to such ambient conditions as temperature and vibration and to such fuel properties as density and viscosity. The transmitter can be furnished with General Electric's new D J-96 fuel flow rate indicator. T r u e mass rate of flow is indicated on its integrally lighted pointer and dial scale. The transmitter can also be furnished with a new fuel-consumed indicator, T y p e DJ-77. All transmitter bearings are designed for durability and low friction. This new miniaturized flowmeter system represents one of the latest advances in General Electric's development w o r k - - b e g u n nine years a g o - - o n methods for direct measurement of fluid mass.
CURRENT TOPICS
429
the distance called) only for the time in the U. S . A . The telex service is actually used. Since m a n y inland available in North and South America, calls are brief--shorter than the three South Africa, the Federation of Rhominute minimum formerly charged desia and Nyasaland and in m a n y f o r - - a high percentage of calls will other countries as far apart as Norcost less. Eventually, a subscriber way, Hawaii, the Philippines, Yugowill be able to rent a meter for instal- slavia and Morocco. Nationally and internationally, telex is steadily lation at his premises. A new type of public call office achieving the object of developing a enabling private callers to teleprint self-contained communications sysmessages personally to telex system tem for the whole worldwide business subscribers throughout the world was community. started experimentally last year in London and Manchester. Callers opNew Drug for Skin Diseases.-erate the machines personally by call- A potent new hormone drug that m a y ing the telex switchboard to get the be applied directly to the skin has required connection and then tele- shown dramatically effective results printing their messages. Afterwards, in the treatment of various skin disthey pay their fee to an attendant. eases. The chemical name for the Journalists, travelers and businessmen new steroid substance, which was defind this service particularly useful. veloped by The Squibb Institute for Often it is cheaper than dictating Medical Research, is triamcinolone messages slowly over the 'phone. acetonide. I t s t r a d e namels Kenalog. T h e y can be sure their actual words In clinical studies of the new drug, are received in print, and the caller involving more than 1000 patients himself has a copy of his message. with various skin disorders, unusually Britain's telex s y s t e m - - r u n by the effective results were produced in Post Office, like the telephone sys- more than 95 per cent of the study t e m - g r o w s in value in proportion to group. For example, in one clinical the number of its subscribers. There trial in which 18 patients were treated were 20 subscribers during 1947, the with Kenalog, the reporting physicain year when the service was introduced stated that the drug "proved to be into Britain; now there are 4500. excellent or even a superb agent in Last year, more than 3,000,000 these patients." telex calls representing over 13½ milAnother clinician, reporting results lion paid minutes of traffic were ex- on the use of Kenalog with 65 patients changed between the United Kingdom with a variety of skin disturbances, and countries overseas, compared said 62 of these people obtained exwith 25,800 calls representing 158,000 cellent to good results. The patients, paid minutes in 19471 as well as their personal physicians, in British subscribers v a r y from busi- some instances described the results ness firms (a high percentage are as " d r a m a t i c " or even "miraculous." engaged in international trade, manuAmong the skin disorders against facture of engineering products, dis- which Kenalog was found to be partribution and transport, including ticularly effective were atopic dermatishipping) to banking and finance com- tis, contact dermatitis, eczema, neupanies and large hotels. rodermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis World-wide telex subscribers total and a number of other inflammatory more than 80,000, of whom 42,000 are conditions.
430
CURRENT TOPICS
In addition to the visible results obtained with Kenalog, the drug also gives rapid and complete relief of itching and burning and other skin discomfort. Unlike some other hormonal preparations, Kenalog is remarkably free of side effects. Substantially less than one per cent of patients treated with the drug complained of any burning or stinging. T h e new product, a derivative of the steroid triamcinolone, was made possible b y a major scientific breakthrough in the chemistry of the naturally-occurring hormone, hydrocortisone. Hydrocortisone is a steroid. Steroids are a group of chemicals that have been proven useful in treating arthritis and allied conditions. Because the hydrocortisone molecule is so specifically engineered by nature for the job it does, it seemed hopeless to try to improve upon it. But it was improved b y an ingenious rearrangement of the molecular make-up of the hormone. This was accomplished by scientists at The Squibb Institute for Medical Research. T h e result was a made-to-order molecule--fluorohydrocortisone--ten times as potent as the natural substance. Now, as a further outgrowth of this advance, Squibb is making available triamcinolone acetonide, which is 40 times as potent as hydrocortisone and substantially more potent than fluorohydrocortisone. Available only upon doctors' prescription, Kenalog comes in three forms: cream, lotion and ointment. Miniaturized .aircraft M a s s Flowm e t e r . - - A new miniaturized aircraft mass flowmeter system that will provide a continuous indication of the mass rate of fuel flow up to 5000 lb. per hour has been developed b y General Electric's Instrument Department, West Lynn, Mass. Desig-
[J. F. I.
nated type TJ-61, it is designed for use on small jet and turbo-prop engines. A self-contained frequency compensator in the compact self-synchronous system permits operation from 400 cycle, 115-volt ship's power which does not have close frequency control. No external power converter is needed, even for applications in which a controlled frequency power source is unavailable. I n s t r u m e n t D e p a r t m e n t engineers said t h a t the system is now in design and tooling and will be in production by the second quarter of 1959. As a safety measure, all electrical components and all wires are sealed off from the fuel, and the flowmeter is electrically grounded to the frame of the aircraft. T h e flowmeter transmitter weighs 2.5 lb. and is only 4½ in. long. It will withstand severe mechanical abuse and will operate within a wide temperature range--minus 55 to plus 121°C. Proved characteristics of the measuring elements minimize error due to such ambient conditions as temperature and vibration and to such fuel properties as density and viscosity. The transmitter can be furnished with General Electric's new D J-96 fuel flow rate indicator. T r u e mass rate of flow is indicated on its integrally lighted pointer and dial scale. The transmitter can also be furnished with a new fuel-consumed indicator, T y p e DJ-77. All transmitter bearings are designed for durability and low friction. This new miniaturized flowmeter system represents one of the latest advances in General Electric's development w o r k - - b e g u n nine years a g o - - o n methods for direct measurement of fluid mass.