Is There a Doctor in the House?

Factual Questions
1

“So, how do ya like the show, Doc?”

No, seriously. I am researching someone who died of myeloid leukemia in 1959, and would like to ask a doctor some questions—I don’t think we have any actual MDs on board; do any of you have any doctor acquaintances I could talk to?

I can find general info about myeloid leukemia on various Web sites, but I need some historical perspective and specifics that I can’t find: like what treatment would have been in the 1950s, and if certain treatments she was given were legit or just placebos.

Thanks, all!

2

Ever heard of the Merck Manual? It’s a summary of the medical arts and information for the time it is published.

It has been published almost yearly for decades and surely was in print in 1959. It would be as up to date as you could get in print for the year published. So I’d try and find Merck Manuals for the years 1950, 1955, 1957, 1958 - a couple of years before the year you are most interested in.

A store with used books should have them, try Powells and then the ones advertized in your nearest big city newspapers.

Fair warning - the treatment for all kinds of cancers have changed drastically and what ever was done that was 100% correct for 1959 might well seem outrageous now.

Jois

3

I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.

Is that good enough?

4

No, Dave. No. It is not.

Jois, I need an actual person, so I can ask specifics about this case—f’instance, a Swiss doctor gave her some “experimental” pills in 1957 which supposedly did some good for a few months. I need to find out if this rings a bell with a doctor, or if it was all ba-nanner oil.

Anyone married to, or have parents or friends who are docs?

5

I know a couple of medical researchers from another board and I’ve invited them to drop by over here.

I did promise them that if they could provide you with the needed info you would be happy to devote your next book to the dead celeb of their choice. Ummm… I hope you won’t have a problem with that.

I don’t think either one currently visits this board, but if they do they usually are very helpful.

6

Hi Eve (Hey Spud!)

The person who mentioned Merck may be on to something. I don’t know right off the top of my head what type of treatment was available in the 50s, but maybe this will help:

Merck Manual:

The 8th Edition was published in 1950, 9th Edition was published in 1956.

Lemme do some digging this afternoon and I’ll see if I might have access to any old editions here in the office or if I can find anything for you. Do you know what the “experimental pills” were?

–Doc

7

Addendum to above:

Was this person treated <B>in the US</B> by a Swiss doctor, or treated overseas? That might make a difference as to what you find.

If you have further detail, please let me know.

I’m off to comb the library…

Doc

8

Thanks, all–she was diagnosed with myeloid leukemia in early 1957, died in late 1959 (at the age of 32). The pills were experimental, prescribed by a doctor in Switzerland–I have NO idea what was in them. She took “ox blood” pills as well, and had many transfusions toward the end. Also had “heart stimulants” applied.

Was all this typical treatment then? Also, what would her early and later symptoms have been? She was always very thin, typically chilly, and never ate much. Could wartime food shortages have had anthing to do with developing leukemia?

9

KarlGauss is a physician. I think there are others, but I don’t remember who.

10

My other researcher friend asked me to post this since she isn’t registered here.

11

Thanks, all—Spud, thank your friend for me, too, I think I will do as she suggests.

12

Hi there, Eve. I am no expert in the history of chemotherapy but think I’m safe in saying that the chemotherapy wasn’t used until the 1940’s. One of the first drugs was (and still is) called methotrxate and it is conceivable that this might have been tried for AML notwithstanding that its main activity is another type of leukemia (ALL).

By the late 1950’s, and, I believe, 1957 in particular, the modern era of chemotherapy was starting. However, with the exception of childhood leukemias, testicular cancer, and certain cancers arising in pregant women, success was elusive (to say the least). Still, in desperation or hope, the early drugs might have been employed to treat AML.

The symptoms of AML tend to be those of anemia (profound fatigue, shortness of breath), lack of normal white blood cells (infections) and lack of blood platelets (bleeding). Additionally, there is often weight loss and general inanition.

The “symptoms” of the chemotherapy are familiar to all - nausea, vomiting, hair loss, etc. They also tend to (transiently) worsen the low white blood cell and platelet counts and might thus, paradoxically, cause more infection and bleeding.

Sometimes, I suppose, there may have been legitimate confusion between certain vitamin deficiencies and leukemia and perhaps that could justify the use of “ox blood”. The use of “heart stimulants” sounds like hocus pocus, or, more charitably, perhaps they were given to treat a complication of the AML such as edema (which could resemble the state of heart failure).

I hope this is of some help.

13

And, BTW, I don’t think wartime shortages contributed but who knows what she might have been exposed to. I’m sure that chemical spills were the rule in WWII Europe. Certain chemicals are clearly linked to leukemia.

14

What I wonder is what the term “ox blood” refers to. Is it a Chinese patent med type preparation (like those made from powdered ox blood coral), or are we discussing literally ox blood? China uses all sorts of “natural” items…Faeces Trogopterori (flying squirrel dung), placenta hominis, yadda yadda yadda. I’ve run into some bizarre meds in the last year or so of research.

–Doc

15

It might be worth a shot to ask your question at OpalCat’s MB, http://fff.fathom.org/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi

16

To find out how myelogenous leukemia was managed in the U.S. (or Switzerland) in the 1950s you really need to speak with someone who was practicing hematology/oncology in the U.S. then (or Switzerland). However, those people are all retired by now. Looking at an old Merck Manual is a good idea but it is my impression that Merck Manuals are about 5-10 years out of date when they are published. I suggest two other possibilities: (1) Check with your local American Cancer Society or with the national ACS office in Atlanta (they have a web site) and see if they have any old materials. I know at least as far back as the 1970’s they published an excellent compendium of cancer care. (2) Look for some old books and journal articles at a large, old medical library.