I figured it’d be a good idea to compile some of the anecdotes I’ve come across about the cures of various ailments with the use of youth and sex hormones, as I think some of them are quite remarkable. Modern scientific literature isn’t very fond of isolated cases but I think anomalies and examples at the edges of bell curves tend to give us the most interesting insights.
Curing lupus with pregnenolone (1950)
“Seven-year-old Marlene M. Malecki, who was on her death bed several months ago, is looking forward today to a Happy New Year. Stricken with a rare malady known as lupus, the young Lawrenceville girl has been put back on her feet by a new wonder drug extracted from tropical sweet potatoes. The dramatic recovery of the child - believed to be the first to receive the drug for this ailment - was disclosed yesterday by doctors at Children’s Hospital. “Just a few short months ago, we thought Marlene was on her deathbed. But you’d never know it by looking at her now. She’s always dancing around, very peppy. And she can hardly wait to start school.” Marlene’s recovery climaxed a seven-month battle against death, during which time virtually the entire staff of Children’s Hospital pitched in to help save her life. For more than five months, her temperature ranged from a subnormal 97 to a very high 106.5. Her joints ached and swelled. She developed a heart murmur. Transformed into a real-life Quiz Kid, Marlene stumped the experts. One specialist after another tried to figure out what was wrong with her and what could be done about it. First, it was suspected she might have rheumatic fever. But that was checked out. Then, with one test after another, doctors discounted the possibility of a liver ailment, a kidney infection, pneumonia, tuberculosis, or lung abscess. All the while the only thing that seemed to be of value in treating was old-fashioned aspirin that helped beat the fever down. Penicillin, aureomycin, and chloromycetin, three of the most powerful of the so-called antibiotics proved useless. Just about this time, one of the hospital physicians noticed a rash on Marlene’s face. It spread out from her nose in the shape of butterfly wings. The rash disappeared in a few hours but it was the tipoff. The doctors agreed Marlene must be suffering from a rare disease - a distant cousin of rheumatic fever - called lupus erythematosus disseminatus. There are two types of lupus. One is a non-fatal chronic skin condition. The other is the deadly kind. and that’s the kind Malene had. Because it was a rheumatic ailment, doctors tried to get some cortisone or ACTH for her. But these drugs were earmarked for use on specific diseases - and lupus wasn’t one. So the physicians decided to use a drug that resembles cortisone. This is called DOCA (desoxycortisone acetate). Mixed with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), it has produced some good results in arthritis. But on Marlene, it failed to work at all. One of the doctors suggested that a newer drug, extracted from the roots of Mexican plants that resemble yams, be tried on her. This drug is called delta-5-pregnenolone. Marlene was given one gram of this each day by mouth for three weeks. This was packed into pills and issued to her 10 to 20 times daily. The dosage is unusually large. A person just couldn’t stand that much cortisone or ACTH because dangerous side effects would crop up. But delta-5-pregnenolone produced only good effects. Almost immediately Marlene’s fever began to dissipate and the swelling and pain disappeared. She was discharged in June.”
Curing cancer with DHEA (1997)
“I myself have tested DHEA as a cancer treatment on both humans and animals with some success. I first used DHEA to treat an intractable tumor on Kitty, our beloved tortoiseshell family cat. Kitty had developed a mast cell sarcoma, a bulging tumor on the orbit of her eye. Although this particular type of cancer does not strike humans, it is the most common cancer among dogs and cats and is not unlike human cancer in terms of how it develops and grows. In Kitty's case, the tumor was growing rapidly and had spread to the point that her eye was literally being pushed out of its socket. Our veterinarian felt that nothing could be done for Kitty, and he recommended that we put her to sleep. I decided to treat the cat with high doses of DHEA. Within three months the cancer had literally melted away, and the cat was in remarkably good health.”
