H3 Book Index:: Chapters 1-29
Many of the changes observed by Prof. AsIan in the procaine-treated old people indicate that this substance acts upon the endocrine glands. Hair growth, as already mentioned, is stimulated; some testicular function, often almost dormant, is revived; small amounts of estrogen (the female sex hormone) are found circulating in old women again (the return of pigmentation to the labia minora is another sign of estrogenicstimulation); the adrenal glands become more active. The involution of female genitals usually is halted after several years' treatment, and in a few cases has even been reversed.
That procaine has a stimulating effect on the glands is also indicated by the fact that some doctors do not recommend use of procaine therapy in women prior to the menopause. This question has not been finally settled as yet, mainly because younger women have not been treated extensively, nor have any tests been conducted on experimental animals. Several cases of amenorrhea (absence of menstruation) in women about 40 years old have yielded after one or two series of procaine injections, with regular menstrual periods appearing thereafter. Several cases of correction of sterility, which had persisted for many years in women with normal organs, are also on record. Procaine, without the addition of any hormones, was found to be of help.
Tests, first on mice, then on men, have shown that procaine inhibits the thyroid function, restoring this gland to normalcy in cases of over-activity. Much still has to be learned about the total effects of procaine onthe endocrine glands. It will be interesting, indeed, if tests prove that procaine as well as aspirin, other analgesics, the cortical hormones, rutin (Vitamin P), calcium salt and antihistaminic substances, has the property of warding off the brittleness of capillary vessels.
In this respect, some wartime research conducted by Dr. Georges Ungar at Oxford University is of considerable interest. Dr. Ungar found many different procedures could protect experimental animals against traumatic shock. These procedures included the production of previous minor traumas, and the administration of ascorbic acid, procaine, cocaine, adrenaline, a whole cortical extract, an extract of the pituitary gland, and especially-the adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH).
This researcher found also that the blood of healthy persons contains a substance which he believes is produced by the spleen, and which he called 'Splenin A'. The blood of persons suffering from rheumatoid arthritis contains a quite different substance, which he called 'Splenin B'. Patients who have recovered from the disease again have 'Splenin A' in their blood.
Dr. Ungar found that under the influence of ACTH (the anti-stress hormone from the pituitary gland) the amount of 'Splenin A' in the blood of experimental animals increases, while 'Splenin B', if it is present, decreases. By ingenious experiments on guinea pigs and rats, he was also able to show that procaine, like 'Splenin A', reduces the bleeding time and increases the strength and resistance of the capillaries. Vernication of his research on a larger scale in 1952, reported by the British endocrinologist Dr. Raymond Green, indicated that procaine, like cortisone and ACTH, is capable of calling out the anti-stress hormones from the pituitary glands and the adrenal cortex, and also shows us how widespread was British interest in the potentialities of procaine in the treatment of old age diseases.
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H3 Book Index:: Chapters 1-29
