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Show Gaining in Fight Against Epilepsy A few years ago I had the feeling that if I had the time and the patience pa-tience necessary I would like to try to investigate the cause of epilepsy and try to give these patients and their families relief from this distressing dis-tressing ailment. At that time the treatment was careful dieting and the use of bromides to quiet the patient. pa-tient. The bromides did quiet the patient and did give considerable help in cutting down the number of attacks or making them lighter. I believed that eating certain foods had something to do with epilepsy because I had been able to keep one patient free of attacks for over a year by washing out his stomach twice a week. Then came the knowledge that cutting cut-ting down on starch foods, eating more fat foods, and the use of the barbital drugs would keep the majority ma-jority of epileptics practically free of attacks. Still later came the use of dilantin sodium to replace the barbital drugs, and, despite the fact that some physicians phy-sicians report serious reactions from dilantin sodium in some cases, it would appear that dilantin sodium is now favored by physicians treating epileptics. In a special clinical article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, As-sociation, Dr. William G. Lennox, Boston, author of Science and Seizures, Sei-zures, states that "so rapid has been the increase of knowledge of epilepsy in the last 10 years that patients and even many physicians have been left far behind." The three fields of investigation in which Dr. Lennox and his associates have been especially espe-cially interested are electroencephalography electroencepha-lography electrical brain waves heredity, and drug treatment. Study of the electrical pulsations (waves) of the brain have helped locate the starting point of epileptic attacks and in giving advice regarding regard-ing marriage and children. The pattern pat-tern of the brain wave is believed to be a heredity tendency. Epilepsy is not inherited, please understand, but a predisposition to epilepsy is inherited. HEALTH BRIEFS Q. Should I give up wrestling because be-cause of a heart murmur? A. You don't need to worry about your heart, as a murmur is not important im-portant unless you get out of breath easily and your heart is enlarged. If you will go to a heart specialist and get an electrocardiogram and X-ray (fluoroscopy, you'll find out exactly the condition of your heart. If It Is O. K. take the specialist's certificate to army examining officer. |