Curing epilepsy and paralysis with progesterone and thyroid (1912)
“I had a remarkable result with corpora lutea [progesterone], 5-grain capsules, in conjunction with thyroid, 1 grain. The case was that of a woman, single, 25 years old, who had developed epilepsy at the age of 20 years. Operation at 22, both ovaries cystic; operation at 23, parietal section, with no result. On my visit to the patient, who lives 24 miles from here, I found her functionally paralyzed all over. She lay without any movement of hands or feet. She could not talk but could move her eyes. She regained the use of her voice after twenty-four hours, by great effort, and said she had died the day previously, and rocked her head with apparent thoughts of the horror of her experiences. She had complained of violent pain in the head the day previous to my visit and then went into this quiescent state. I began administering corpus luteum and thyroid as above; in three days she was practically normal. In one week she was crocheting and doing light housework. Her attacks of epilepsy, three fits a day, ceased temporarily, and during the past five months she has had a fit on an average of once in every fourteen days, but they are much lighter.“
Treating alcohol-induced anesthesia with T3 (1961)
“A 45-year-old man was found unconscious by the police. He was brought to the emergency room of a Worcester Massachusetts hospital, where physicians were unable to arouse him. He had bruises on the side of his face and chest, along with a strong odor of alcohol on the breath. He was sent to the alcoholic ward. Tests on a sample of blood removed from the veins showed that it contained a high alcohol content. A large dose of triiodothyronine was administered intravenously, and, within an hour, the man could sit up in bed and talk coherently. In 90 minutes he was able to walk in a straight line and to hold out his hands without an obvious tremor. Four staff physicians were called in and none could detect an odor of alcohol on his breath. But of greater importance was that the amount of alcohol in the blood had dropped in eight hours from an initial level of 378 to 125. The use of this thyroid hormone represents a breakthrough in the treatment of acute alcoholism.“
Curing breast cancer with DHT (1959)
“Against a dread killer - cancer so advanced it has spread throughout the body - a new hormone has been called ‘the most hopeful news of the year’. Known as 2-methyl-dihydrotestosterone, it has also been described as ‘the first great breakthrough in hormonal therapy of advanced breast cancer.’ Information for the article was obtained during personal conferences with one of the physicians at the clinic in Rochester. Credit for pioneering research in use of the effective new hormones belongs to two young physicians at the Mayo Clinic - Dr. Charles M. Blackburn and Dr. Donald S. Childs Jr. Their work has been recorded in the ‘Proceedings of the Staff Meetings of the Mayo Clinic.” In a carefully controlled study, the pair administered the refined male hormone to victims of advanced breast cancer - and came up with startling improvements in an amazing 45 percent. Included in their study were 48 patients, chosen at random in the order in which they came to the clinic for help. Their ages ranged from 38-76. Twenty-one patients were given the standard male hormone, testosterone, and 27 the new hormone, 2-methyl-dihydrotestosterone. The hormones were given by injection deep in the hip, three times a week. Of the 21 patients given the standard testosterone, only three (15%) showed improvement. Out of the 27 treated with DHT, 12 experienced not only arrest but regression of the cancer. Forty-five percent - a whopping three times as high as those helped by the standard hormones had been aided. X-rays showed that where cancer had destroyed the patient’s bone, the bone had since filled in with calcium and was healthy again. Lumps disappeared altogether or decreased impressively in size. Skin lesions disappeared. Of the 12 helped, eight had been invalids or semi-invalids; others had expressed massive, constant pain and unrelenting progression of cancer. Such symptoms disappeared completely. There was, for instance, the woman who, prior to the treatment, had been ‘in the last stages’ of cancer. Extremely anemic, she was unable even to leave her bed. Given 2-methyl-dihydrotestosterone, she did the single thing she’d known she’d never do again - walk. Feeling ‘perfectly well’ she left her bed, lived as she had before her illness, did her full amount of housework, and became again ‘like everybody else’. In a house of two teenage children, a mother came back from being a wheelchair cripple, encased in a heavy back brace. The pain that had wrecked her cancer-ridden body disappeared. Still another mother - yet in her 30s - was ‘returned’ to her family of five young children. Almost completely debilitated, she had what Dr. Blackburn described as enormous involvement of the liver. After 2-methyl-dihydrotestosterone, the liver returned to its normal size, the patient gained 30 pounds in weight, and went about her household duties in exceptional health. A 55-year-old with cancer in ‘virtually every bone’ was able to discard her wheelchair and live normally again. For a schoolteacher, the new hormone brought not only relief from exhausting pain but also the chance to earn a living again. Virtually completely defeated by cancer, she had worn a brace to prevent fracture of brittle, cancer-riddled vertebrae. Teaching had become impossible; days existed only to be passed in pain. With 2-methyl-dihydrotestosterone, she was able not only to discard the brace but to return to teaching. She taught a full year last year and is now in her second year of teaching since taking the hormone, without any symptoms of cancer. None of the patients treated with the new hormone experienced any toxic effects; an increase in appetite and strength was general.”
