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Show UNIVERSITV NEWS 1 ; NEW CURES A definite cure for pneumonia and allied infections is now available avail-able in the new chemical discovery discov-ery known as "sulfanilamide," and in its derivatives, according to Dr. Perrin H. Long, a world authority in the field of bacterial chemotheraphy and preventive medicine, and professor of John-Hopkins John-Hopkins University, in an address to the University of Utah faculty last week. "Although the definite action of the sulfa drugs, which have received so much publicity lately because of spectacular cures is at present unknown, the fact that they inhibit the growth of bac-teria bac-teria in pneumonia is undisputab-le," undisputab-le," Dr. Long asserted. The drugs are known to successfully combat the germ responsible for menigi-tis, menigi-tis, pneumonia, and streptococcus infections. Dr Long has been an outstanding outstand-ing figure in the field of pneuom-ia pneuom-ia research for a number nf and has been associated with most of the important medical research on the action of he sulro derivative drugs. His appearance at the University of Utah was sponsored by the University chapter chap-ter of Sigma Xi in cooperatiorr with the Salt Lake County Medical Med-ical Association. The Visiting professor discussed discuss-ed the three most important theories which have been advanced advanc-ed to explain the action of sulfanilamide. sulfan-ilamide. The first theory concerns an early discovery that the addition of blood and other substances decreased de-creased the effectiveness of the drug. Later it was found that tissue extracts, especially of liver and kidney, also had the property of inhibiting the activity of sulfanilamide. sul-fanilamide. More recently it has been found that a certain chemical has to a high degree the power of inhibiting inhi-biting the activity of the drug, both in the test tube and in infected in-fected animals. This acid has been found in yeast, and it is probably present in all living things. Because Be-cause one disease germ can produce pro-duce more of these "paradamino benzoic" acids than another, it can better comoat sulfanilamide, so that the drug will not be able to act as a cure to the disease. The theory concerning the action ac-tion of the pneumonia drug has to do with another chemical which scientists have found can inhibit the action of sulfanilamide "Methionine" "Meth-ionine" is one of the essential acids from which proteins are built up in the human body, and it is present pres-ent in normal blood and body tissues. tis-sues. The effect of sulfanilamide in pneumonia, Dr. Long believes, depends de-pends upon the interference it gets from these two acids. If the drug can be administered to the patient before the two fatal acids make their appearance at the points of infection, it will work as an effective remedy. The action of sulfaniamide is not to kill bacteria, the famous doctor pointed out, but to prevent their multiplication. m |