Snake oil that bites, or who wants an oily snake.

Snake oil that bites, or who wants an oily snake.

I am sorry for the lack of posts, but I hope that this dubious quality makes up for quantity.

I am a believer in the placebo effect and think that it's perfect way to practice ANOVA techniques. You can now get any number of devices that use “science” or “science buzzwords” for placebos. Copper bracelets are of dubious effect, but I am certain that they will keep barnacles and wood worm from attacking your wrists. You can also get magnetic bracelets and healing crystals, that will heal you of various ailments, or so you can believe. I remain scheptical.

This post is about using “science” for health benefits, but instead of the placebo effect, specifically about a class of product which, rather than healing their users, actually killed them.

I got the idea for this post from a recent Wired article that I found in a doctor's waiting room. It focused on the interesting case of Eben Byers (1880-1932). Since then I done a fair amount of researh on Mr. Byers. He was a very prominent man in his time; in addition to being a wealthy socialite and prominent sports figure. A casual search on the New York Times archive revealed 74 articles, most of them about his golfing status – in 1906 he was the US Amateur Golf Champion. In a way when I think of him, he brings to mind, the poem and song about Richard Corey [1].

In 1927 Eben fell off the berth in train that had been chartered for the Harvard-Yale game and injured his arm. He had recurring pain and went to his physician, Dr. Moyar [time]. Dr. Moyar prescribed a patent medicine for his “cure.” The prescription was for Radithor. Radithor, according to a later investigation by the AMA had been marketed as a cure for "anemia, leukemia, boils, blackheads and pimples." [NYT], but not for bone ailment/shoulder pain.

As I alluded, there are a number of placebos with only psychological benefit. Unfortunately, Radithor had an extreme deleterious health effect. Radithor could be purchase in a case of 24 2-oz bottles for $30[2]. From 1927 until his death in 1932, he is said to have consumed two bottles a day. There were a number of quack radiation medicines at the time; many of them, thankfully did not contain radioactive material, or radioactive materials with short half-lifes. Radithor was extremely dangerous, it contained 1 microcurie of radium (226 and 228) and 1 microcurie of isothiouranium[3].

Radium is not a very pleasant element. ²²⁶Ra has a half-life of 1600 years, undergoing an alpha decay resulting in Radon[3]. ²²²Rn is more pleasant, although a cause of a major source of radiaton exposure in the world (especially true for folks who live in well insulated houses in stony areas and smokers). ²²²Rn has a half-life of 91.2 hours and undergoes an alpha decay into ²¹⁸Po(lonium). In short, the decay process of Radium, although slow, results in unpleasant isotopes.

An alpha decay involves the evolution of an alpha particle (42H2+). Alpha particle are heavy and do not have a high penetration and can be blocked by a sheet of paper or penetrate up to 40 microns into the body from external exposure; As a comparison, the diameter of a human hair is approximately 30 microns.

The danger of alpha emitting isotopes comes from ingestion, say for example, by drinking Radithor. Radium is especially insidious because when ingested, it substitutes for calcium in the body and concentrates in the bones. ²²²Rn is used medically, due to it's affinity to calcium and its short half-life, for tests, such as bone density[4].

As stated above Mr. Byers died in 1932 after ingesting Radithor for 5 years. Did it kill him? I believe the response is an indisputable “yes!” The Wall Street Journal wrote a headline for him --"The Radium Water Worked Fine until His Jaw Came Off."[5]. The effects of the radium on his body were horrific; The New York Times said:

"Young in years and mentally alert, he could hardly speak. His head was swathed in bandages. He had undergone two successive operations in which his whole upper jaw, excepting two front teeth, and most of his lower jaw had been removed. All the remaining bone tissue of his body was slowly disintegrating, and holes were actually forming in his skull."

At death, his bones were estimated to contain 36 micrograms of Radium, corresponding to a radioactive dose of 37 microCuries[5][6]. I hope that Mr. Byers was not cremated.

The lesson to be learned from this case is to be careful about what you put into your body and thank god for the few people and dollars that are spent on the

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Corey

[2] Using the inflation calculator at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the current purchasing power of $30 in 1932 is currently equivalent to $467.

[3] The activity of the contents are from wikipedia (Radithor). They do not provide any information on isothiouranium, so I can not verify the activity, the half life and the decay processes.

[4] This is a factoid that IIRC with the caveat IANAD

[3] Radium has a number of isotopes and I was unable to find a percent abundance of ²²⁶Ra.

[5] I would love a copy of the headline and obituary. The Wall Street Journal, 61 words
Apr 1, 1932

[6] The current federally allowed concentration of radium in drinking water is 5 picocuries per liter. Each bottle of Radithor was equivalent to drinking 40,000 liters (40 cubic meters) of water at the maximum allowed rate. At 2 liters per day, it would take 50 years to drink that much.

[7] http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/vol_8/8-4/terms.html

Cites:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,743525,00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Byers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radithor

The image below was taken from http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/quackcures/radith.htm

and used with permission by the copy write owner (http://www.orau.org/ptp/museumdirectory.htm)