Curing depression, retardation, and melancholia with T3 (1956)
“A 68-year-old man was hospitalized for observation and treatment after an attempted suicide in September 1956. He had jumped into the sea with stones tied to his feet. On admission to the hospital he was self-absorbed, retarded, depressed, and thought life was not worth living. A diagnosis was made of Recent Melancholia of the senile type. Electroplexy was tried but the patient proved highly sensitive to relaxant drugs, his breathing stopped and he required artificial respiration for three hours. A trial with liothyronine was begun. The patient was given 15 meg of liothyronine daily in 5 mcg doses after each meal. He showed an improvement, was less depressed, and more active and alert. After two weeks the dose was increased to 30 mcg daily and his improvement became more marked. After four weeks it was possible to reduce the medication to 15 mcg daily. The patient's first signs of improvement were physical. His complexion improved, he became more agile and his movements were quicker. While these physical signs were taking place, his mental state also improved. His depression subsided, he became alert, more interested in his surroundings, more cheerful, and confident. Two and a half months after admission he was discharged on a maintenance dose of 15 mcg daily. A report received two months later stated that his improvement was maintained. In May 1957 he lost his abode which he had occupied for 30 years. A few days later he was admitted to the hospital for the second time. Although he was depressed and retarded, on the whole, his condition was better than on his first admission. He stated that for some weeks he had not been taking tablets. The patient was given 15 mcg of Cytomel from the first day of readmission and 10 days later it was possible to transfer him to the Convalescent Unit, where he remained cheerful and felt quite well.”
Curing depression and suicidal thoughts with T3 (1956)
“A 74-year-old asthenic man, resided at a nearby hotel to be near his wife, a patient at this hospital. In October 1956, in a bout of depression, he attempted suicide by cutting his wrist. He was hospitalized with the diagnosis of Recent Melancholia. Tranquilizers produced a slight improvement during the first week, but this was slow. In the second week liothyronine, 15 mcg daily, was given instead. After three weeks on Cytomel, the patient showed so much improvement that he no longer required special observation. He was up and about, showed insight, and regretted his deed. He became cheerful and his depression subsided. He was transferred to the Convalescent Unit where he reached a satisfactory level. He was discharged in April 1957 and now resides in a local boarding house. He is as well now as on discharge; has a small daily dose of 5 mcg Cytomel and has been heard to say ‘I feel better now than for the past 20 years.’”
Curing depression and hypometabolism with T3 (1958)
“This patient was a man of 49 who, on admission, looked older than his age. He was obese, hard of hearing, and with dry skin. Being dull, disinterested, and retarded he made the general impression of a mental defective. He was solitary, lacked initiative and energy, and displayed vague persecutory ideas. The diagnosis was Melancholia and he was regarded as intellectually subnormal. Since his symptoms were suggestive of hypometabolism, he seemed a likely candidate for liothyronine therapy, and treatment was commenced soon after admission. For the first two weeks, he received 10 mcg daily, and after that 15 mcg. He became more interested in his surroundings, more alert, and quicker in response; his depression gradually subsided. The dosage was increased to 30 mcg daily after four weeks of medication and to 40 mcg two weeks later. At the end of two and one-half months, he was behaving sensibly: he conversed willingly and rationally and said he ‘felt better than for a long time.’ After a few months in the Convalescent Unit, he was discharged on a maintenance dose of 30 mcg Cytomel daily and now works in his father’s shop as an outfitter.“
Curing depression with T3 (1957)
“The patient is a man of 49, a clerk of the pyknic type who has been suffering from moderate depression for a considerable time and who has attended the writer’s outpatient clinic for over two years. Throughout the treatment, he has been able to continue his job. Professionally he had some disappointments; with his domestic life, he is quite contented. He had many types of ambulant treatment for he usually got used to medication and responded favorably to a change if it were accompanied by psychological reassurance. The latest change has been to Cytomel and for the first time, he seems genuinely improved. ‘This time’, he said, ‘you hit the jackpot. I feel better than for years.’ He was discharged from regular attendance at the clinic.“
I often get asked why the examples I post are “so old”, and my response is always “If there were newer ones I’d post them as well.” The fact that they are dated doesn’t invalidate them and if clinics nowadays employed such therapies instead of whatever drug is in fashion, we’d have more “modern” examples. These were surprisingly hard to come by so I hope you found them interesting.
Interesting indeed! Great historic research here! Can you dig up any interesting examples like this but with prescribed sugar consumption and or aspirin? I remember a big old health and nutrition book my grandparents had sitting around collecting dust that recommended sugar for various things and I had just started learning about Ray. I thought it was so funny and silly and outrageous! Now I just think… well yeah add some sugar!
Anyway, I love this historic research quite a bit and really appreciate what you’re finding. Mainly thinking that the Bioenergetic world kind of lacks good anecdotal stories. I mean I love the ones Ray shared but more. More success stories. More please! Ha!
Anecdote enjoyers unite!
(You should collect reader anecdotes. My favorite one is how much diabetics and the demented love cheese.)