“March of Dimes” Brings to Mind
the Story of the Kenney Method
of Treating Poliomyelitis
Early Use of Physica1 Therapy in Kenney Method Is Said by
Medical Men To Be Secret of Sucses; March of Dimes Drive Now
in Process Provides Funds to Combat Spread of Disease
Just four and a half years ago—
in 1940— a distinct change in our
treatment of infantile paralysis was
introduced, one that has since
caught the public’s attention be
cause of its human drama. This
was, of course, the method of treat
ing infantile paralysis victims which
was envolved by Sister Kenny the
Australian nurse.
Many have misunderstood the
nature of the Kenny treatment, and
have thought it a cure for in- j
fantile paralysis. That is not true,
and Sister Kenny makes no such
claim. There is no cure for this
crippling disease. The medical pro- I
fession is still in the dark as to how !
to prevent it. It cannot control its 1
spread. No one yet knows by what
method this virus is carried from
one victim to another. In a j
day when we are masters of
typhoid, smallpox, and diptheria— |
infantile paralysis is still a riddle,
prowling our country at will.
What Sister Kenny has contribut
ed, however—and it is a very real
contribution—is a method for treat
ing victims already stricken by in
fantile paralysis; a method that in
the opinion of many American
doctors reduces the crippling after
effects of the disease.
There is a real interest in the
history of the Kenny method in
this country, and the National
Foundation for infantile paralysis
played an all-important part in
evaluating this technique and in
making it available to every in
fantile paralysis victim.
Sister Kenny went to the offices
of the National Fountadion one day
in May, 1940, because she knew
that the job of the National Foun
dation was to examine and study
every new bit of knowledge that
could possibly hasten the conquest
of infantile paralysis. Present that
day, were Sister Kenny, the presi
dent of the National Foundation and
its medical director. Sister Kenny
told how she had first developed
her method. Thirty years ago, as
a young nurse in the Australian
bush country without medical as
sistance she had to care for a child
stricken with infantile paralysis.
Instead of immoblizing her patient’s
paralyzed limbs in casts or splints,
phe worked out a method of easing
the pain and tightness in the
muscles by frequent applications of
heat—strips of woolen material
were wrung out of steaming hot
water. As the pain subsided she
followed this with passive exercise
until the patient himself could,
move his limbs. She felt that in
many cases, this treatment had pre
vented many of the crippling after
effects of the disease.
Sister Kenny was anxious that
the national foundation subject her
method to scientific check, and so
was the National Foundation. A few
weeks later, when the University
of Minnesota asked the National
Foundation to support a program
to study the Kenny method, it
readily made a grant to that in
stitution to enable Sister Kenny to
demonstrate her method, and to
give the doctors at Minneapolis a
chance to see her work. For the
next six or seven months, Sister
Kenny treated infantile paralysis
atients in Minneapolis.
In January of 1941, the National
Foundation received a preliminary
report from the doctors at the uni
versity. They were strongly im
pressed by what they had seen.
To be sure, the number of cases
studied had been few—too few to
justify definite conclusions, but the
physicians supervising this study
felt that the patients treated had
made far better recoveries than
was usual in their experience. They
recommended further study.
There was one fact, not widely
known, that made these doctors;
cautious in their judgment. And
that was the fact that over 50 per
cent of all infantile paralysis cases
seemingly recover by themselves,
without any special form of treat
ment! "How do we know,” these
doctors asked, “that many of these
cases Sister Kenny has treated
might not have been among those
that would have recovered spon
taneously? Obviously no one could
answer that question, but medical
science and the National Foundation
had to take that factor into account.
The caution of these doctors
making their first study of the
Kenny method was justified on oth
er grounds, too. They had seen
many hopeful methods for treating
infantile paralysis tried before—
methods which failed to stand up
under scientific test. Before they
gave the Kenny method their full
approval, they had to be sure.
That is why in 1941, the National
Foundation made a second grant to
the University of Minnesota to make
further studies of the Kenny me
thod. Nearly 100 patients were
treated the following year. In
December of 1941 the medical men
of the unvirsiiy made a second re
port. After consideration of this
report the medical advisory com
mittee of the National Foundation
declared:
“It is the opinion of this com
mittee that during the early stages
of infantile paralysis the length of
time during which pain and tender- !
ness are present is greatly reduced,
and contractures caused by muscle
shortening during this period are
prevented by the Kenny method,
j The general physical condition of'
! (he patient receiving this treat-i
ment,” said the committee, “stems
j to be better than that of patients
; treated by some of the other meth
ods during a comparable period.’’
It was on the basis of this re
[port that National Foundation for
infantile paralysis felt justified in
opening the throttle and going full
steam ahead to make this Kenny
method of treating infantile par
alysis available everywhere in the
land. A plan was immediately set
up to instruct and train doctors,
nurses and physical therapy tech
nicians. Sister Kenny herself was
to help in the teaching at the
University of Minnesota.
