HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-09-18, Page 2Is Hypnotic
Treatment Safe?
The surgeon snapped his fin-
gers at the pian on the operating
table. The man's; eyes closed.
Straight away the surgeon went
to work to remove the patient's
appendix. No anaesthetics had
been administed—yet the opera-
tion was completely painless.
For 24 -year-old Don Cunning-
ham, the man on the operating
table in the Davies County Hos-
pital at Washington, Indiana,
had been hypnotized. By snap-
ping his fingers the surgeon had
induced 'a trance,
Cunningham was on the
operating table thirty-five . min-
utes, while another doctor stood
by ready to apply anaesthetics
if the hypnosis failed. But it
didn't fail.
When the wound had been
closed the surgeon :napped his
fingers twice — and Don Cun-
ningham emerged from his
trance, "I was conscious of a
dull feeling in the area, but I
felt no pain," he said later. "I
kept my eyes closed during the
operation, but I guess I could
have watched."
This case, reported not tong
ago, is by no means an isolated
instance of hypnosis being used
successfully in modern surgery.
It is also used to a consider-
able extent as a substitute for
anaesthetics in childbirth and
dentistry, and in the treatment
of, a wide variety of ailments,
including ouodenal ulcers, blood
pressure. asthma, migraine, and
skin diseases.
Responsible medical opinion
has claimed it to be of great
value, too, in the treatment of
alcoholism, excessive smoking,
stammering, blushing, insomnia,
seasickness and many other
things, including stage fright'
This does not mean that hyp-
notism can miraculously cure all
types of patients. The success of
the treatment depends on the
patient's suitability for it. A
great degree of co-operation is
needed between hypnotist and
patient; for this reason it would
be very difficult to hypnotize a
hysterical person. and impossible
to succeed with an imbecile or
somenne mentally deranged,
Nut long age a Surrey mother
revealed how her daughter had
been completely cured of asthma
through hypnotism.
She had developed this frus-
tratine disease at the age of
three, and any excitement, ten-
sion or worry would prostrate
her for weeks at a tune.
For five years the parents
fought a losing battle, the only
advice they obtained from the
various doctors they visited be-
ing to keep her off certain foods,
and put her to bed after attacks.
One day, however, the father
read of a ease similar to their
daughter's, which had been
eured by hypnotism.
"We immediately contarted
the doctor and that was the
turning point for Jennifer," said
the mother. "For the past two
years she has attended once
every three months for hyp-
no:;ls treatment and she is now
completely cured."
In his book, "Hypnosis and
the Pea er Within," Dr. S. J. Van
Pelt, President of the British So -
tet, r.f Mt dicaI Hypnotist,, urs
it is a;.reed among rnerlical men,
that emotion or nervous shock
m ty brine on an asthma attack.
Yet hypnosis, which he claims is
the meet effective treatmentin
all nervous complaints, has been
vrti,t,ily icnored by orthodox
medical opinion.
In the British Medical Jour-
nal' recently, Dr. Richard Asher
of the Central Middlesex Heepi
tat, told the strange story of the
boy of thirteen and the girt of
ten who grew heir on their bald
heads after hypnosis,
The boy, who had been bald
for -:even years was given fifteen
weekly hypnotic treatments and
hair then began to grow scantily.
When treatments were stopped.
he became bald again The girl
had twelve treatments and her
hair continued to grow without
further hypnosis
If hynotism is so valuable in
medicine why hasn't it been
used to a far greater extent?
Probably the main reason is that
much distrust has been created
in the public mind by the acti-
vities of stage hypnotists and by
sensational novels, plays and
alms about "sinister Svengalis."
This distrusthas also existed
in the medical profession for
many years. And yet Franz An-
ton Mesmer, the man who first
used hypnotism scientifically,
had people flocking to his clinics
in Paris and Vienna'in the 1700s.
Mesmer, ,who was born in
1734, near Lake Constance in
Germany, was regarded as a
charlatan by jealous doctors, but
he was well-respected as a gen-
eral practitioner before he turn-
ed to hypnotism.
He believed that a strange
"magnetic fluid" came from the
stars and filled the whole uni-
verse. When people became ill
it was because the balance of
this fluid in their bodies had
been disturbed. He discovered
that by making passes with his
hands he could cause some of his
patients to go' into convulsions,
as a result of which they appear-
ed to be cured of their ailments.
