Says Cancers Yield to Electrosurgery

Dr. Kolischer Tells Physical Therapy Congress Results Surpass Those With Knife.

DR. TESLA BACKS REPORT

Inventor Also Describes Use of High-Frequency Current Up to 1,000,000 Volts to Cleanse Body.

After the successful treatment of internal cancers with high-frequency currents had been reported yesterday to the American Congress of Physical Therapy, in session at the Hotel New Yorker, by its new president, Dr. Gustav Kolischer, Chicago urologist, a corroborating statement from Dr. Nikola Tesla, electrical inventor, was presented.

Dr. F. Howard Humphris of London, discussing health treatment by light, asserted that light would "do more than any other physiotherapeutic agent to maintain and restore normal physical conditions."

"To give persons ignorant of the ingredients of radiant prescriptions — lamps labeled merely 'infra-red' or 'ultra-violet' or 'sun lamps' is like letting the baby play with the medicine chest," said Dr. Frank T. Woodbury, attending specialist at the United States Veterans' Bureau here. "Phototherapy is a physician's tool and cannot be used safely by the untrained, especially if ill."

Dr. Kolischer Inducted.

Dr. Kolischer, who is senior urologist of the Michael Reese and Mount Sinai Hospitals of Chicago and who was inducted as president of the American Congress of Physical Therapy, succeeding Dr. Frank H. Ewerhardt of the Washington University Medical School, was discussing "Further Considerations of Diathermy in Malignancy" when he said:

"Electrosurgery, meaning the employment of high-frequency currents for surgical purposes, holds a prominent place in the treatment of cancers of the various organs of the body. In a great many instances its results surpass anything that could be accomplished by the use of the cold knife, and in numerous cases in which technical reasons excluded the use of the scalpel favorable results followed the administration of high-frequency currents. It is also to be noted that the death rate as an immediate consequence of surgical intervention is considerably lower in electrosurgery."

Dr. Tesla's Statement.

Dr. Tesla's statement on the same subject, given to members of the congress, said:

"Ever since I published my first results with high-frequency currents in 1890 I have used them with unmistakably beneficial effects. They stimulate the nerves, facilitate digestion, promote sleep and add considerably to the vigor of mental work. For these reasons and because of years of experience with this wonderful curative agent I have advocated their extensive use and regret that, despite this, they have not been yet applied to an extent that their remarkable properties suggest.

"There is one effect of high-frequency current which may eventually prove of great importance in hygiene and the application of which I have advocated for years, and that in cleaning of the body by high-potential and high-frequency current. It is sufficient to charge the body to a pressure of 1,000,000 volts, which could be borne without discomfort, and all the particles of dust and foreign matter adhering to the body are instantly thrown off and the body cleaned without any danger to the patient. I have performed these experiments very often and always felt a highly beneficial reaction."

In the treatment of cancer Dr. Tesla said he believed that by a suitable electrical apparatus producing high-frequency current "local effects can be produced interfering with malignant growth more or less." He added that it was reasonable to suppose that high-frequency current, in breaking down cancerous cells, would not scatter them through the bloodstream for propagation in other parts of the body, an effect which is sometimes attributed to surgical operations.

How to Preserve Youth.

"The four principal means of maintaining youth," said Dr. Humphris, "are sunlight, natural and artificial, baths and bathing, exercise and massage and electricity."

As evidence of the efficacy of artificial sunlight treatment Dr. Humphris cited experiments conducted by the managements of the Drury Lane Theatre, London, and the Mansfield Colliery. In both instances it was demonstrated to his satisfaction that routine exposure to ultraviolet radiation benefited those who took the treatments.

Sea-level climates that have the greatest variations in temperature and the greatest mixture of weather are more healthful and conducive to longevity than other climates, according to Dr. William T. Johnson, Associate Professor of Electrotherapeutics of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Speakers at an evening session included Dr. Richard Koanes, clinical director and director of therapy at Polyclinic Medical School and Hospital; Dean Allen T. Newman of the New York University College of Dentistry, and Dr. Richard McCarty, director of physical therapy of the Department of Hospitals, New York City, who explained that since the organization of the division of physical therapy in June, 1930, the number of treatments had increased from about 13,000 a month to about 40,000, while the average cost had dropped from $2.30 to $1.03.

The congress will continue in session today.

Dr. Frank Hammond Krusen, associate dean of Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, urged that a well organized physical therapy department be provided in every modern school of medicine.