A Practically Inert Substance Introduced as a Valuable Therapeutic Agent
Amorphous phosphorus is a chemical anomaly contrasting markedly with ordinary phosphorus in its physical, chemical and pharmacologic properties. Ordinary phosphorus is soluble in certain solvents, such as oil; amorphous phosphorus is insoluble. Ordinary phosphorus is poisonous; amorphous phosphorus is not poisonous. Ordinary phosphorus has been regarded as of some therapeutic value; amorphous phosphorus, because of its insolubility and other physical properties, has never been so regarded. Pharmacologists, therefore, have paid very little attention to it. Some of them do not even mention it, though there are a few accounts of experimental work.
Noé,[156] in experiments on the action of phosphorus with yeast, found that yeast acted on ordinary phosphorus, producing PH3 (hydrogen phosphid), but on amorphous phosphorus it had no action. His experiments show that amorphous phosphorus was not toxic to animals.
Thornton[157] quotes Reese as publishing a report of a case in which 30 grains of amorphous phosphorus were taken by a young woman with suicidal intent, but no toxic symptoms were manifested. Thornton found it non-toxic to animals.
Witthaus and Becker (Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, iv, 635) say: “The form of phosphorus is practically non-poisonous, probably by reason of its insolubility. It has been administered to dogs to the extent of 200 gm. (nearly half a pound) in twelve days without causing poisoning.”
C. D. F. Phillips (Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Inorganic Substances, Ed. 3, p. 46) makes the following statement: “Amorphous phosphorus has been, by some observers, credited with physiologic activity. Thus, Bednar used it for a long period in small doses, and observed symptoms of excitation, trembling and clonic convulsions; but as much as 1 ounce has been given to dogs without perceptible effect. Thompson, in twelve carefully observed cases, found its action nil, and plausibly attributes its supposed powers to a slight admixture of ordinary phosphorus (Pharm. Jour., 1875). I believe it is practically inert.”
HOW INTRODUCED
The foregoing represents our scientific knowledge as to the action of amorphous phosphorus. Now, however, comes Dr. I. L. Nascher and introduces amorphous phosphorus as a remedy of remarkable value for the arteriosclerosis of old age. The method of introduction is somewhat peculiar. The treatment seems first to have been brought to notice through a printed slip sent to medical journals generally. This slip consisted of an extract from Nascher’s book on old age, which at the time had not been published! Nascher also published an article on this subject in an obscure journal, the American Practitioner, for December, 1913. Neither the matter copied from his book nor the article referred to contain a single scientific fact that would warrant the claims made for it as a therapeutic agent. No record is given of animal experiments, and the clinical evidence presented certainly cannot be regarded as scientific.
As already stated, this form of phosphorus has not been previously used and has been regarded as without effect on the human system because of its insolubility in any of the liquids of the body. Nascher himself has not been able to find any new way to dissolve it. He says: “I made a number of experiments to find a solvent. The only substance which appears to dissolve it is serum, but I am still uncertain whether it is a solution or a very fine suspension. The phosphorus is precipitated in a few days, but the serum remains tinged.” The fact that it separates from the serum on standing is quite conclusive evidence that it is insoluble in that liquid. Since no way of making it soluble has been discovered, there is no reason for expecting it to have any effect on the system. An insoluble and non-absorbable substance can produce no general systemic effect; if, when ingested, it produces any effect whatever, this effect must be local and will be shown by symptoms of gastro-intestinal disturbance. Nascher, however, took 15 grains, and no symptoms of gastro-intestinal disturbance followed. Hence, we must conclude that it is without effect on the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. While Nascher records no experiments on animals which is much to be regretted, he did experiment on himself and says:
“Ten grains produced a frontal headache, restlessness, excessive mental stimulation, ideas arising with such vividness as to appear as actual occurrences. There was a sense of weight or oppression in the stomach and priapism, the latter probably psychic, as I was looking for such a result. These symptoms passed away in a few hours.”