A New Type of Operation
Are you afflicted with melancholia and
have» you lost practically all desire to live?
If you have, you ou^ht
I»
be keenly inter¬
ested in this new development in medical
science.
A NEW-TYPE brain operation
being performed in Charlotte
. - -and in perhaps a few other
cities in the state looks like a
sure "cure" for some suicides and
may "convert” certain types of
criminals.
Case histories tell of persons
who were afflicted with melancho¬
lia. an acute depression of spirits,
and had lost all desire to live in the
same world with high taxes, the
atomic bomb, and inflating living
costs, being transformed almost
miraculously into carefree, happy-
go-lucky individuals who can even
love their mother-in-law.
This operaton, regarded by
neuro-surgeons as "fairly simple
as brain operations go," is known
technically as prefrontal lobotomy.
It is said to change a person's per¬
sonality by interrupting the nerve
trunks connecting that part of the
brain in the forehead from the
main brain behind. This forehead
grey matter is one of the greatest
differences between men and ani¬
mals. It is made of two masses,
shaped somewhat like half-loaves
of bread, side by side, their round¬
ed ends against the forehead. They
are called prefrontal lobes, and in
animals they are very small.
Medical science had suspected
for a long time that the frontal
lobes arc the portion of the brain
most concerned with personality
but, until prefrontal lobotomies
came into the picture, they had no
definite proof.
Satisfactory Results
Several operations of this type
have been performed in recent
months at Charlotte Memorial Hos¬
pital ( the two surgeons have asked
that their names be withheld) and
the results, generally, have been
highly satisfactory. Throughout the
nation more than 2.000 persons
have had prefrontal lobotomies —
most of these were persons who
were violent or seemingly idiotic,
and hundreds have been trans¬
formed and have returned to their
jobs.
The transformations, doctors say
in medical journals, have been as
THE STATE. July 5. 1047
By Gi:oK(ii: in tli:k
amazing as a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde
performance in reverse. Persons
who were hopeless, psychopathic
cases and appeared destined to
spend the rest of their lives in men¬
tal institutions have again taken
up their places in society, changed
from Gloomy Guses to Smiling
Charlies.
In some cases the transformation
is almost immediate: in others, it
takes several weeks for results.
Nearly always the operation is'
successful. Surgeons explain, how¬
ever, that the operation is attempt¬
ed only after electro-shock treat¬
ments and other types of therapy
have failed. Patients are usually
able to be on their feet within five
days following the operation, and
are often discharged from the hos¬
pital in 10 days.
First Done in Portugal
The operation was first done in
Lisbon, Portugal, in 1936, by Dr.
Egas Moniz. It was pioneered a
year later in the United States by
Doctors Walter Freeman and
James W. Watts, now of George
Washington University department
of neurology. Before Moniz. how¬
ever, head accidents and brain tu¬
mor surgery had indicated that hu¬
man brains could stand consider¬
able alteration.
Opponents say the operation is
a pure shot-in-thc-dark because
doctors frankly do not know why
improvements come about. But as
long as persons sec a "problem"
member of their family changed
into a normal individual, the opera¬
tion is destined to "go places."
A natural question arises: Does
the elimination or mitigation of
anxiety and worry from a person's
makeup cause him to be careless
and irresponsible? Doctors Free¬
man and Watts answer in the nega¬
tive. In an article which appeared
in the North Carolina Medical
Journal they say:
“It must not be supposed that
patients undergoing prefrontal
lobotomy are reduced in their ca¬
pacity to think constructively.
Quite a number of them have re¬
turned to their previous occupa¬
tions at a satisfactory level of effi¬
ciency."
Period of Adjustment
The surgeons point out. however,
that a period of adjustment is nec¬
essary before the patient returns to
work, varying from a few weeks to
several months. The effect of the
operation depends a great deal on
a person’s makeup.
A naturally lazy person with a
lot of worries might get his wor¬
ries removed but he'd probably
wind up even more lazy and shift¬
less than before. On the other
hand, the naturally energetic per¬
son, whose nervous energy has
worked him to a frazzle, stands
to profit greatly. With his anxiety
removed, he will tire less easily
than before and may work far be¬
yond his former capacity.
“The operation works best with
those persons of natural industry
and capability whose ideas have
turned them into introverts and re¬
cluses. with obsessions of guilt,
uncertainty, fear and anxiety," say
the authorities.
Following are two case his¬
tories:
A 63-year-old woman was ad¬
mitted to a hospital in a wretched
condition. She was extremely de¬
pressed, suffered from insomnia
and was thin as a rail from loss
of weight. She threatened suicide
and paced the floor constantly.
Shock treatment was ineffective.
After the operation, performed in
two stages, her anxiety, fears and
worries disappeared almost imme¬
diately. She became cheerful, co¬
operative and joked with the
nurses. She gained weight and was
discharged two weeks later. Her
family later told doctors that she
was a "different person entirely."
A 45-year-old successful busi¬
ness man developed a strong pho¬
bia against dirt and germs. He
washed his hands 50 or more times
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