How well this has worked was
clearly demonstrated during the
epidemics of 1943 when 12,401 cases
were reported. The doctors of the
whole nation had learned something
of the work; many were intimately
acquainted with it. Physical ther
apy technicians and nurses had
been trained to do the work. From
the epidemic areas of the West,
the Central States and the East
came a flood of requests from
physicians for more technicians
and more nurses to give this treat
ment.
Here was proof of the endorse
ment of the method by American
medicine! Patients could be treated
from coast to coast Private phy
sicians, clinics, hospitals and de
partments of health called for
more skilled workers. The supply
was limited by the demands placed
on this country by war; yet there
were enough to do a good job.
Up to the present time, a total
of 900 persons have received this
training at the University of Min
nesota alone, and have been grad
uated with approval and certi
fication of Sister Kenny.
All of this has been tremendously
costly—a cost borne entirely by the
National Foundation. To date,
$107,000 has been given by the
National Foundation to the Uni
versity of Minnesota alone, to fur
ther the evaluation and teaching
of the Kenny method. Every sum
this university has ever requested
has been granted in full by the
National Foundation.
But the task of teaching the num
ber of technicians needed to serve
the whole country was too great for
any one school. So the National
Foundation opened other centers.
Institutions in California, Illinois,
Indiana, Georgia, Pennsylvania and
New York took up the teaching
of the Kenny method. In addition
to the money given to the Uni
versity of Minnesota, $140,000 has
been granted to the other schools.
These grants were made to schools
connected with or operated by
medical teaching centers. Eight
medical colleges and one hospital
devoted solely to treating infan
tile paralysis and to training pro
fessional people took up the burden
of making the special skills and
knowledge available to all doctors,
nurses and physical therapy tech
nicians. There was no quarrel here
between American medicine and
new methods of alleviating suffer
ing and crippling from infantile
paralysis!
The National Foundation has
spent additional money on scholar
ships, wool for treatment, distribu
tion of literature, exhibits and
demonstrations—a total of $301,000!
In fact—and it is one worth re
membering—in the past three years
the National Foundation and its
chapters have spent a total of over
a half a million dollars for the
study and teaching of the Kenny
method! It is noexaggeration to
state that in all the history of
medicine few new theories have
ever received such generous fin
ancial support from the people of
any nation.
In addition to all of the fore
going, two five-year grants have
been made recently by the National
Foundation: one for $175,000 to the
University of Minnesota to study
the physiological problems con
cerning the mechanism of in
fantile paralysis and methods of
treatment; the other grant of $150,
000 was made to the University of
Pennsylvania to establish a center
for research and instruction in phy
sical medicine. Both of these
grants permit further evaluation
and teaching of the Kenny method.
It is die dimes and dollars of the
American people that have made
this possible—the dimes and dollars
they have contributed each year to
the “march of dimes.” And those
dimes have done good work. Last
year, the third greatest epidemic
in the recorded history of the
disease in the United States struck
our country. Had it not been for
the hundreds of doctors, nurses and
technicians trained with the public’s
money and ready to administer the
j Kenny method promptly, that epi
demic might have resulthed in a
national disaster.
It is obvious, or course, that this
newer type of treatment is far more
costly, in money and personnel,
than the older systems of handling
polio victims. Heretofore, patients
were usually immobilized in splints
and plaster casts and could be cared
for by a small staff of doctors,
nurses and technicians. The phy
sical therapy given usually con
sisted of a few hours of treat
ment a week—and that frequently
was administered only late in the
disease.
With the Kenny method, all that
is different. Our medical men, in
their own language, describe the
Kenny method this way—“It is the
early use of physical therapy, de
signed to prevent unnecessary de
formities and to bring about the
maximum function of such nerves
and muscles as may have been
spared by the disease process.”
That means that each patient
must have far more individual at
tention. Each case must have hot
packs applied every hour or two
for at least 12 hours of the day
during the acute stages of the dis
ease. At the same time the pas
sive exercise and re-education oi
the patient’s muscles must be
started. Just consider the person
nel required to provide such care
under epidemic conditions! Con
sider, too, the soaring cost of such
treatment!
Progress is being made in the
fight against infantile paralysis.
The Kenny method definitely re
presents an important step forward
in treatment of this disease. But
the fact that it isn’t a cure and
it isn’t fully developed must be
borne in mind.
There are some cases that can’t
be helped at the present time by
any method of treatment, whether
it be the Kenny method or any
other. These are the victims whose
nerve cells has been completely de
stroyed by the ravages of the
disease. To them, motion in some
muscles has been denied forever.
It is bacause of these cases, partic
ularly, that the research programs
of the National Foundation, de
signed to find a way to prevent
the disease, must go on.
