Historical press release · November 8, 1961
New breakthrough seen in treatment of arthritis
For Release After 3:00 p.m., November 8, 1961
Dallas, Texas, Nov. 8, 1961 — A dramatic breakthrough in the treatment of America’s No. 1 crippling disease — arthritis — was announced today by Dr. Euclid M. Smith in a paper delivered before the annual meeting of the General Practice section of the Southern Medical Conference.
The new electronic technique described by Dr. Smith, Hot Springs, Arkansas, specialist, is based on recent research into the application of pulsed electric fields in the treatment of human diseases and disorders. These studies in medicine are a direct outgrowth of secret wartime research, which produced radar.
In his report to the conference, Dr. Smith disclosed that after 1,500 clinical treatments of arthritic patients using a new electronic device, which emits pulsed ultra-high frequency energy (PUHF), the new method has shown itself virtually free of the dangerous direct and indirect effects in most of the presently accepted medical therapy for all forms of arthritis.
Dr. Smith cited as particularly valuable in the PUHF treatments evidence indicating that the electric field method produces no appreciable rise in the patient’s temperature to damage surrounding tissue.
Dr. Smith, a member of the American Rheumatism Association and of the University of Arkansas Medical School, stated that the new electronic radiation technique, known as DIAPULSE, “is a simple and safe office procedure that does not require highly trained personnel.”
He explained that the intermittent energy impulses transmitted by the DIAPULSE generator “stimulates” the natural defense mechanisms of the body, “when directed toward the liver, spleen and adrenal glands.” He added that direct application to the joints “exerts a potent, but safe anti-inflammatory action and… rapidly relieves pain and restores normal function.”
The easily operated, but highly intricate, DIAPULSE transmitting equipment delivers pulsed ultra-high frequency electric energy at a maximum rate of one pulse every 1,600 microseconds, Dr. Smith said. Each impulse, he added, has a maximum duration of 65 microseconds.
Concluding his paper before the medical association, Dr. Smith stated, “Sufficient evidence has accumulated to prove that DIAPULSE PUHF energy is a valuable addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of rheumatic diseases.”
During his presentation, Dr. Smith reviewed earlier work in PUHF research, which began in the early 1940s, and noted that a recent press release of the Soviet Union’s Academy of Medical Sciences claims PUHF therapy to be a Russian discovery.
Dr. Smith also reviewed the current medical attitude toward the treatment of arthritis and rheumatic diseases, stressing:
- The need for accurate diagnosis, preferably beginning with a general practitioner’s — rather than a specialist’s — history and examination of “the patient as a whole.” Now, for the first time, the general practitioner has a safe means of treating arthritic patients. “This should be the responsibility of the general practitioner, for this is a systemic disease,” said Dr. Smith.
- Primary consideration for the use of “analgesic and antirheumatic drugs, like aspirin” as a “simple, safe” initial avenue to treatment.
- Steroids, like cortisone, “although often giving dramatic temporary relief, are known to produce serious and often fatal, untoward reactions.”
Source: Gene Schoor Associates, 75 East 55th Street, New York, New York. MU 8-2277.