A spectacular success came his
way when Maria Theresa Para -
die, a blind girl who was a bril-
liant pianist, recovered her sight
after undergoing his treatment,
But before the cure was com-
plete the child's parents were
persuaded by other doctors to
take the girl away. She did riot
want to leave Mesmer and there
was an angry scene in which
she was struck across the face
by her mother, causing the
blindness to return.
Mesmer died in obscurity
after he had been discredited by
his rivals in the medical profes-
sion,
Dr. Van Pelt has claimed that
it may be possible for a person
cf average ability to develop
positive genius under the influ-
ence of hypnosis. He quotes the
case of the Russian composer,
Rachmaninov, who in 190Q was
cured of alcoholism under nyp-
nosis,
Disappointed in love and de-
pressed at the failure of his first
concerto, Rachmaninov had tak-
en to drink.
Then he was persuaded to see
a psychiatrist, Dr. Nicolay Dahi.
Every day for four months the
composer visited Dr, Dahl and
sat in an armchair, half asleep,
while the psychiatrist repeated
these phrases; " You will begin
to write your concerto , .. You
will work with great facility . , ,
The concerto will be excellent"
There is little doubt that this
treatment restored Rachmanin-
ov's confidence, with the result
that his second concerto was a
triumphant success. He also
stopped drinking and for the rest
of his life seldom touched alco-
hol
The claims of hypnotism are
being made more and more, in
the newspapers, on the radio
and on TV. Tt was said not :ong
ego that the Russion ski jumpers
and °Hiet athletes competed
while hypnotized. A team of
Russian research workers is said
to be engaged on the study of
hypnotism as applied to sports,
in preparation for the 1900 Oly-
pic Games.
It was hypnotism, too, that
film star Cary Grant claimed
had helped him stay at the top.
He said that he and his actress
wife, Betsy Drake, practised
hypnotism on each other. This
made him mare relaxed,
A British Medical Association
committee, in its report on hyp-
notism, say that great dangers
might result from hypnotizing '
unsuitable pepole. But it had de-
cided that hypnotism was of
value and might be the treat-
ment of choice in certain ceses,
Much more research was neces-
sary, however.
VACATION SPOT — This large white frame house is the "summer
White House" for President Eisenhower and Mrs. Eisenhower,
The golf course is Only two or three minutes by car.
GESUNDHEIT Mrs, Theresa Forchione, one of 38 volunteers
testing an "immune milk" for its hay fever -preventing powers,
toasts the experiment in company of Dr. Herman Bundesen,
president, Chicago Board of Health. Cows that give the milk
have a pollen solution injected into other udders in an effort
to produce the antisneeze beverage,
The following are a fear're-
cipes for pinkies and so -forth
that I hope will come in handy.
They've all been thoroughly
tested—and found good.
TASTY ILELISH
1 6 -quart basket ripe tomatoes
3 pounds brown sugar
1 pound seeded raisins
1 pint cider -vinegar
1 lemon rind and pulp
2 teaspoons ground cloves
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
;s teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
Wash, scald and peel ripe
tomatoes. Cut into quarters and
place in large kettle. Wash and
quarter lemon. Remove seeds
then grind. Raisins may he left
whole or cut into quarters, as
desired. Combine lemon, raisins
and remaining ingredients with
tomatoes in kettle. Bring to a
boil, stirring until sugar is dis-
solved, Cook over medium heat,
stirring frequently to prevent
sticking, until relish thickens.
About 2 hours depending on
moisture content of tomatoee.
Ladle into hot, sterile jars and
cap at once. Label and store in
cool dark place.
t * *
PICKLED CRAB APPLES
8 pounds crab apples
2 cups eider vinegar
8 cups sugar
2 cups liquid from crab apples
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tablespoon whole cloves
1 small piece root ginger
2 blades mace or i/a teaspoon
ground mace
Wash crab apples and remove
blossoms ends but do not peel or
remove stems, Place in kettle
and just cover with water. Bring
to a boil and cook for 5 min-
utes. Drain, reserving 2 cups of
liquid for syrup.
Place in large kettle, vinegar,
sugar, liquid from cooking crab
apples, and spices. Bring to a
boil, stirring until sugar is dis-
colved, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add crab apples. Reduce heat
and cook very slowly until crab
epples are tender and almost
transparent. Pack carefully into
hot sterilized jars and fill jars
to overflowing with hot syrup.
