With this opinion I beg leave to differ. I am convinced that, by the proper regulation of the diet, limiting the system only to that which it requires for its complete nourishment—giving ample quantities of those foods that are rich in lecithin (or nerve-fat) and phosphorus—such as eggs, milk, whole wheat bread, fish, roe, etc.—much may be done to arrest the progress of the disease.
This, in combination with the proper kind of exercise—particularly those forms of which the "Fraenkel Movement System" is an example,—will do a wonderful amount of good in re-educating such groups of nerves in the spinal column as have not yet suffered degenerative changes.
The following diet is a mere suggestion, subject to change in order to meet the conditions of temperature, age, and activity.
Immediately on rising, the patient should take a few spoonfuls of strained orange juice and drink a cup of hot water. He should also devote a few minutes to deep breathing, and such moderate exercises as he is able to endure.
BREAKFAST
The whites of four eggs and the yolks of two (If digestion is good, the whites of six eggs may be taken—one yolk to each two whites)
A glass of milk
A tablespoonful of nuts
One very ripe banana with cream
Three or four dates
LUNCHEON
Three or four eggs whipped eight minutes; to each egg add one teaspoonful of lemon juice, and a heaping teaspoonful of sugar; whip this mixture into a quart of milk; drink slowly
DINNER
Smelts, or any small fish
A Spanish onion, baked in casserole dish
Corn bread
Buttermilk or skimmed milk
One fresh vegetable, cooked plain
In addition to this diet, there should be a regular daily schedule of exercise and deep breathing, which the patient should be required to carry out with rigid precision and regularity.
Value of exercise and massage
In nearly all cases of locomotor ataxia the body is unable to cast off the generated poisons, or used-up tissue, the result being that the new building material (food) taken in is not appropriated. This condition of atrophy must be overcome by exercise, massage, fomentation (wrapping the patient in a hot, wet blanket), or by anything that will induce excessive superficial circulation.
If one afflicted with locomotor ataxia can be induced to arise from his lethargy and exert himself, following the methods herein suggested, a gradual increase in strength is very likely to be experienced inside of two or three months, and sometimes a complete arrest of the process may be expected in time.
The writer had a patient, a retired ship captain, who came under his treatment after suffering for twelve years with locomotor ataxia, and after twelve months declared himself cured. The only evidence remaining of his former condition at this writing is shown when he attempts to turn around suddenly, and his control of the lumbar and motor muscles are undergoing such improvement that even this symptom, it seems, will finally disappear.