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Tropical sprue—studies of the U. S. Army's sprue team in Puerto Rico
Volume Number
10 6
BOOK REVIEWS
539
TROPICAL SPRUE-STUDIES OF THE U. S. ARMY’S SPRUE TEAM IN PUERTO RICO. Edited by Lt. Colonel William H. Crosby, MC. Washington, D. C., 1959, Medical Science Publication No. 5, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Pp. 355, not indexed, Price $1.75. On sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. This paper-bound volume consists of twenty-five chapters comprising the selected output of the United States Army sprue team in Puerto Rico from 1953 to present. Of’the twenty-five chapters nineteen have been published as articles in various journals, and have their own variable merits. but it is convenient to have them assembled between the covers of one book. The volume begins with the minutes of five yearly conferences on sprue, during which time many fascinating vignettes are disclosed of work in progress and of work begun and dropped; suggestions as to what “ought to be done” are bandied about in informal fashion. The Army was generous enough to make possible at these conferences the presence of some of the leading world authorities on various aspects of intestinal absorption, hematology, and cytology. As one might expect, there is no uniformity of treatment of the various subjects included in the panels, but for those acquainted with the field there is much fascinating interchange of ideas. As for the nineteen chapters which constitute published papers, they deal with all phases of the sprue problem, with particular reference to tropical sprue. Some of the work has received a more orderly summary treatment by one of the members of the team, Dr. Frank Gardner, whose medical progress article, “Tropical Sprue,” in the NW England Journal of Medicine, (258:791-796, 835842, 1958), attempts to present all phases of the problem as seen by the group in Puerto Rico and corhpared with studies of tropical sprue elsewhere in the world. In the course of any such discussion on tropical sprue, much information relevant to the problem of adult celiac disease or nontropical sprue also is discussed. Those skeptics who still feel that gastroenterology lags far behind other disciplines in the utilization of modern techniques will find much here to make them change their minds; the amount of ingenuity and technical prowess which has been displayed in many of these studies need not fear comparison with techniques available in any other field. Nevertheless, one cannot but feel that these are scattered and preliminary observations in an area on the surface of which we are just beginning to scratch. The book, then, although it presents no orderly point of view toward a rather well-defined disease, does put in one convenient paper-bound volume a number of widely ranging studies having to do with malabsorption in tropical climates, and allows the interested reader to learn of many new techniques being applied to gastroenterologic problems of the small intestine. It is therefore a useful contribution, although by no means a definitive one. .4lbert I. Mendeloff
RESEARCH ON NOVOCAIN THERAPY IN OLD AGE. A collection of seven papers from Die Therapiewoche, 1956-1957, by Prof. Anna Aslan, M.D., and co-workers; Prof. C. M. Biirger, h1.D.. and Prof. F. H. Shulz, M.D.; and U. Kijhler, M.D., and E. Mampel, M.D. New York, 1959, Consultants Bureau, Inc. Pp. 68. Price $12.50. For those who thought that the golden age of procaine had passed, there is startling news from behind the Iron Curtain. Professor Aslan and her comrades in Bucharest run a sort of Rumanian Hoxsey Clinic, treating geriatric patients with extracts of spleen, placenta, adrenal, pineal, or thyroid: vitamin E or liquid beer yeast; or bicarbonate baths (method of Lepechinskaia). But her favorite remedy is “novocain,” and why not, since it will apparently help cerebral arteriosclerosis, parkinsonism, hearing, and senile skin, turn gray hair back to its original color, or grow hair in cases of baldness? The above tripe plus some German and Soviet hogwash along the same lines is being sold at $12.50 by an outfit called “Consultants Bureau, Inc.” Now what I want to know is: For whom do these guys consult? Louis Lasagna
10 6
BOOK REVIEWS
539
TROPICAL SPRUE-STUDIES OF THE U. S. ARMY’S SPRUE TEAM IN PUERTO RICO. Edited by Lt. Colonel William H. Crosby, MC. Washington, D. C., 1959, Medical Science Publication No. 5, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Pp. 355, not indexed, Price $1.75. On sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. This paper-bound volume consists of twenty-five chapters comprising the selected output of the United States Army sprue team in Puerto Rico from 1953 to present. Of’the twenty-five chapters nineteen have been published as articles in various journals, and have their own variable merits. but it is convenient to have them assembled between the covers of one book. The volume begins with the minutes of five yearly conferences on sprue, during which time many fascinating vignettes are disclosed of work in progress and of work begun and dropped; suggestions as to what “ought to be done” are bandied about in informal fashion. The Army was generous enough to make possible at these conferences the presence of some of the leading world authorities on various aspects of intestinal absorption, hematology, and cytology. As one might expect, there is no uniformity of treatment of the various subjects included in the panels, but for those acquainted with the field there is much fascinating interchange of ideas. As for the nineteen chapters which constitute published papers, they deal with all phases of the sprue problem, with particular reference to tropical sprue. Some of the work has received a more orderly summary treatment by one of the members of the team, Dr. Frank Gardner, whose medical progress article, “Tropical Sprue,” in the NW England Journal of Medicine, (258:791-796, 835842, 1958), attempts to present all phases of the problem as seen by the group in Puerto Rico and corhpared with studies of tropical sprue elsewhere in the world. In the course of any such discussion on tropical sprue, much information relevant to the problem of adult celiac disease or nontropical sprue also is discussed. Those skeptics who still feel that gastroenterology lags far behind other disciplines in the utilization of modern techniques will find much here to make them change their minds; the amount of ingenuity and technical prowess which has been displayed in many of these studies need not fear comparison with techniques available in any other field. Nevertheless, one cannot but feel that these are scattered and preliminary observations in an area on the surface of which we are just beginning to scratch. The book, then, although it presents no orderly point of view toward a rather well-defined disease, does put in one convenient paper-bound volume a number of widely ranging studies having to do with malabsorption in tropical climates, and allows the interested reader to learn of many new techniques being applied to gastroenterologic problems of the small intestine. It is therefore a useful contribution, although by no means a definitive one. .4lbert I. Mendeloff
RESEARCH ON NOVOCAIN THERAPY IN OLD AGE. A collection of seven papers from Die Therapiewoche, 1956-1957, by Prof. Anna Aslan, M.D., and co-workers; Prof. C. M. Biirger, h1.D.. and Prof. F. H. Shulz, M.D.; and U. Kijhler, M.D., and E. Mampel, M.D. New York, 1959, Consultants Bureau, Inc. Pp. 68. Price $12.50. For those who thought that the golden age of procaine had passed, there is startling news from behind the Iron Curtain. Professor Aslan and her comrades in Bucharest run a sort of Rumanian Hoxsey Clinic, treating geriatric patients with extracts of spleen, placenta, adrenal, pineal, or thyroid: vitamin E or liquid beer yeast; or bicarbonate baths (method of Lepechinskaia). But her favorite remedy is “novocain,” and why not, since it will apparently help cerebral arteriosclerosis, parkinsonism, hearing, and senile skin, turn gray hair back to its original color, or grow hair in cases of baldness? The above tripe plus some German and Soviet hogwash along the same lines is being sold at $12.50 by an outfit called “Consultants Bureau, Inc.” Now what I want to know is: For whom do these guys consult? Louis Lasagna