Addison鈥檚 disease is no walk in the park. The disorder occurs when a person鈥檚 adrenal glands don鈥檛 make enough cortisol. This hormone plays a key role in multiple bodily functions, including metabolism and immune response. People with Addison鈥檚 disease can feel fatigued or nauseous, suffer from chronic pain, and lose unhealthy amounts of weight. If untreated, the condition can be fatal.
However, since 1930, Addison鈥檚 disease has been easily treatable. Moreover, the breakthrough behind that treatment led to the creation of two of the most commonly prescribed medicines we have today.鈥疉nd it all started here at 黑料吃瓜资源 (CSHL).
In 1929, Wilbur W. Swingle and Joseph J. Pfiffner were working between CSHL and Princeton University when they isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the adrenal glands of slaughtered cows. At the time, ACTH was described as a 鈥渃ortical hormone.鈥� As it would turn out, ACTH is actually another kind of hormone that stimulates the adrenal gland to produce cortical hormones.
Swingle and Pfiffner first tested their adrenal extract in animal models. 鈥淭he interesting point is that all healthy double operated animals survive and remain in normal condition when treated with the extract,鈥� they wrote in a
Following this success, they made enough of their extract for clinical trials at the Mayo Clinic.鈥� But at least one patient couldn鈥檛 wait for a trial. In 1930, a farmer with Addison鈥檚 disease was brought to the Mayo Clinic at the point of collapse. His outlook was dire until a telegram was dispatched to Swingle and Pfiffner asking for an emergency dosage of ACTH via airmail. It worked. Within a few days, the farmer recovered.
Picking up where Swingle and Pfiffner left off, Edward Kendall, another Princeton scientist, isolated the actual cortical hormones. You鈥檝e probably already heard of cortisol and cortisone.
Cortisol treatment has helped countless people with Addison鈥檚 disease manage their symptoms, including President John F. Kennedy. Additionally, cortisol and cortisone have become some of the most common medicines available. They鈥檙e delivered via pills, creams, and injections. They鈥檙e regularly used to treat asthma, allergies, eczema, and arthritis. And they are routine in cancer care, either as part of treatment鈥攁s in some leukemias, lymphomas, and multiple myelomas鈥攐r to help manage side effects of radiation and chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting.
While the name of the farmer who was treated with that airmailed emergency ACTH has been lost to history, he inadvertently played a key role in the creation of medicines that many of us take for granted. His life was saved. And his story appeared in a , just eight months after Swingle and Pfiffner published their results. The article, fittingly titled 鈥淭he Treatment of Patients with Addison鈥檚 Disease with the 鈥楥ortical Hormone鈥� of Swingle and Pfiffner,鈥� showed the world the potential of these treatments. And it did so with flair.
鈥淲ithin thirty-six hours a marked effect on appetite and strength was apparent,鈥� the doctors Leonard G. Rowntree and Carl H. Greene wrote. 鈥淭he patient, who had been so nauseated as to retain water with difficulty, now asked for wieners and sauer-kraut and in lieu of the latter ate a double order of beef-steak with relish.鈥�
Written by: Jen A. Miller | [email protected] | 516-367-8455