Enabling technological advance: The Hypodermic Needle
OVERVIEW, ACTION, SCOPE, FREQUENCY
The ability of the living body to combat infection is itself
truly magical. Autohemotherapy may uniquely help the body
perform this magic, by facilitating the identification of
infective organisms in the bloodstream, and enabling the
launching of a counterattack.
Autohemotherapy, referring here to the immediate intramuscular or
subcutaneous reinjection of one's own blood, appears to comprise
a compelling therapy option in the absence of others, one that
may also merit replacing other (experimental and often risky)
attempts at therapy currently in vogue. Since the introduction of
this method by Ravaut in 1913 [*1],
autohemotherapy has been employed in a wide range of disease conditions. Several hundred articles on the subject have been
published in mainstream medical journals mostly from the early
1920s through the early 1940s, as listed in the various Index
Medicus volumes (generally under the subject category "serum
therapy"). Additionally, the subcutaneous or intramuscular
reinjection of autologous blood or components is often discussed
in the literature without specific reference to the term
"autohemotherapy", as may be noted in a number of contemporary
examples [*2].
Autohemotherapy is not "alternative therapy". Numerous items on
the subject which have been published in the authoritative
Journal of the American Medical Association, including a 1938
editor's endorsement of autohemotherapy against psoriasis
[*3] and referral to its use
against other diseases
[*4], Autohemotherapy has also
been proposed as a preventive measure. For example, a 1935
report of favorable results against cerebral hemorrhage asserted
that autohemotherapy is absolutely indicated as preventive
treatment in cases of established hereditary disposition to
high blood pressure.
[*5]
The reported beneficial action of autohemotherapy has been
attributed to the presence of antigens in the blood
[*6] which stimulate the production
of antibodies when injected into the tissues. This explanation
finds support in the work of Dr. E. C. Rosenow (Mayo Foundation,
1915-44), which established the presence of a causative organism
or antigen in the blood
[*7] during active stages of many
diseases. Thus might the action of autohemotherapy be likened to
that of an autogenous vaccine.
Intramuscular doses commonly discussed in the literature tend to
fall within the 3 to 10 cc range. The safety and utility of a
twice-weekly schedule has been demonstrated in the historical
literature [*8], which schedule is
in concert with Dr. Rosenow's twice-weekly administration of
antigen and antibody for chronic
diseases such as MS. As advocated by Dr. Rosenow in the case of
MS, a responsible family member might be instructed in
administering the therapy, insofar as it may have to be continued
indefinitely. As Dr. Rosenow has emphasized, the continued
presence of primary oral foci, undetected symptomless oral foci
or inaccessible secondary foci would serve to ensure the
continued presence of causative pathogens in the circulation.
Under such circumstances, neither the vaccines of Dr. Rosenow nor
autohemotherapy would be expected to effect elimination of the
causative organism (which elimination might be equated to a
"cure"), hence the indicated need for the continuation of therapy
over an indefinite period of time.
Autohemotherapy's attributes of safety, low cost, and immediate
availability suggest continuing potential utility against a
broad spectrum of diseases in which a causative organism
disseminates through the bloodstream, regardless of the source or
identity of the causative organism - including the likes of
malaria, ebola and AIDS. (An intramuscular form of
autohemotherapy, as reportedly successfully used against malaria,
has been already been proposed for AIDS
[*9], as has an experimental
alternate form
[*10]) In cases where an
inaccessible, persistent focus of infection does not exist,
autohemotherapy may indeed be sufficient to effect a cure, and
might therein comprise a "magic shot".
While autohemotherapy as a distinct entity enjoyed a well
documented period of popularity during the first half of the 20th
century, it also represents the culmination of a fundamental
thread weaving through the healing arts for at least a few
millenia. Such diverse traditional practices as bloodletting,
acupuncture, coining and maxubustion, and modern-day
plasmapheresis, innovations in bone marrow transplantation (use
of autologous marrow; and use of stem cells from blood in place
of marrow), and to some extent even autotransfusions - all
involve the manipulation of one's own blood or blood-components
and the possibility that benefits may at least in part be due to
a forced defensive response within the body's tissues against
harmful substances in the circulating blood. In this light,
autohemotherapy may be viewed as simply the direct application of
such a process, made possible by that grand
technological advance the hypodermic needle.
The Autohemotherapy Reference Manual is now avalible through
Copyright 1996 S H Shakman.
All rights reserved. First posted 1996; reposted
23 Nov. 1998.