Unfortunately, no one has yet
been able to find a cure for in
fantile paralysis. Studies are con
stantly being pursued along this
line by the National Foundation,
but so far without result. There is
no known drug or serum or vac
ine to combat the virus that causes
the disease. But, in the meantime,
both the amount and kind of pal
liative treatment have been improv
ed.
How such treatment methods can
be best taught and made available
to the people is a matter about
which there is a difference of
opinion. The establishment of a
Kenny institute in Minneapolis as
the only place where the Kenny
method would be taught has been
suggested. But of course, it’s im
possible to train all the Kenny
technicians we require at any one
place—in Minneapolis or elsewhere.
And it would be equally impossible
for any one person to supervise
the various centers of teaching now
supported by The National Foun
dation for infantile paralysis.
The ultimate aim is to make
whatever is sound in the Kenny
method a part of the curriculum ol
every medical, nursing and phy
sical therapy school in the country
—and that aim will be accomplish
ed. No one institution can have a
monopoly on the teaching of the
Kenny method. While it is Sister
Kenny’s contribution to humanity,
for humanity’s sake it must be
available to all.
This history of the Kenny meth
od shows very clearly that the
National Foundation stands ready
to evaluate and test and make
available every method of treat
ment that promises to loosen the
grip that infantile paralysis has on
our children. If, on the basis of
tests made, a method is found ef
fective, the full resources of The
National Foundation will carry on the
paralysis will be thrown behind it.
The half million dollars of your
money spent on the Kenny method
to date certainly proves that.
The National Foundation for in
fantile paralysis is your Foundation
—a Foundation dedicated to one
purpose and one purpose only—
final and complete conquest of in
fantile paralysis.
Until that conquest is made, the
National Foundation will carry on the
most ambitious research program
ever marshalled against any disease.
It will also continue to provide hos
pitalization and medical care, in
cluding the Kenny treatment, in
every community to every in
fantile paralysis victim who needs
it. And 'it will continue to evaluate
and aid every new method that is
brought to its attention.
It is the people of America who
have made all that possible.
CLASSIFIED ADS
FOR SALE
FOR SALE—LADY’S FUR Coat.
—R. H. Parker, O’Neill. 31-tf.
I JUST SOLD TWO LARGE
ranches. Also sold 3 farms. 1
would like to sell your place.—
R. H. Parker, O’NeiH, Nebr. 16
1 HAVE MONEY to loan on farms
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at interest.—R. H. Parker,
O’Neill, Nebr. 3-tf
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! Parker, O’Neill, Nebr.
MISCELLANEOUS
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at 5 per cent. No commission
—L. G. Gillespie, O’Neill. 31-tf
OLDER CHILDREN IN NEED
OF HOMES, SOCIETY REPORTS
Heart-breaking stories of kiddies
digging in garbage cans for food
in a land of plenty; mothers squan
dering allotments in taverns while
children ship for themselves, fea
tured reports of Nebraska Chil
dren’s Home Society at the annual
meet in Omaha iast Wednesday
evening.
Randall C. Biart, executive di
rector reported that while the num
ber of infants available for adop
tion has not increased since the
war started there has been an up
ward surge in the number of older
children in need of homes. Most of
these cases are traceable directly
to parental neglect, he said. Many
cases involved working mothers.
The reports show that in 1944
the society provided 60,000 days
care for children and handled 547
cases.
A. T. Hansen, Omaha lumberman,
was named president; D. M. Edger
ly, vice president: H. B. Bugbee,
secretary, and F. W. Thomas,
treasurer.
Victory Homemekers
The Victory Homemakers met
at the home of Mrs. George Pon
gratz on Thursday, Jan. 18, at 1
o’clock. Dinner was served by
Mrs. George Pongratz and Mrs.
Bernard Pongratz.
We began our meeting at 2
o’clock. Our lesson was on “Time
Savers in Sewing” which was
very interesting and helpful. We
decided to donate $10 for the in
fantile paralysis fund. Mrs.
George Pongratz and Mrs. Joe
Pongratz are the first to have
their laprobes done for the
wounded soldiers,
A birthday party was held for
Mrs. Herman Dushatka and Mrs
Herman Janzing. They received
many nice gifts.
Our March meeting will be at
the home of Mvs|r,p. D. Janzing.
The best investment in the
world: United States war bonds.
DOCTORS
BROWN & FRENCH
Ofle* Phene 77
Complete X-Ray Equipment
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Residence ( Dr. Brown, 22ft
Phone* I Dr. French. 242
William W. Griffin
Attorney
First National Bank Building
O’Neill
For Reliable Insurance
PROMPT SETTLEMENT
REASONABLE RATES
SEE
L. G. Gillespie Agency
W. F. FINLEY, M. D.
Phone, Office 28
O’Neill : Nebraska
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O'NEILL : NEBRASKA
EMMET NEWS
Mrs. Walter Puckett and Mrs.
