Word: sodium
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Meanwhile, dentists have discovered a new fluorine treatment for children which also looks promising: a solution of sodium fluoride applied directly to the teeth. Already widely tested, the treatment has been found to reduce caries (tooth decay) up to 40%. PHS officers issued a warning, however, against some other fluorine fads. Not recommended: fluorinated dentifrices (they do no good) and fluorine tablets (unwisely used, they may mottle teeth and bones, cause kidney trouble...
...Much Sodium. The A.M.A.'s gold medal for the most original exhibit went to a pair of young Tulane doctors who had broken out a new track of investigation. Drs. George E. Burch (see below) and Paul Reasor wanted to find out why people with congestive heart failure have so much trouble getting rid of water, and thus show such symptoms as massively swollen legs. They suspected that sodium, an extremely "thirsty" element, had something to do with it. So they fed patients salt containing radioactive sodium, and followed the sodium's course. Sure enough, they discovered that...
...some time that such heart patients do poorly on a normal diet, and need as little salt as possible. A diuretic, to help the patients get rid of water, is also a standard treatment. But Drs. Burch and Reasor showed that the big problem is to get rid of sodium rather than water. For that purpose, a mercurial diuretic is best; it carries off excess sodium in urine...
...Myerson decided to try a simple prescription: he gave the patient a mild dose of a soothing drug (sodium amytal) to lower his inhibitions and make him talk, combined with a stimulant (Benzedrine) to keep him awake. Then he closeted the patient in a room with the patient's wife. When the doctor looked in again, some 45 minutes later, the patient was chattering like a machine gun. The doctor asked: "Do you recognize this woman?" "Certainly," snapped the patient, "she's my wife." A cure had been worked without psychotherapy...
...East Orange, N.J., Dr. Myerson's soothing drug treatment got partial support last week. An amnesia victim, a wandering farm hand who had been taken to a hospital, was treated with a dose of sodium pen to thai (a barbiturate similar to sodium amytal) and promptly recovered his memory...