Seal at once. Label and store.
BREAD AND BUTTER
PICKLES
12 medium cucumbers
5 medium onions
le cup salt
1 cup sugar
lee teaspoons mustard seed
teaspoons celery seed
le teaspoon curry powder
1 cup vinegar
le cup water
Wash and slice cucumbers into
Vs -inch rings. Wash and peel
onions and slice about ?/e-inrh
rings. Arrange in layers in bowl,
rprinkling each layer with salt.
Let stand for 3 hours. Drain
thoroughly. Combine remaining
ingredients in kettle and bring
to boil. Add cucumber and on-
ion slices and simmer gently for.
about 10 minutes. Pack into hot,
sterilized jars. Fill to overflow
ing with syrup and soap at once.
Labe] and store,
R # 4,
eiREEN TOMATO PRESERVES
'1 pounds green tomatoes
5 lemons
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups granulated sugar
1 stick cinnamon
Wash and remove stems from
green tomatoes. Cut out any
blemishes in skins. Slice very
thin. Cut grind from lemons and
slice very thinly, Cover lemon
strips with water and bring to
boil. Cook 5 minutes. Drain and
discard liquid. Cut • up Iemon
pulp, removing seeds, Combine
peel, pulp and thinly sliced tom-
etoes in large kettle and add
salt, sugar and stick cinnamon.
Bring to a boil and boil rapidly,
stirring frequently to prevent
scorching, until mixture is thick
and tomatoes appear clear.
About 20 minutes. Ladle into
hot sterilized jars and cover se
curdy with lid.
GRAPE CONSERVE
1 small basket bine grapes
3 oranges
1 lemon
le pound seeded raisins
4 pounds sugar
Wash grapes thoroughly and
remove from stems. Squeeze
grapes, putting skins in one
howl and pulp in. large saucepan..
Bring pulp to a boil and cook
until seeds are free. Strain
through a sieve and add to skins.
W ash and quarter oranges and
lemon. Remove seeds and put
oranges and lemon through
mincer using medium blades.
Add minced fruit to grape skins
and pulp and place in large ket-
tle. Add sugar and raisins. Mix
and bring to bail. Cook for ih
hour stirring to prevent scorch-
ing. Pour into hot scalded jars
and seal at once with hot melt-
ed paraffin, Cover with metal
lids and label,
How To pack
China Or Glass
Are you one of the 44,000,000
Canadians and Americans who
will move to a new home — far
or near — this year?
If so, here are some tips from
the Lenox China Service Bu-
reau on how to get your china
and 'glassware there safely. The
secret is careful packing, if you
are doing this yourself.
First, obtain a sturdy con-
tainer, perhaps a wooden or
fiber barrel. Be sure the barrel
is clean because some chemicals
which are stored in barrels cause
acid fumes which could damage
your china's glaze. Then, plenty
of newspaper, or, if your china
is to be stored for any length
of time, clean white tissue
paper. Stack the sheets opened
on table conveniently high.
Put four wads of bunched
newspaper in the bottom of the
barrel. Wrap each piece of china
separately, with no edges ex-
posed. Place platters, service
plates, and the like on edge . in
the bottom of the barrel with
an inch or two of paper between
them and the edge of the barrel.
Next take dinner plates, salad
plates, and place them on edge
to complete the layer. Put an
inch or so of bunched paper on
top.
The next layer should he the
smaller Rat pieces, such as
saucers and butter plates, each
well wrapped, and placed on
Li'dee with paper between them
and the edge of the barrel. Cups
and other odd -shaped pieces go
in the next layer.
The best way to wrap a clap
is to take a corner of a hall
sheet of paper and stun' it into
the cup as it faces away from
you. Roll the cup so that it
feces toward you and wrap the
rest of the piece around,. Use
plenty of paper on odd shaped
pieces.
When you arc finished, there
should be a solid mass of paper
and china, so that it will not
shift or rattle. Pack the insu-
lating layers of paper tightly to
prevent shifting of the pieces.
Glassware should be handled
in much the same way, putting
the heavier pieces on the bot-
tom, and using plenty of paper.
Insurance is not expensive,
and it might be a good idea to
consult your mover, or your in-
surance agent about insurance
to cover the trip.
TANKS FOR NOTHING
To help, stimulate the Prate
pitchers during the hot after-
noons, Branch Rickey had been
toying with the idea of employ-
ing small oxygen tanks on the
bench. The first time he instal-
led one in the clubhouse, Cus-
todian Byron Jorgensen raised
e question, "Is there any chance
that it will become habit form-
ing?"..
There Was No Miracle For Little Nils-Olov
Boston (NEA) — Nils-Olov
Wissell has gone home to
Sweden — to be buried, while
doctors at Peter Bent Brigham
Hospital try to salvage some
information 01 value from their
attempt to perform a medical
miracle on the little boy.
Young "Nils, an 11 -year-old
handsome, freckled boy had been
born with only one kidney, Doc-
tors only discovered this after
he had injured it and it had
been removed, Kidneys are the
human organs that purify the
blood, and without at least one,
death is certain.,
While an articial kidney wept
to work keeping the youngster
alive, Nils wee brought to
Arleerica and 50 doctors in Bos-
ton planned an operation that
NILS OLOV-WISSELL
Fortune is Where
You Fait On it
Opportunity not only knocks
more than once; it sticks to you.
We are thinking of a certain
Swiss gentleman who fell into a
batch of burdock, For most peo-
ple all that such an event prom-
ises is an hour of picking of.
burrs out of clothing and a reso-
lution not to make a habit of
burdock patches,
. Soine people will asic also how
and why they let themselves fall
into such a relentless ambush,
But they will probably attribute
the misadenture to misfortune,
The Swiss gentleman, how-
ever, asked a defferent set of
bows and whys. Why do burrs
cling so tenaciously to fabric?
1Vtore specifically exactly hors'
do they do it?
Misfortune? No, on the con-
trary — perhaps a fortune from
the zipperless zipper," apparent-
ly simpler to operate and to
make, perhaps as reliable and
less subject to hitches on the
long pull, than the usual zipper.
On one piece of fabric a
myriad of tiny loops; on another
as many little hooks. Press the
two together, and what has a
burdock got that you haven't
got?
Of course, developments like
this seem a bit farfetched. Not
many of us take them seriously
unless we read about them in the
financial papers, where we read
about this one.
And, of course, there must be
a million --- and a moral — in
it. So next time you are flat on
your back in a burdock patch
don't be too sure where you
have landed. It could be a bed of
roses in disguise. — From The
Christian Science Monitor,
would have meant increased life
and -hope for thousands of per-
sons besides this little boy.
The problem facing Nils' doe -
tors a way tp transplant a kid-
ney. The implications: a oom-
pletely'new blood -producing sig-
tem, new blood supply and the
grafting of an organ onto an
it4. tit
alien body..
For thousands, this was more
than an exciting scientific ad-
venture. People with blood dis-
ease and kidney disease watch-
ed with desperate fascination
for any progress. Little Nils`
home town of Motala, Sweden,
which had contributed money
for the boy's passage and care,
prayed. His parents kept the
long vigil and his mother pre.
pared herself to donate one of
her kidneys to her child.
But what stood in the way of
solving the problems was hu-
man Iife itself: the body, nidi-
cine knew, manufactured anti-
bodies that resisted any alien.
organ. Nils' blood would react
to his mother's kidney as if it
were an infection.
The only solution seemed to
be to kill' the boy's bone mar-
row, the substance that manu-
factures blood cells as well as
aniti-bodies, and replace it with
marrow from his mother's body.
The boy was given heavy doses
of radiation which killed his
marrow. Then he was given a
transfusion of his mother's mar-
row. If his body would accept
the new marrow, the boy would
have a blood system that would
accept the new kidney,
But the miracle operation fail-
ed on its first step, Nils' body
refused to provide a home' for
the new marrow and the boy
died,
"We have nothing to say," a
spokesman for the battalion of
Brigham doctors reported. "We
are reviewing our procedure
again and again, going over our
results and tests. We cannot talk
about what we have learned, or
even about what we have net
learned. T wish there were some-
thing else we could say."
CAKE FLOWERS — Pancakellke
goodies with built-in handles
are a family favorite at the
Grief home, Mary Grief, 15,
gets a syrupy assist from
brother Thomas, 16, as she
starts on a plateful of elder-
berry blossoms which have
been dipped in pancake batter
before frying.
Younger Set Fashion Hint