Alex McConnell called on Mrs.
C. E. Tenborg Tuesday afternoon.
The Victory Homemaker’s club
met with Mrs. George Pongratz
Wednesday afternoon. All mem
bers were present.
Louina Kloppenborg returned to
O’Neill Wednesday afternoon after
spending a week at home enter
taining the mumps.
Melvin Fox of Atkinson, Merle
Foreman and Charles Fox, Jr.,
made a business trip to Norfolk
Tuesday.
Mrs. I. S. Givens arrived arrived'
home the latter part of the week
after spending several months at;
San Bernadino, Calif.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Welsh of
Chambers were business callers in
Emmet Tuesday afternoon.
Mrs. Charles Prussia was a din
ner guest at the home of Mr. and !
Mrs. John Conrad and Mary Lou I
Tuesday evening.
Pfc. Edward Winkler arrived j
Wednesday from Fort Logan to
spend an 18-day furlough with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Winkler
and family.
Miss Opal Fox is entertaining
the mumps this week.
Cpl. Jimmie Freman spent a few
days furlough with his parents.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Foreman and
family and other relatives and
friends in this vicinity.
Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Peter of
O'Neill spent Sunday at the home
of Mrs. Peter’s mother, Mrs. Joe
Romold and family.
Mrs. Charles Prussia was given'
a surprise supper guest at the home
of Mrs. Lloyd Johnson and family
Wednesday evening.
Mrs. Jack Priester and son,
Loran of the navy and duaghter,
Ota and Dorothy Schaffer of
Humphrey spent the week-end at
the home of Mr. and Mrs. George
Pongratz. Mrs. Priester and Mrs.
Poungratz are sisters.
Leona Feme Beckwith spent
Saturday afternoon in O’Neill tak
ing teacher’s examinations.
Mrs. George Brainard returned
home Sunday morning after spend
ing a week visiting relatives and
friends at Harvard.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Penry and
children of Atkinson and Mr. and
Mrs. Henry Kloppenborg and fam
ily were dinner guests at the Joe
Winkler home Sunday.
Vivian Johnson was an overnight
guest of Mrs. Charles Prussia Wed
nesday night.
Merle Foreman left Wednesday
night for Fort Leavenworth for a
pre-induction examination. He re
turned Sunday morning.
Miss Waunita Anspach of O’Neill
is spending a few days with Mary
Lou Conrad.
Mrs. June Luben returned home
Sunday morning after spending
the week at McCook.
Mrs. Lloyd Johnson spent Mon
day afternoon with Mrs. Henry
Benze.
Mrs. Dean Perry and children j
spent Sunday at the Frank Fore- j
man home.
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kloppenborg!
and daughter Ruby were visitors
at the Charles Fox home Sunday I
evening.
Mr. and Mrs. Dan O’Connell and
children were callers at the Patrick
Corrigan home Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fox re
ceived word that their son, Staff
Sgt. Wayne H. Fox is now station
ed in France.
Mr. and Mrs. Dean Perry and
family moved into the Mrs. De
Liggy house the last of the week, j
ALL OYTJt AGAIN?
Just returned from two years of
combat service a soldier at the
post received a card from his draft
board informing him that his de
ferment had expired, but that if he
felt he was still engaged in an
essential occupation, he might ap
ply for an extension.
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world: United States war bonds.
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Items Just Received
Men’s cotton ribbed Underwear, sizes 36 to 46,
long sleeve . ...$1.33 L
Men’s plaid Mackinaws, lined ..:.. $8.90
Men’s Shirt and Pant Sets, heavy weight green
herringbone.-.Shirt $2.15, Pant $2.29
Men’s 8-inch Boots, leather sole.$5.90
Men’s Work Shoes, cord sole .. $3.79
Men’s Dress Pants, blue, brown .:. $4.98 to $9.90
Men’s House Slippers.$1.49
Men’s blue poplin Work Shirts.$1.39
When Johnny Climbs Out of
His Last Foxhole...
Some day Johnny, who is
using his telephone training in
the front lines, will climb out of
his last foxhole and return to his
job with the telephone com
pany. When he does he will find
a hearty welcome. His skill is
needed and he is an honored
personal friend.
About 60 telel phone men and
women have already returned
and are at work with the Com
pany. We are glad to have them.
In meeting postwar telephone
needs, we’ll need their help and
that of all the 1,300 others
from this Company who are in
military service.
Meeting peacetime telephone
service needs will require not
only the help of returning vet
erans but much material and
millions of dollars of new cap
ital which will have to come
from people who are willing to
invest their savings in the tele
phone business.
• . . .
NORTHWSSTI&tl BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY
