" Juice " and Pneumonia

Several acute cases of pneumonia have been alleviated by passing a high-frequency alternating electric current through the lungs. The treatments were conducted at St. Mary's Hospital, Hoboken, New Jersey, under the direction of Dr. H. V. Broeser, X-ray specialist, after the method had been introduced by Dr. Harry E. Stewart, of Yale University, in a series of twenty cases at the United States Marine Hospital, Staten Island.

The use of electric currents internally, known as " diathermy," is no novelty in many diseases, and external heat-producing agents, such as mustard plasters, have been well-known old-fashioned remedies in pneumonia treatment, but this particular application is still in the experimental stage, although several New York specialists are using similar methods. The current is applied through two electric plates, one fitted to the back and one to the chest. The current flows directly through the lungs without burning the skin or causing dangerous fever elsewhere in the body, and is believed to raise the temperature within the lungs themselves to about 115 degrees. The effect is to reduce the congestion, just as gelatin is melted. After a few treatments the heavy breathing subsides and the lungs are able to absorb more oxygen. Twenty-minute treatments are given twice a day. In unskilled hands the treatment is dangerous, and the use of a direct current might be fatal.