Multiple Sclerosis.

("The Naturopath and Herald of Health," Aug., 1915.)

In "The International Brief" we found the following article on Multiple Sclerosis, also called disseminated sclerosis and insular sclerosis, caused by scattered patches of hardened tissue in different parts of the nervous system:—"It is a form of paralysis that comes on very slowly and it generally attacks persons between the ages of fifteen and thirty. People who have passed their fortieth birthday seem to be safe from it. One of the most striking symptoms of multiple sclerosis is tremor. That is very likely to appear first when the patient is writing. As time goes on, whenever the patient attempts to perform any voluntary act the tremor seizes him, and it may be so violent that he is compelled to desist.

Other symptoms are double vision and a peculiar, slow, dragging speech. The disease may cause epileptic fits, and is sometimes accompanied by a failing mind. The disease is almost incurable, although it often runs a very long course and may be arrested by careful treatment for years. The diet should be simple and wholesome, tonics should be given when necessary, and the patient should stay and sleep as much as possible in the open air. A quiet life, free from all strain and excitement, is absolutely necessary.

We differ with the author of the article as follows:—People after forty are equally subject to it; it is not incurable; medical treatment cannot relieve it without completely paralysing the affected nerves; it is not enough that the diet be simple and wholesome, but it should consist largely of unfired greens for the purpose of dissolving the hardened tissue and the acid crystals within the hardened tissue.

The only curative treatment for this disease is a diet free from all unorganised and inorganic salts, and rich in organic basic elements. The uncooked green vegetables are the foundation for a curative as well as for a preventive diet for all forms of sclerosis or hardening of tissues.

Hard water and all cooked proteid food of animal as well as of vegetable source must be avoided in the cure and prevention of this disease."

Comment.—1. We agree with the above comment. So far as medical treatment is concerned, the allopathic, homoeopathic, or eclectic medical compounds, containing mineral poisons, cannot produce any curative effects without completely paralysing the nerves. We also agree with the comment in relation to the treatment given with uncooked vegetables, especially if Chickweed is used as a salad, or part of a green salad. We maintain that a complete cure can be made by non-poisonous herbal treatment without any ill effect upon the nervous system, when the botanic treatment is intelligently and properly applied.

2. As regards diet: Hard water, all cooked, animal foods, and barley should be specially avoided. R. L. Hool.

Common Plants and their Uses in Medicine was written by Richard Lawrence Hool, F.N.A.M.H., in 1922.