'Drugs' danger noted by medic; Doctors give comments

              Doctors   Give   Comments
A Boston otolaryngologist charged here Monday that there are certain drugs and chemi­cals which cause permanent learing loss.
Dr. Harold F. Schuknecht cited as examples, the mycin [rugs, particularly kanamycin, and nitrogen mustard, when perfused through the body in cancer treatment.
The ear, nose and throat specialist, who is professor of otolaryngology at the Harvard University Medical School, said the same drugs and chemicals also cause tempo­rary dizziness.
Asked why  such  drugs  are used,  Dr.  Schuknecht replied "Sometimes they spell the dif­ference between life and death.' The  otolaryngologist  was  a
(Doctors' wives launch new venture to assist in field of spiritual health. Story in Sec. 3, Page 9.)
featured speaker at the open ing of the four-day convention of the Southern Medical As sociation which is attracting ap proximately 10,000 persons to the Municipal Auditorium. OTHER COMMENTS Interviewed between conven tion sessions, other speakers said:
1.  Since many asthma patients grow    worse    during    storms weather changes might well be responsible for   New. Orleans violent asthmatic outbreaks.
2.     X-ray   changes    in   the skeletal structures of mistreated children are so different from any  other  changes  they  help doctors track down those re­sponsible for" mistreatment.
3. You use up more calories walking for an hour than you
do playing tennis or playing football for an hour.
4.  Cancer of the lining of the womb has the highest cure^rate of any form of organ cancer.
5.  Steroids can prove life-sav-ng in treating severe cases of
asthma.
6.  The magic in reducing lies not in the doctor, not in the diet  or the   pills but   in   the patient himself.
In discussing hearing loss re­sulting from use of certain drugs and chemicals, Dr. Schuknecht said the hearing loss Isn't complete but that it is def­initely permanent.
The dizziness resulting from use of these drugs, however, is temporary, added the Harvard' professor.
Discussing dizziness in gen- j era!, Dr. Schuknecht said in j Menieres' disease there is a swelling and rupture of the memforance of thev inner ear. He said it is actually the rup- I ture which causes the patient j to suffer from such severe diz- j zy spells.
"What causes the rupture and] swelling? Actually we do not] know," said the otolaryngologist/ Dr. Schuknecht said the most common form of dizziness is positional dizziness. He said the patient suffers from this type of dizziness only when his head is a certain position.
HARMLESS DIZZINESS "He may be lying in bed feel­ing fine," added the ear, nose and throat specialist.-"But let him roll over and change the position of his head and the dizziness will start. This type of dizziness could be caused by the presence of loose crystals of calcium in the inner ear. These crystals are the result of degenerative changes in the inner ear. Actually this form of dizziness is quite harmless. But it is definitely a nuisance." The visiting physician said
sometimes   the   dizziness   is caused by a tumor. He said the ear specialist begins to suspect tumor as a cause if the patient shows certain neurological symptoms. Dr.   John  M.   Sheldon,   Ann Arbor Mich., evinced consider­able interest Monday in New Orleans' current asthma prob­lem.
"I wish I knew what caused these violent outbreaks in your city," said the physician, who is chairman of post-graduate I medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. AIR POLLUTION The physician said air pollu­tion, of course, plays an import-I ant role in asthma *as do fumes. ! He said his asthma patients in­variably get worse during a | storm, which makes him suspect i weather changes as a possible | cause of the outbreaks.
Dr. Sheldon said many asth­matics can smoke cigarettes without suffering too much harm. But with others, smok­ing is positively dangerous, he added.
The physician said some asthmatics can't tolerate ex­treme heat or extreme cold. Others are allergic to a cat or a dog.
"In such cases the answer is simple — %et rid of the ani mal," Dr. Sheldon added. "0 if pollen is causing the trouble all you have to do is immunizi the patient by giving him an in jection. Our trouble begins wher we can't figure out what is ac tually causing the asthma."
Dr. Sheldon said steroids ar ofteri used as life-savers ywhil doctors are trying to track dow the cause of the disease. B said some people can tak steroids all of their lives wit no harmful effects. With oth ers, he explained, there ma be a demineralization of bone or development of a moon fac or hair on the face.   .
SKELETAL CHANGES
Another convention speaker predicted that it will become in­creasingly hard for adults to mistreat children and go un­detected.
Dr. John Caffey of Denver, iolo., said not only have three states adopted laws making such mistreatment punishable but that X-rays of skeletal changes in mistreated young­sters definitely point tKe finger at the culprits.
Dr. Caffey said the changes which occur in the  skeletal structures of a child following a severe beating are differ­ent from any other changes. "Our   major   concern,   of course, is to alert the medical profession    to    this    danger," added  the  physician,  who   is professor emeritus at Columbia University College of Surgeons and Physicians.
Dr. Caffey said since the skeletal changes in the child are sometimes the only method of detection the private practi­tioner should get together with the radiologist.
HELD KEY MAN "The  radiologist is  the key man," added Dr. Caffey, who is also visiting professor pediatrics and radiology at the University of   Colorado   Medical   School "The radiologist musf stand his ground firmly even in face o the medical history of the case You can't depend on the med ical history, since parents who would beat their child woudn't admit it when giving the his-' tory."
Dr. Caffey said such mistreat­ment is usually more common in adopted children or in children of second marriages. He said it often happens to children who have been farmed out to foster homes; that it could happen in an orphanage if the director is a sadistic type of human being.